Buick eAssist
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The 2014 Chevrolet Malibu gets a new base engine, and with it come new, higher fuel-efficiency ratings from the EPA. But does the improved gas mileage mean the Malibu Eco model no longer has a reason to exist? For the new model year, Chevy made a large number of changes to the year-old vehicle, which has not sold as well as GM had hoped. Critics had slammed its reduced rear-seat room, among other issues, in the hotly competitive mid-size sedan market. Among the changes for 2014 were modifications to the base 2.5-liter engine that boosted the EPA combined rating from 26 mpg for 2013 to 29 mpg...
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Buick eAssist, Chevy Eco Hybrid Recall For Control Module Check
General Motors announced today that it will recall more than 38,000 Buick and Chevrolet sedans fitted with its eAssist mild-hybrid system, to check for a possibly defective electronic component. The vehicles, from both the 2012 and 2013 model years, are the Buick LaCrosse and Buick Regal sedans...
John Voelcker -
2013 Buick Regal Gets eAssist Mild Hybrid As Base Engine To Boost MPG
The eAssist system may have entered production less than a year ago, but General Motors is clearly making a big bet on the mild hybrid system to help its Buick brand meet rising fuel economy regulations. First offered on the base 2.4-liter engine in the 2012 Buick Lacrosse, the eAssist system was...
John Voelcker -
More Mild Hybrids: 2013 Buick Regal To Fit eAssist As Standard
It takes a lot of money and time to develop and produce hybrid cars and electric vehicles, but that's not to say regular gasoline cars can't benefit from some of their technology. Mild hybrid technology is a cost-effective way of improving the gas mileage of a car using a fairly simple electric...
Antony Ingram -
Buick eAssist Smartphone App Makes A Game Out Of Saving Fuel
The Buick Fuel Efficiency Games App teaches players about mild hybrid systems, aerodynamics and maximizing fuel economy.
Kurt Ernst -
2012 Buick Lacrosse With eAssist: Mild Hybrid Weekend Drive
We drove the prototype, and liked it. Now we've driven the real thing. We still like it. In this case, "it" is the 2012 Buick Lacrosse with eAssist, the only four-cylinder model that Buick offers in its Lacrosse large luxury sedan. While large Buicks aren't known for their gas mileage, this one is...
John Voelcker -
Remember The Purloined Letter, the classic Edgar Allen Poe story where a letter is hidden by storing it in plain sight? General Motors may not have realized it, but the industry trade journal Automotive News seems to have published a previously unannounced piece of its future model plans--right out in the open. The vehicle is a hybrid-electric version of the Buick Verano, the compact luxury sedan that's just now hitting dealerships. The hybrid Verano won't arrive, mind you, until 2015. At least, that's what it says on an Automotive News graphic spread, "Suppliers to the 2012 Buick Verano,"...
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2012 Buick Regal With eAssist Mild Hybrid Priced At $29,530
Buick announced today that it would offer the eAssist mild-hybrid technology on its mid-size 2012 Regal sedan as a $2,000 option over the base 2.4-liter model. That brings the price of the 2012 Buick Regal with eAssist to $29,530, including a mandatory $860 destination charge. The EPA rates the...
John Voelcker -
2012 Buick Lacrosse eAssist 37-MPG Sedan Priced At $30,820 (With Destination)
Buick announced today that it would price the four-cylinder version of its 2012 Lacrosse large sedan at $29,960. That sneaks the advertised price neatly under the $30,000 mark, although a mandatory $860 destination charge means buyers will see a sticker of at least $30,820 before they start adding...
John Voelcker -
Suzuki Kizashi EcoCharge Concept Hybrid: 2011 NY Auto Show
Suzuki has had a rough time of it lately, with its only new product being the well-received but still low-volume Kizashi sports sedan, halfway between a compact and a midsize car. But for this week's 2011 New York Auto Show, they're display a couple of Kizashi concepts that point toward what the...
John Voelcker -
FIRST DRIVE: 2012 Buick Lacrosse 37-MPG eAssist Prototype
To date, Buick and "fuel economy" haven't often been used in the same sentence. But the 2012 Buick LaCrosse, the brand's largest surviving car, will offer one engine option that's projected to deliver 25 mpg city, 37 mpg highway. That's not bad for a midsize near-luxury sedan (though 1 mpg lower on...
John Voelcker -
What's Good For GM Is...Good For The Environment?
We asked last year if the new GM would be a cleantech play. It’s looking more and more like that’s the case. Yesterday, the company announced it would be rolling out a hybrid technology system called eAssist in the Buick Regal 2012 that will boost fuel economy by 25 percent. The system...
VentureBeat's GreenBeat -
Last year we saw the return of the Buick Regal, but it surprised reviewers and consumers alike. The Regal revealed itself as being on par with cars like the Acura TSX, Nissan Maxima and Ford Focus. Maybe it was the European design or the power combined with class competitive fuel economy that made people take notice of the return of the Regal. Either way, it was apparent that this wasn’t your father’s Buick Regal. A good thing too since the age demographic prior to the redesign was probably somewhere between 55 and 65. Now, just prior to the 2011 Chicago Auto Show Buick has...
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Chicago Auto Show Preview: 2012 Buick Regal With eAssist Option
Buick plans to add its eAssist mild-hybrid system to the 2012 Regal sedan as an option, making the Regal its second model to offer the mileage-increasing system. According to trade publication Ward's Auto, Buick will introduce the option at the Chicago Auto Show next week. Last November, General...
John Voelcker -
Chevy's Got the Volt; Will Cadillac Be GM's Hybrid Leader?
Among car buyers, none of the four surviving General Motors brands are really associated with hybrid vehicles. Now that customer deliveries have started for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car, GM's other brands will need some green cred too. What's the future of GM's Two-Mode...
John Voelcker -
GM Mild Hybrids: If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again
The 2011 Chevrolet Volt has gotten all the attention lately, including a narrow second-place finish in our GreenCarReports 2011 Best Car To Buy award, but General Motors also has a significant hybrid-electric vehicle program. While its full-size Two-Mode Hybrid trucks have had mixed success, the...
John Voelcker