Hybrid Car Review

As GM moves to sell off Saturn, one of the bidders is thinking they could capitalize on the Saturn brand by turning it into a hybrid and plug-in hybrid brand. (Source: GM set to send terms of sale sheets to potential Saturn buyers | detnews.com | The Detroit News)

Gint Federas et. al. know that a hybrid/plug-in hybrid brand might be hard to sell with gas selling at $2 a gallon. But they believe oil prices are only going to continue to rise. 

"When it comes time and gas prices hit $3 or $4 a gallon, we'll differentiate ourselves," he said.

Eventually, Federas would turn Saturn into an electric car company.

It's an interesting idea and one that would appeal to the old buyers of Saturn, who were looking for something different from an American car company. It's also not a unique idea. Fisker is looking to build a low-cost plug-in hybrid (Source: Fisker CEO has plans for smaller electric car in 2010 - The Oakland Press Business).

“We’re first doing the four-door and then we’re doing the convertible and then we’re planning some third derivative off the Karma platform. Then we’re planning a high-volume vehicle for a lower price. We’ve applied for a Department of Energy grant. If that loan comes through, we’ll have this vehicle on the road in 29 months,” he said.

No word on what he means by 'low cost,' however.  The Chevy Volt, the highly touted E-REV from GM due out in 2010 will cost $40K or more, while the Prius and Insight are coming in at half the price.  If real world fuel economy reports from plug-in hybrids continue to come in at 60-70 mpg, rather than the 100 mpg people are hoping for, that price difference is going to make it hard to sell a high production plug-in hybrid.