Rumorpile: New Book Says Holden Was Working On An Electric Supercar

[William Maley]

Automakers have a number of projects that never see the light of day. But sometimes, a shelved project will be revealed and cause many to wonder 'what if?'

News.com.au reports a new book out next month says Holden was working on a top secret electric supercar that would have been faster than Bugatti Veyron. But this project was canned in 2008 as the global financial crisis began to take hold. The new book - Holden: Our Car - says Holden did the design and engineering work before presenting it to executives in Detroit.

Images from a video touting GM's global design showed a Holden supercar with gullwing doors and profile similar to McLaren 570S. According to sources, the vehicle would pay homage to the Hurricane concept from the late 60s. The images made their way onto the web before being pulled down. Power would come from two electric motors and be paired with all-wheel drive system. The 0-100 kph (0-62 mph) time would have been 2.3 seconds.

Holden is said to have produced a full-size concept in 2008 and presented it to a GM management conference in Florida a year later. The plan was to sell the vehicle globally as a Cadillac, Chevrolet, Holden, and Opel. Before the plug was pulled, Holden was talking with suppliers about batteries and other components.

To this day, Holden has denied that such a car existed.

Source: News.com.au

View full article

[G. David Felt]

Very Cool, too bad this did not happen sooner. I agree sell it as a Cadillac.

 

Love the Story in the AU web site.

 

http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/motoring/new-book-reveals-holden-designed-a-top-secret-electric-supercar-just-before-the-2008-global-financial-crisis/news-story/68abb82af582eb4e0f4921082352f833

 

 

More images at the story online.

[aurora97]

And they couldn't green light this to save the brand?

[G. David Felt]

That image does look like a Cadillac logo on the front. This would have made an awesome halo sports car for Cadillac.

[ocnblu]

That's the Holden lion logo.  Needs LS swap.

[Drew Dowdell]

What is it with GM and these buildable concepts that they never build? El miraj, the Buick concepts, this...

[Robert Hall]

They tease, tease and tease...2dr hardtops, 4dr convertibles, large luxury sedans, sports cars...but then cold hard reality of the market wanting more trucks, SUVs and CUVs sets in..

Edited August 20, 2016 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[G. David Felt]

I really hope GM gets some EV Mojo to bring out some freakin world leading auto's to pounce on Tesla and the Upstarts from China like Xiaopeng Motors.

[ocnblu]

2 hours ago, dfelt said:

I really hope GM gets some EV Mojo to bring out some freakin world leading auto's to pounce on Tesla and the Upstarts from China like Xiaopeng Motors.

*sound of crickets* 

[FAPTurbo]

... is what you hear when a Tesla blows by everyone because it's so quiet!

[ocnblu]

18 minutes ago, FAPTurbo said:

... is what you hear when a Tesla blows by everyone because it's so quiet!

???    You are right.  Tesla blows.

Edited October 24, 2017 by ocnblu

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

???    You are right.  Tesla blows.

You need to get out more, been a dry spell I see!  

[Drew Dowdell]

On 10/24/2017 at 6:34 PM, ocnblu said:

*sound of crickets* 

 

[ocnblu]

No I meant from the buying public.  Who's gonna buy all this crap when study after study clearly states ppl are not excited over it?

[G. David Felt]

13 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

No I meant from the buying public.  Who's gonna buy all this crap when study after study clearly states ppl are not excited over it?

I disagree, studies show people are excited but they want more choices. That is what will come over the next 18 to 24 months. 

Especially with one company having rapid charge batteries, just time before others build them and then the floodgates will open and people will happily give up the smell of gas / oil and higher maintenance and move over to EV with home plugin to charge.

Afterall, never having to run out to the gas station, charging up your auto in 6 min for 200 miles or 12 min for 400 miles is nice. Society is ready for change more than you might think.

[oldshurst442]

We all know how accurate surveys are...

For both sides of the fence...

One thing that is clear though, EVs are getting attention from the masses. Big time attention.

If 400 000 pre-orders of the Model 3 is not telling...

Then...

Quote

 

Sales Results - USA - Bolt EV

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2017	1,162	952	978	1,292	1,566	1,642	1,971	2,107	2,632				14,302
2016												579	579

Sales Results - Canada - Bolt EV

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2017	6	86	241	187	177	169	117	82	227				1,292

Read more: http://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/chevrolet/chevrolet-bolt-ev/chevrolet-bolt-ev-sales-numbers/#ixzz4wfDfBXDX

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then...

