Buick Lacrosse eAssist to launch in third quarter

Chinese Car News | Ash | June 10, 2011 at 10:33 am

GM are getting ready to launch their second mild hybrid in the Chinese market, the first of course being the last generation Buick Lacrosse which came in mild hybrid form for the Olympics and World Expo events in Beijing and Shanghai. According to reports the eAssist model will be priced just 20,000rmb more than the regular version of the Lacrosse.

The eAssist will be based on the 2.4L four cylinder engine in the Lacrose and will carry 115v worth of li-ion in the trunk to give the Lacrosse a 15kW boost. The electric motor will be able to deliver 15bhp which will be enough to power the car around town under electric power, once out of juice the Lacrosse can flip over to gasoline power without any interruption, the eAssist model also has a stop/start system to cut out engine power when the car reaches a stop.

The good news is that the price may increase by just 20,000rmb for the eAssist version, the bad news is that trunk space has decreased by 10l (70 to 60 liters) to make space for the batteries.

Ash

Ash came to China at 18 on a whim and never left. Some 10 years later he collected a degree and a family along the way and now focuses his time on watching the Chinese car industry develop. He has witnessed the market change from being minor backyard market in to the world's biggest and most important market for all car manufacturers. You can contact or connect with him via Linkedin by clicking the 'Website' link.

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