Cadillac Converj Plug-In Reportedly Re-Approved For Production
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On, off and now back on again. The Cadillac Converj was originally showcased at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show in concept form, sporting award-winning razor sharp looks, two doors and a Voltec powertrain. With a great response from the media and public alike, the Converj was given the green light by GM’s brass later that year.
By early 2010, the Converj project was given the axe, for reasons that included a predicted loss of money on every sale of the vehicle and that the added weight from luxurious amenities would reduce the electric range of the Converj to undesired levels.
Now — perhaps from the pressure of over-zealous CAFE regulations — the Converj project is back on, and will sport an updated version of the Chevy Volt’s current plug-in powertrain when it launches in 2013. General Motors also figures the car is another way to lower the production costs of the Volt, which in turn will make the vehicle more affordable for consumers. In addition, the price premium of such a vehicle from Cadillac (say, $60,000) sounds a little more reasonable and attractive than a $40,000 Volt. And with Cadillac’s rival monikers hard at work developing compact electrified vehicles of their own (such as Audi’s Urban Concept EV, and BMW’s i3 and i8) it would be foolish for GM to not offer its own halo car into the fray. Color us excited. There’s also the thought of the Converj being offered with four doors.
Source: Green Car Reports
Oh please let it happen. It was such a great concept car, so I hope it’s not just a re-skinned Volt. Does this mean that we are going to see a Cadillac Sixteen flagship? You know, if GM is in the mood to green light great concepts….
Cadilac should have a family of at least 3 of these eco cars, a city car similar to recent concept, a converj, and a family oriented SRX type vehicle…
This Should Have came out Way before the Volt, at a $60K + price point, it would have been Way Easier to Swallow, besides, I thought Caddy was the High Tech Division in the 1st place…….WOW, how the Mighty has Fallen to Chevy, GM’s “Make It Everything” Company an Half Ass the Rest!!!!
The converj will be a great compact car that will seat 4 very comfortably in sport luxury and the chassis is the ATS 2 door. and it will be a very advanced looking ATS to differentiate with the standard ATS 2 door The roofline will get more formal but the wedge shape will continue. The voltec 1.5 may even make it into the ATS 4 door if demand is there. The name may stay but is being decided. The telematics will be industry leading for use and function. The Xts is also on the drawing board for a larger voltec platform with fantastic fuel economy. Cadilac will suprise everyone.
Am I the only person in the room who thinks this car is too sexy to be a EV? I am crossing my fingers and hoping that they have some kind of naturally aspired engine in the converj. From the looks of it as far as the converj in it’s coupe form goes it walks all over the cts coupe from a looks perspective. Maybe this is more to come from cadillac as we have not yet seen variants of the ATS .
Jd the inside guy…
The ATS seems to be much more conservative than the Converj design language…
lol it seems that the ATS is a mini cts with the concept XTS/ATS grill