15 000 Chevrolet Bolt sales in the US and Canada so far should at least wake you up to it!!! (The year is not over yet)

The Bolt is not a sexy looking car. Nor is the badge on the hood of the Bolt. It aint Tesla. Its a Chevy.  Chevrolet is not the trendy badge Tesla is...Chevy is just a 100 year old staid and mundane company killing us with their defective key ignitions and pollutin' V8s...

Tesla's shine might dull a tad with their woos and the Bolt might get the jolt...

But...15 000 and the year aint over...it might (it will) see 20 000 sales...on a sedan that is not really a sedan but is a CUV but it aint really a CUV that is stubby and dare I say ugly that is small that is a hatchback and those types of cars dont really sell well in the US but CUVs do and the Bolt is a CUV but not really...

What Im getting at is that had the Bolt been an ICE car, it probably fail miserably...

What I am also hinting at is...already...the Bolt in its first year...ALREADY... is more successful than the total 2011 Volt sales of the Volt's first year. And in 2012 and 2013...the Volt had 23 000...

The Volt has a generator for range anxiety folk while the Bolt...does not...

If one cannot see the pendulum sway at least the other way a tad...then nothing will...

That person could use the little laughing emoticon all he wants...only time will prove him (or me) wrong...(Im not a cocky SOB...EV sales could take a fall...prolly not!)

But I got the planet on my side...and the further time marches on...the more the planet is at the very minimum intrigued by the EV...

PLUS the fact that the planet's politicians want to get rid of the ICE and people wont really have a choice...so...at that point...does it really matter if by chance people dont want EVs when the politicians are seeing it through that that the people will have no choice BUT to buy EVs?

You really got to be living in a cave to NOT see this!

 

Edited October 27, 2017 by oldshurst442

[G. David Felt]

@oldshurst442 & @ocnblu Tesla says they now have as of last week 512,000 pre-orders on the books for the Tesla 3. That speaks big to the desire for quiet EV auto's and as Oldshurst442 so accurately stated above, the BOLT is doing very well in North America and in Europe where they have suspended sales to allow catch up with the thousands of preorders.

[ocnblu]

I see I've triggered the word machine again. 

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, ocnblu said:

I see I've triggered the word machine again. 

The word machine, huh?

Words...when bunched together form knowledge...

Knowledge...

 

Quote

 

The desire of knowledge, like the thirst for riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it.

Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) British writer.

When you cease to strive to understand, then you will know without understanding.

Chinese proverb

The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) Thirty-fifth President of the USA

Acquire new knowledge whilst thinking over the old, and you may become a teacher of others.

Confucius (BC 551-BC 479) Chinese philosopher.

 

 

But the way you go on about...

        

Quote

 

     It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.

Epictetus (50-120) Greek philosopher.

Only a fool knows everything. A wise man knows how little he knows.

Unknown Source

No man knows less than the man who knows it all

Unknown Source

 

 

The facts are in front of you...you prefer to make fun of me...laugh at  me...

You laugh at the facts and at knowledge...

I cant help your ignorance...I could only try to enlighten you. Its all up to you after that...

 

Quote

 

Knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.

Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) British statesman.

 

 

[Robert Hall]

12 hours ago, dfelt said:

I disagree, studies show people are excited but they want more choices. That is what will come over the next 18 to 24 months. 

Especially with one company having rapid charge batteries, just time before others build them and then the floodgates will open and people will happily give up the smell of gas / oil and higher maintenance and move over to EV with home plugin to charge.

Afterall, never having to run out to the gas station, charging up your auto in 6 min for 200 miles or 12 min for 400 miles is nice. Society is ready for change more than you might think.

Modern society may be ready for a change, but not the Amish..they still party like it's 1699...

[Cmicasa the Great]

First time ever hearing about this concept.. Wow.. really ahead of its time. The tech itself is just now showing up in many cars.

[balthazar]

3 prime factors are necessary for mass consumption of EVs- comparable range, comparable pricing, readily available 'refueling'. It's just going to take time.
• Current cost factor can be overcome by educating fuel savings over gas.
• Refueling I will agree- in general, factually, it's not a major issue. But perceptually it is.

I also see what ocnblu is saying: factually/ right now, 1% of sales is nothing, and we are about 15 years into EV/PHEV cars. If the consumer agreed with the seeming hype levels, I would think that niche should be 15% by now- that would be a gain of 170,000 sales per year. Not happening yet. U.S. is only on pace to eclipse 2016 EV/PHEV sales by 31,000. That's only 620 more EV/PHEV sales per state per YEAR. For all the attention, the growth rate is minuscule.

