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Junkyard Find: 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line

The Truth About Cars

Honda beat everybody to the production gasoline-electric hybrid game in the United States, putting the Insight in showrooms in 1999. Toyota followed with the Prius a year later, but it took GM until 2006 to introduce its first true gasoline-electric hybrid here. The Vue's platform outlived Saturn and still lives today, though.

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Junkyard Find: 2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid

The Truth About Cars

We'll remain in the 21st century this week, with a very rare example of one of GM's early attempts to sell hybrid-electric cars. The first mass-produced hybrid-electric car sold in the United States was the 2000 Honda Insight , joined in the following year by the Toyota Prius.

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Toward a Plug-in Hybrid Saturn Vue

Plugs and Cars

GM today announced two contracts to "design and test lithium-ion batteries" for use in the Saturn Vue Plug-in Hybrid announced last month at the LA Auto Show. Johnson Controls/SAFT, the huge battery company at which President Bush first publicly announced his support for plug-in hybrids, received one contract.

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NREL/GM Project Finds Ultracaps Perform as Well or Better Than NiMH Pack for Energy Storage in Mild Hybrid Vehicle

Green Car Congress

A National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) project, funded by GM, found that an ultracapacitor-based energy storage system (ESS) in a Saturn VUE BAS (belt alternator starter) mild hybrid performed at least as well or better than the NiMH battery system in the production hybrid. Tags: Batteries Hybrids. Pesaran, A.;

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GM Suspending 2010 Malibu Hybrid Production; Next-Generation Li-Ion Mild Hybrid Expected for 2011

Green Car Congress

General Motors has announced that there will be no retail production of the Chevrolet Malibu hybrid for model year (MY) 2010 due to “elevated inventory levels of the 2009 model.” A limited amount of 2010 Malibu hybrids may be produced to fulfill fleet sales requests. 2008 Malibu hybrid. Click to enlarge. Jack Rosebro.

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GM Will Apply Plug-in Hybrid Technology To One of Its Remaining Four Core Brands, Delivery Still in 2011

Green Car Congress

Prototype Saturn Vue PHEV plugging in to a Coulomb Chargepoint ( earlier post ) in San Jose, CA. In a post on GM’s FastLane blog, Vice Chairman Tom Stephens said that the company will apply plug-in hybrid technology to one of the four core brands remaining after the restructuring: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. Click to enlarge.

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GM Previews First Two-Mode, Front-Wheel-Drive Hybrid Transaxle

Green Car Congress

General Motors 2MT70 FWD two-mode hybrid transaxle, as seen from. GM Developing Additional Full Hybrid System for Smaller Vehicles. To address that, GM is developing a third full hybrid system targeted at those applications, said Larry Nitz, GM Executive Director of Hybrid Powertrains, during an interview at SAE 2009 World Congress.

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