NAIAS: First impressions

The Saturn View plug-in hybrid

I'm sitting in the Detroit airport finishing off a crappy gyro, so I thought I'd do some writing on NAIAS to help forget about how disappointed I am in my last meal before embarking on my five hour flight.

O.K., reserving the right to change my mind, I'm going to say the entire Saturn brand was best of show, at least in terms of hybrid vehicles and other clean technologies. First, I think the Saturn Vue hybrid has tremendous potential - if it's priced correctly. Second, Saturn also a lithium-powered Vue plug-in hybrid that is being road tested. Third, the Saturn Flextreme provides a path for Saturn to evolve into the E-Flex drive - powertrain of the Volt.

While NAIAS and most auto shows are getting greener, there are still far too many hybrid concepts hitting the show and not enough production ready vehicles. Having said that I was very impressed with the Quantum Fisker plug-in hybrid. Let's hope the technology powering this vehicle is as impressive as it's outward appearance. Likewise, Chrysler also showed some conceptual promise, such as the with the ZEO and the Voyager (more on all these vehicles later).

OK. I gotta get out of this restaurant and find a bar.