Gov't entities talking about ICE-free cities / countries in 12 years are not looking at the data.

Edited October 27, 2017 by balthazar

[oldshurst442]

37 minutes ago, balthazar said:

I also see what ocnblu is saying: factually/ right now, 1% of sales is nothing, and we are about 15 years into EV/PHEV cars. If the consumer agreed with the seeming hype levels, I would think that niche should be 15% by now- that's only gaining 170,000 sales per year. Not happening yet. U.S. is only on pace to eclipse 2016 EV/PHEV sales by 31,000.

That gap is changing at an exponential rate.

Its only gonna get closer...like you said...with time...

15 years of EVs?

Sure...

In reality though...its closer to 5 years.

Why?

That is when the Model S was brought to market.

Why the Model S? Are you crazy and dumb Oldshurst442?

The Model S is really the first 100% pure EV to be sold to the public without any internal combustion engine help...either as a back-up engine or as a generator.

The Nissan Leaf would argue that...but...

The Tesla Model S is the first to have a range where as a daily driver..NO RANGE ANXIETY should be apparent...nay sayers and fraidy cats that have no concept of math and distance need not apply here...

The Model S is the first to actually buck the trend of the less than 1% in its respective market...

The Model S is really the 1st EV to change the public's perception of EVs on all kinds of levels...as a status symbol, as a family car, as a daily driver and so on...

Also...still...in 2017...CHOICES are STILL VERY limited...

Example...

The NHL this year...just included in their league a new team...the Las Vegas Knights.

We could laugh at them for not winning a Stanley Cup...while the Boston Bruins have 6...the Chicago Blackhawks have 5...

WHAT in the world are you talking about?

Well...we could talk all day about EVs representing not even 1% of the market...

There simply isnt ANY choices for EVs to RIVAL ICE sales...

Dont give me the Ford Fusion Energi and EV argument over the Fusion ecoboost sales differential...

PRICE advantage is NOT in the Fusion electrics favour...

Musk is discussing production hell...yet 512 000 orders are in for the Model 3...

People KNOW that the Model 3 WILL NOT be delivered ANYTIME SOON THIS decade...yet they WANT this car...

When GM gets their 20 models out by the time Tesla FINALLY delivers their 512 000 Model 3s...what will be the percentage then?

With 512 000 Model 3s delivered and about half for GM...200 000 sales annually for EVs...shyte the Volt alone has about sold that many to date since its introduction in 2011...it aint far fetched that GM could sell 200 000 EVs annually in 2023 when they get PRODUCT available...

Hence the NHL analogy...

Give the Knights some time...in 20 years...they might have won 6 Stanley Cups equaling the Bruins in what the Bruins did in 80 years...

I dont like the 1% argument because it does NOT reflect 2017 and beyond's reality...

If Tesla went the way of Bombardier and the CSeries to Airbus and sold 50.1% of its Model 3 to GM or Ford or VW or Toyota...I would say 512 000 and then some Model 3s would be delivered by late 2018 EASILY...keeping the badge up front as a Tesla though...and that is why I under sell GM's EV sales by half of that...because GM does not have that cool factor just yet...but by the time GM rolls out their 20 models...that probably WILL change...

At 512 000 Model 3s...that 1% in total sales goes up...and if we just calculate the Model 3s direct and indirect ICE competition (on different competitive factors such as price, RWD versus RWD versus AWD, exterior dimensions, interior dimensions and the like), at 512 000 sales and DELIVERIES...that percentage is a helluva lot more than just 1%...and THAT is just with one model...

GM will also have its own...as with Toyota and possibly Ford and VW and Polestar...

Even if Tesla would go belly up....there WILL be a manufacturer to pick up those 512 000 EV sales that the Model 3 is leaving behind...

512 000 pre-orders...

THAT figure is mind blowing over 1 model car in 2017...

The Word Machine's rant is over.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2017 by oldshurst442

[Drew Dowdell]

15 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

We all know how accurate surveys are...

For both sides of the fence...

One thing that is clear though, EVs are getting attention from the masses. Big time attention.

If 400 000 pre-orders of the Model 3 is not telling...

Then...

 

 

Then...

