General Motors officially ended production of the Chinese-market Buick Velite 5 back in the summer of 2019.
According to a post on electric car forum Speak EV, GM’s Chinese joint venture, SAIC-GM-Wuling, produced just under 4,400 examples of the Buick Velite 5 in China. The vehicle, which was exclusive to the Chinese market, was introduced at Auto Shanghai in April of 2017.
The Buick Velite 5 was essentially a Buick-badged version of the Chevrolet Volt EV, which was discontinued in North America in early 2019.
Like the second-generation Chevrolet Volt EV that was sold in North America, the Buick Velite 5 uses a permanent-magnet electric motor drive unit and a 1.5L four-cylinder range extender. SAIC-GM claimed a total range of 768 kilometers (477 miles) in extended-range mode and 116 kilometers (72 miles) of pure electric range.
SAIC-GM had little use for the aging Buick Velite 5 after introducing the pure-electric Buick Velite 6, in addition to the Velite 6 Plus last fall. The Buick Velite’s 35-kWh lithium-ion battery pack provides a driving range of up to 301 kilometers or 188 miles, while the Velite 6 Plus, which has a 52.5-kWh battery, boasts a maximum driving range of 410 kilometers or 254 miles. Meanwhile, over at Chevrolet, the Menlo EV uses the same 52.5-kWh battery as the Velite 6 Plus and has an identical range of 410 kilometers.
Chevrolet Menlo EV
China extended its New Energy Vehicle Credit program earlier this month. Those who purchase a battery-electric vehicle with over 400 kilometers of range (about 250 miles) are eligible to receive a 25,000 RMB ($3,500 USD) tax credit from the Chinese government. The latter was expected to phase out the electric vehicle credits after lowering the rebate buyers could receive in June of last year, from 50,000 RMB to the current amount of 25,000 RMB, but it has elected to continue with the program.
SAIC-GM also has two new pure-electric city cars in the works in the way of the Wuling EV and the new Baojun E300.
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Comments
The Velite, the Regal, the Verano. They’re lucky
Bring that Chevy Menlo EV to the U.S. before the foreign brands take over the electric SUV market! It can sell well if it costs less than the Tesla Model Y or the Ford Mustang Mach-E.
As long as it is made in the US. I think any company would be weary or bringing a Chinese- made vehicle (or anything for that matter) in light of COVID 19. If GM were smart, they would immediately stop sale of the Envision to consumers and dump what they have in the dealer and rental car fleet pool.
GM is brainless they should had those vehicles and more here in the USA. I have a 2018 Volt when the lease is up I will be going to a Toyota RAV4 Plugin Hybrid because GM will not have a plug in hybrid , they drop the Volt and have no nation wide fast charge for long trips for their EV, just brainless. AND THE DON’T stock the cars at dealer ships. Wake up GM.
The Bolt EV is already a more capable vehicle than the Menlo. So I’m not sure why GM would bring the Menlo to the US. Not to mention the Bolt EV is getting a refresh and a sibling (Bolt EUV). Which should be on the market in about a year from now.
I agree. Just think if Voltec was expanded to compact and midsize CUVs. It was a huge mistake to drop that technology especially after spending so much money on it.
I had version 1 & 2 Volt. Loved them. Now my wife has a madel 3 & I’ll be getting a model Y soon. GM – sadly, you lose.
GM doesn’t care AT ALL about the United States, or very much about The West, does it? All about China. There’s nothing i could say to express my rage as a mechanic, as a foreign-born US citizen, as a witness to the evils of communism, that hasn’t been said already to no avail. Buick, i know, is the premiere marque in the unhappy people’s “republic”. No worker in the Worker’s Paradise can own a Buick for many reasons, but one is they wouldn’t get permission. Buicks are driven by the State and those who visit the Dictatorship on captive millions. Period. The GM logo is the Mark of Surveillance; its slogan for Asia ought to be “Wouldn’t you really have Repression?”
Thank you. I have always wondered the same as you. Kind of like a hypocrisy on the United States’ part. When I was going to school, we were taught that communism was bad, yet this nation’s largest trading partner is a communist dictatorship.
Gee I wonder who passed this along this 8 month old link to GMA 24 hours ago. Ahem.