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LOS ANGELES - General Motors Corp. today detailed its commitment to building new electric vehicles as it attempts to shed its reputation for producing gas-guzzling trucks.
Stung by criticism that it conspired to kill the electric car, the world's largest automaker said it plans to make a plug-in electric hybrid version of the Saturn Vue Green Line, with double the fuel efficiency of any current sport utility vehicle (SUV).
GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner called the plug-in hybrid technology a "top priority" for the automaker.
"The technological hurdles are real, but we believe they are also surmountable," he told reporters at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show.
The Saturn Vue Green Line is GM's first hybrid in the US market, running on petrol and a battery that is charged while it is moving. A plug-in hybrid would run longer on a battery that can be recharged from an external electrical outlet.
GM also plans to expand the hybrid system to the Saturn Aura Green Line and Chevrolet Malibu sedans in 2007.
The effort is part of a GM effort to demonstrate how it is investing some of the US$9 ($13.44) billion saved through a wrenching programme of job cuts and plant closures in hybrid technology, an area where it has lagged Toyota Motor Corp.
GM recognizes that to change consumer attitudes about its brands, it has to address criticism that it has not done enough to drive advances in fuel economy, a GM executive who asked not to be named told Reuters ahead of the announcement.
Wagoner said vehicles that run on a mixture of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol, as well as fuel-cell vehicles, which use hydrogen to create electricity and emit only water, are part of its plan to reduce US reliance on imported oil.
Wagoner also said all versions of its Hummer SUVs will offer an engine powered by bio-fuels within three years.
GM is pushing its green image amid falling US sales -- down 9.4 per cent through October. It has also been losing US market share to Toyota, which has ridden its reputation for quality and fuel-efficiency to a No. 1 position in the local market.
In 2007, GM plans to debut a two-mode hybrid system in the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon full-size SUVs and plans to launch it in the Cadillac Escalade full-size SUV and the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks in 2008.
A two-mode system uses two sets of gears and two electric motors and maintains two driving modes -- one for city driving, the other for highways.
The GMC Yukon hybrid, made in partnership with German automakers DaimlerChrysler AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, will have 25 per cent better fuel economy than the petrol version, GM said.
Wagoner said he is uncertain about when a plug-in hybrid will be commercially available.
- REUTERS
