Neat two-motor soft-top first victim of GM Saab sale? GM's decision to wind down Saab puts the subsidiary's e-car development plans in doubt. Which is a bugger, because Saab's effort looked rather good. Rather than than cook up some dull-as-dishwater leccy city car, those crazy Swedes opted for a twin-motor 250kW (335bhp), 115mph two-door convertible that could hit 60mph in …
During the whole automotive industry crash, all the American firms pledged to develop leccy cars and change the way they're operating. (I think GM had the great homepage slogan "This isn't a bailout for failure, but an investment for success!", all in green.) Now the banks are in hot water and the attention has shifted, first Crysler and now GM have mothballed their eCar projects.
ARGH!!!
When will these guys realise that innovation is required, and they need to move with the times! Their business model is flawed, no that's not right, I mean FUBAR, and they need to SORT THEIR SH!T OUT! They can complain about imports, unions, and a recession all they like, but if they build crap that noone wants to drive, guzzling a gazillion litres a mile, they're going to go bust no matter what.
*breathe in* *breathe out*
Think I'm done here...
Sale of Opel to Magna + Russian development bank.
Protracted negotiations.
Finally GM says: "Um, no, we'd rather keep Opel" (and probably continue ruining it).
Sale of Saturn to Penske.
Protracted negotiations.
Finally GM says: "Um, no, we'd rather keep Saturn, and shut it down".
Sale of Saab to several potential buyers, last of which is Spyker.
Protracted negotiations.
Finally GM says: "Um, no, we'd rather keep Saab, and shut it down".
See a pattern here?
Is that it needs a big lead.
This is ok if you are a motoring journalist and live in the Cotswolds and have a big garage with a power outlet.
Those of us who work in IT and rent affordable slums do not have this luxury. Half the time I cannot get parked near the door, and assuming I did, would have to keep the front door / window open to run a power lead out, whilst some burglar sneaks in and steals my Xbox360 (only for them to get suspended community service and counselling, but if I were to defend by property, nuLabour would throw me in jail and throw away the key cf: Tony Martin, but that's another rant for another day).
Even assuming that you get a power lead out, you will have the feral youths pulling the plug out so you're left with no charge in the morning, or someone is guaranteed to trip over it, sprain an ankle, and sue you via ClaimsDirect such that you can't afford the monthly payments for your leccymobile.
The alternative of filling up at a filling station is also useless, as I don't have 8 hours to fill it up every 90 miles.
The real alternative is in Hydrogen power / Nuclear Fusion.
Whereas petrol cars can all travel the same distance no matter how you drive them or at what speed? Drive a BMW M5 gently at a constant 50mph and it will go a f*** of a lot further on a tank of gas than if you bounce the tacho needle off the stop at every opportunity and drive at 155.
I think the market is saturated before these hit the streets. Until charging and range problems are solved, all of these e-cars need a tiny diesel charging generator. Nothing big like the Volt - just something that can quietly work while the car is parked outside. As a generator, the diesel motor could operate at peak efficiency and take advantage of emissions controls that require high temperature exhaust. When close to home the generator won't be needed at all.
I don't see any environmental friendliness in needing to buy one long-range car and one short-range car.
The Saab 9-3 is certainly more distinctive than the competition 318i or A4, <stereotype> driven by educated professionals </stereotype> it's loss is mourned by those of us who prefer the alternative to sterile Teutonic boxes.
What quirky exec car does that leave us with? Volvo S60, Citroen C6, erm.... that seems to be it.
RIP Saab.
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