Volvo is taking aggressive steps to secure its future as an electric car maker. Not only has it announced its Polestar performance division will now be its own brand dedicated to electrified performance cars, but Volvo itself will go all electric beginning in 2019.
GM has similar domination plans with electric cars, too. It plans to be the first automaker to turn a profit on EVs and continues to push its money-losing Chevrolet Bolt EV across the United States. GM has also hinted the Bolt EV’s underpinnings will likely show up elsewhere, too.
But, does GM have any business building performance-oriented electric cars? That’s something we’d like you to discuss.
Polestar will be responsible for tuning and tweaking the internal combustion engine side of things when it comes to plug-in hybrids. Volvo will largely be responsible for the batteries. We think Chevrolet could handily do something similar with the Volt.
However, Chevrolet doesn’t have much equity in performance hybrids and electric cars. Tesla reigns supreme with its P90 D, but with Volvo’s Chinese funding, it’s likely Polestar will cook up some pretty significant performance as well.
So, should GM get in the business of producing a performance electric car? Vote in our poll and discuss down below if you feel compelled.
Comments
Tesla’s P90D? Really? Keep yourself updated! Tesla’s P100D can do 0-60 runs in 2.3s. I get that this blog is dedicated to news of GM, but you’ve gotta keep tabs on direct/indirect competitors too.
Having listened to the outgoing head of HR at GM, I would not be surprised if something like this is already under discussion or even development. The very core of how GM ran their organization even 2 years ago has been turned upside down. This is evident in the introduction of Maven, the even better quality results, the continued improvement on their product intros, the major reduction in fleet sales, etc.
Definitely!
This would be an opening for Pontiac. Reprogramed EVs with more durable motors (Joule and Jolt, for example) with Alpha-Omega platform sharing. But GM doesn’t listen to this site.
I’d say Saturn would make a better EV brand for multiple reasons, namely Saturn was always implementing unique ideas and it doesn’t do Pontiac any favours to its heritage
Obviously Pontiac has been GM’s historical performance brand – saying EVs wouldn’t be in that wheelbase is nonsensical.
Saturn was an import rival built in the days before the internet when GM wanted a brand that appeared to be separate from GM, and most people (in the general public) pre-internet actually didn’t know it was a GM brand. Most thought it was an import brand. That went away when the internet landed.
It was rumoured that when GM was deciding on brands to shutter or sell that it was proposed Saturn become an Eco and electric brand similar to Toyotas various Prius models. And in the event of a sale to (Roger) Penske that’s what they had planned for it as well.
In the past, Pontiac has been GM’s historical performance brand. That is in the past, not present, not future. We both know that niche auto brands are not in line with GM’s current direction. GM has shown consistently post bankruptcy that it intends to make their vehicles global and not just regional. Note how even GMC models are marketed in the middle east. Opel/Vauxhall is the latest casualty. I would not be surprised if Holden gets replaced with Chevrolet and Cadillac in 5 – 10 years (if they don’t decide to pull out of the market altogether). The point being is that GM has not shown any steps toward growth through investing in additional brands. Pontiac does not fit anywhere in their future plans, as there is not an economic reason to bring it back when Chevrolet (both a historical and current performance brand) has better capabilities. Pontiac only has any brand cache in the US, and so doesn’t fit with global growth direction. Speaking as a current owner of 4 Pontiacs, I feel your pain, but also have come to accept that that ship has sailed.
That being said, Chevrolet could tweak a Bolt for performance. They’re only likely to do so when the performance EV market builds more momentum. It would be nice to see them lead the way, but performance EV isn’t popular enough for a business case, yet.
GMC is sold in exactly two markets: North America (NAFTA) and the rich oil dictatorships on the Arab peninsula.
As far as I know this has been like that for a long time and there are no plans to change that.
How is it that there are ” 2 ” Zach’s on this forum ? I have been contributing to this forum for sometime now !?!
Whats up GMA ?
I’d like to see a sport EV SUV . Something similar to the Lexus 450h as far as a hybrid . Even though it’s not sporty I think GM should make the XT5 a hybrid as an option , calling it something else like XT5h .
The Original Zach !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Volt’s electric motors could be upgraded to produce more torque, and some added suspension upgrades could turn it into a true performance electric vehicle.
The Volt seems to be the best example of an all electric propelled vehicle since the gasoline engine is only used as a generator and never drives the wheels. When the hydrogen fuel cell is perfected and the price comes down, it could more easily take over as the electric generator with very little, if any, other modification to the vehicle. Hybrids aren’t true electric cars and shouldn’t even be called electric cars, because most of their propulsion comes from a gasoline engine and not from electric motors and therefore you won’t see much improvement in the areas of efficiency or airborn pollutants.
When a car company says they’re building another hybrid, so what, because it doesn’t move us in the direction of releasing our dependency on oil. Hybrids came along to distract everyone by trying to make people think that we were moving away from manufacturing vehicles that produce less greenhouse gases, but obviously the reduction is so small that it’s not even worth it and not all that impressive, It’s just a pitiful excuse for an electric car if you can even call it that and we shouldn’t even be building any more hybrid cars.
If every car manufacturer were to build exclusively electric cars like the Volt, the prices to produce and sell them would quickly come down. Take, for example, solar energy. The price of solar panels has come down 400% in the past 5 years. This is what we would see with electric vehicles too.
I’d settle for a decent crossover EV or hybrid.
What about entering a Cadillac branded full electric LMP1, powered from a fuel cell, in next year’s 24 hours of Le Mans?