Saturn Flextreme Concept: Today, tomorrow, or never?
Hotter than the Volt?I'm not nuts about the Chevy Volt design, but I love the idea behind the E Flex Drive. On the other hand, maybe its the fact that the Jetsons was my favorite cartoon as a kid, but I love the Flextreme Concept that has found its way into both GM's Saturn and Opel brands.
Yes, the Saturn Flextreme looks like some science fiction experiment and that is exactly what I like most about this concept. Yet, even if GM perfects the E Flex Drive and the Chevy Volt is on the road by 2010, the world might never see this hot new Saturn idea.
Ultimately, I'd love to see the design cues of the Flextreme translated into a dual mode hybrid vehicle today, which seems a fantastic way to challenge today's Toyota Prius success. While the Chevy Volt will be a huge success if GM can achieve the E-Flex Drive, I still think its a mistake not to challenge the Prius today, and the Flextreme seems like the perfect design for such a task.
Labels: Chevy Volt electric vehicle concept, NAIAS, saturn flextreme concept, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
10:44 AM
2 Comments:
The sad part is there is nothing extraordinarily outrageous about this car...all the technology and design could be completely turned in a production model with little to no changes.
I no longer care for concept cars because 99% of the time they are completely bogus and just gimmicks to show of nothing really. So my faith in auto firms has gone down the drain.
For example...the Prius. While it's a fantastic car, the look and shape of that car is utter crap. There is NO REASON WHATSOEVER Toyota could not have designed a hybrid that looks like this Flex or something close to it. Cost? Rubbish...there are many ways to keep costs down on designs like this.
There is so much more auto makers could do to improve their cars. So much more they could do to make them look better and have cleaner lines. We won't see that because the auto maker's mentality is why give people something better than they need?
I highly highly doubt you'll see this car in production...and if you do, it'll end up being a vulgur morphed version that really has no resemblance other than perhaps the name.
I agree that to a great extent concept vehicles have become very disappointing, especially now that looking green has become so important. Unfortunately, looking green has nothing to do with acting green and almost every automaker is still far more focused on perception rather than reality.
Still, judgement day is coming to the automotive world, and automakers will either make these concepts in order to survive, or they will be destroyed for their deceptive act.
Also, many don't like the shape and look of the Prius. I don't mind it. Still, the Prius is one of the most aerodynamic mass-produced vehicles every made, so I'm willing to cut Toyota some slack on design.
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