The third GM plug-in hybrid powertrain?
Is the Volt just the beginning of GM’s plug-in hybrids?
Had GM not gone into bankruptcy, there is a good chance that GM would now be selling two different plug-in vehicles today. In addition to the Chevy Volt, GM had also developed an almost production-ready Saturn Vue dual mode plug-in hybrid. Of course, now Saturn is dead.
Perhaps the dual mode plug-in hybrid powertrain died with Saturn, but the new Chevrolet Mi-Ray plug-in hybrid concept suggests other plug-in hybrid architectures are in the works.
On the outside, the Mi-Ray is pure carbon-fiber concept, although the Mi-Ray does suggest a future design language that seems to fit the Chevrolet brand quite well.
But it isn’t the design that is particularly noteworthy, it’s the plug-in hybrid powertrain that powers the Mi-Ray, named “mid-electric” by GM – a “mid-engine, all-wheel-drive hybrid” according to MotorTrend.
Essentially, the Mi-Ray can function as an electric car using two 15-kWh motors to power the front wheels, but when more power is needed a turbocharged 1.5 liter I-4 can drive the real wheels. Thus, the Mi-Ray can be a front wheel drive vehicle, a rear wheel drive vehicle and an all wheel drive vehicle.
While the Mi-Ray might never be more than a concept, it’s powertrain might have a future. According to MotorTrend, “Uwe Grebe, GM’s executive director of advanced powertrain engineering, notes many components used in the Mi-ray are “a logical extension of GM’s current technology portfolio.”