Larry Nitz, General Motors' executive director for hybrid powertrains, speaking yesterday at the Plug-In 2008 Conference in San Jose, confirmed that the company is developing a plug-in hybrid Saturn Vue. The announcement comes as GM looks for ways to disseminate Chevy Volt-like technology through its other products. They're not telling when the plug-in Vue will be ready, but in the meantime, Saturn will launch a FWD two-mode hybrid Vue next year, and GM is also thought to be developing a plug-in hybrid based on the Saturn Flextreme concept.
Jalopnik Snap Judgement: Blah. We guess GM needs to do this to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy Requirements and to give consumers an easy way to be "green." But really, is building a simple, lightweight car that gets decent economy really that hard? Heck, stick a two-mode hybrid in it if you have to, just don't try to tell us that SUVs can be economical. Someday, consumers are going to wake up to all this hypocrisy, GM better hope they're ready for the backlash.
[via Motor Authority]