15 000 Chevrolet Bolt sales in the US and Canada so far should at least wake you up to it!!! (The year is not over yet)

The Bolt is not a sexy looking car. Nor is the badge on the hood of the Bolt. It aint Tesla. Its a Chevy.  Chevrolet is not the trendy badge Tesla is...Chevy is just a 100 year old staid and mundane company killing us with their defective key ignitions and pollutin' V8s...

Tesla's shine might dull a tad with their woos and the Bolt might get the jolt...

But...15 000 and the year aint over...it might (it will) see 20 000 sales...on a sedan that is not really a sedan but is a CUV but it aint really a CUV that is stubby and dare I say ugly that is small that is a hatchback and those types of cars dont really sell well in the US but CUVs do and the Bolt is a CUV but not really...

What Im getting at is that had the Bolt been an ICE car, it probably fail miserably...

What I am also hinting at is...already...the Bolt in its first year...ALREADY... is more successful than the total 2011 Volt sales of the Volt's first year. And in 2012 and 2013...the Volt had 23 000...

The Volt has a generator for range anxiety folk while the Bolt...does not...

If one cannot see the pendulum sway at least the other way a tad...then nothing will...

That person could use the little laughing emoticon all he wants...only time will prove him (or me) wrong...(Im not a cocky SOB...EV sales could take a fall...prolly not!)

But I got the planet on my side...and the further time marches on...the more the planet is at the very minimum intrigued by the EV...

PLUS the fact that the planet's politicians want to get rid of the ICE and people wont really have a choice...so...at that point...does it really matter if by chance people dont want EVs when the politicians are seeing it through that that the people will have no choice BUT to buy EVs?

You really got to be living in a cave to NOT see this!

 

The Bolt EV also did not go on national sale until late August / Early September.

[Drew Dowdell]

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

3 prime factors are necessary for mass consumption of EVs- comparable range, comparable pricing, readily available 'refueling'. It's just going to take time.
• Current cost factor can be overcome by educating fuel savings over gas.
• Refueling I will agree- in general, factually, it's not a major issue. But perceptually it is.

I also see what ocnblu is saying: factually/ right now, 1% of sales is nothing, and we are about 15 years into EV/PHEV cars. If the consumer agreed with the seeming hype levels, I would think that niche should be 15% by now- that would be a gain of 170,000 sales per year. Not happening yet. U.S. is only on pace to eclipse 2016 EV/PHEV sales by 31,000. That's only 620 more EV/PHEV sales per state per YEAR. For all the attention, the growth rate is minuscule.

Gov't entities talking about ICE-free cities / countries in 12 years are not looking at the data.

I still maintain that most of what has been holding back EV/PHEV sales is lack of choice and until very recently, lack of range.  It's no surprise that the most successful EVs are also the ones with the best range and multiple configurations.  I still can't get a pure EV with AWD unless I go to Tesla.   Most of the german PHEVs have too short a range to bother with them, they just aren't cost effective.  The Volt has better range, but limited utility being a smallish 4-seater. 

I'm an American damnit! I want it all... a roomy AWD pure EV that can go 250+ miles between charges and looks good doing it.... oh, and leases for no more than $450 a month.  Is that so much to ask?

Bake that recipe, and they'll fly off the lots. 

[ccap41]

6 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

Words...when bunched together form knowledge...

That isn't very accurate... They also form a lot of BS. 

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

That isn't very accurate... They also form a lot of BS. 

 

Amazing how people see flighty things, it should make them think twice how people will perceive them.

Edited October 27, 2017 by Drew Dowdell
Let's keep politics out of this...

[balthazar]

EVs and PHEVs have always been grouped in the same segment; both use primarily electric for motivation. Consumers at large also look at them in this manner. We can split that further and start things with the Model S, but truth be told it was the Prius that started the whole discussion/movement en mass.

But if we split the segment into pure EVs, the marketshare becomes invisible.

- - - - -

$450/mnth? Yeah- I'm not doing that. I think the highest monthly at my house has been $230. Current one is $142 on the Liberty.

[ocnblu]

Suddenly I'm on a beercan Ford kick.  Maybe an XL Sport FX4 regular cab shortbed with the 2.7L EB and a 3.55 locker.

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Suddenly I'm on a beercan Ford kick.  Maybe an XL Sport FX4 regular cab shortbed with the 2.7L EB and a 3.55 locker.

But, But, But it has an aluminum bed? 

[ocnblu]

7 hours ago, dfelt said:

But, But, But it has an aluminum bed? 

ARE YOU SERIOUS?