

Buick to launch its next generation BAS hybrid system









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RE: But it's a GM....
By torpor on 11/15/2010 3:20:13 PM , Rating: 1
I would.

Think of it this way: do you recall the MPG number that was published for the Chevy Volt?

Do you think that number has anything to do with real fuel usage?

These cars are both great examples of engineering for the test. In reality, an electric booster like in the LaCrosse will have little effect on highway efficiency; that should be obvious by how they claim the electric motor will be used.

The Volt suffers the same problem: if going only by the federal MPG test, it seems incredible. Do you think the 40-mile range on the Volt is because GM did careful market research to find the appropriate range of the bell curve of commute distance, handed that data off to engineers, who then used it to create a best-possible tradeoff of cost and technical capability to come up with the system they created?

Or did they just study the test and find a way to blow the curve?

If real efficiency was the thing, GM would do a turbo diesel. Or a full-time electric motor with a dedicated generator, like trains have used for years in an industry obsessed with fuel efficiency. Or some other HOLISITC answer that addresses the question of efficency as a full statement, rather than some odd bolt-on.

In the end, there's a good reason that car commercials don't talk about Miles Per Gallon, but rather Em Pee Gees. So people like you think that 7 more of them is really, really good. It's just building to the test; also known as marketing-driven engineering.

And, for all the political BS in the replies to my original post above, this is what I think the biggest problem with American companies is today. They think marketing is enough to make up for uncompetetive, marketing-feature-list driven products. All other problems stem from this one, because truly great products will make up for a lot of organizational failures. But the self-deception required to pull this sort of nonsense will create more problems than the biggest bailout can cure.

I will say that the posters' assumptions on my problems with GM are a great view into their own personal issues with industry....

RE: But it's a GM....

RE: But it's a GM....
By torpor on 11/15/10, Rating: 0
RE: But it's a GM....


RE: But it's a GM....
RE: But it's a GM....
That tinfoil hat on securely?


Well whooptie-frickn-doo.





RE: But it's a GM....
Yeah, since when was MPG not MPG?





RE: But it's a GM....
By rvd2008 on 11/15/2010 4:25:25 PM , Rating: 2
GM would do ... a full-time electric motor with a dedicated generator

Hm, sounds like Volt to me . Not that I like it - IMHO overkill for some a small car. Totally "HOLISTIC" and overpriced approach.
Why not diesel? Dunno, probably not easy/cheap/rewarding?

RE: But it's a GM....

It's no such thing.

It's not even close.


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