G. David Felt

No matter who was considered faster, they are all awesome cars.

woah i didnt know that thats amazing. though that does bring out some other good things about EV. they dont have to work as hard to pick up speed. no mechanical engine chugging to push the car. so the mechanical friction is reduced as well. making them very impressive when it comes to speed. WOW, I have never read such a lopsided one way to make everyone think their way of life is positive write up. You can look up the details yourself, but the largest Lithium mine in the world, now owned by the Chinease and yet destroying a way of life for hundred of years is in Chile. The lithium lays under one of the worlds largest sources of natural salt. To get the lithium out, they are destroying the salt plains and how the local tribes have made money selling what is considered to be one of the purest and best salts around. I have to wave the flag on this report! 15% impact my ass, like anything in looking at works cited, while only looking at 5 of the 26 cited, it is very clear this is one persons interpretation of the data. The reports I looked at clearly state there is not enough data to really gauge the impact especially once the material is taken out of the ground, refined and then made into a battery as well as recovery, etc. But clear we will have various different camps on which technology is the next logical step. For me, CNG is the next logical step and as Ocnblue has pointed out, once battery technology gets to a point of having a normal car battery in size with a 300 mile range, then we can truly say electric is the way to go. Till then, it is a commuter car special only IMO.

What i don't think you are looking at is that is such a small part of emissions. to make one car the mining of materials only create a fraction of what a normal car would produce in its lifetime. also to get that CNG the process is the same. i don't know what the fear is of batteries. what do you think starts your car in the morning? If you look at the sources for Lithium, you will find it is a far more destructive process to get it out of the ground, then ship it to the plants, refine it and create a battery and then ship it to the auto company to be built into a car. The whole process creates far more Green house gas than burning CNG. We will agree to disagree but you need to research better your electric short range love of a commuter car. They pollute far more than people are willing to admit.

If you know your CNG, you can get a Home CNG Fueling Appliance and never have to go to a station except on road trips. Also compressed CNG is safer than a hot water tank. All in all CNG can be refilled faster and more car like that people are used to than the extended charging times. Electric will be there some day, but this car is still a toy for the rich, not the average person, CNG auto's are far more cost affective. Plenty of advantages as well: Lower center of gravity Battery provides for additional structural rigidity More space for passengers and cargo (no exhaust, driveshaft, bulky engine and transmission, etc.) Instant torque Lower NVH Zero tailpipe emissions Greater efficiency Less maintenance Pure Electric cars currently create MORE Emissions than a CNG auto. Just look at the WHOLE picture, the creation of the battery pack and the amount of coal needed to produce your electrical energy source.

I think Buick knows this and their plans for the next model year will move the Regal up a bit to properly differentiate the two.

OBGYN

LOL, Guess we can always say auto's we dislike are better in someone elses driveway!

This is pathetic, fire the designers who have no freakin idea how to build design language.

Arghhhhhh Not good for GM, but better they address this sooner rather than later. I hope not too many people get turned off by this.

Glacials

Cadillac is taking the XTS off the retail market?? XTS would be particularly unsuited for such unless completely discontented. I do not remotely see that happening. The XTS main work was done long ago and GM pulled it off the shelf and finished it to fill in gaps in the line up. Cadillac is a few years from filling in with other cars and the XTS as it is now is a stop gap. In could in time turn into a Town Car and have majority sales in the livery fleet sales unit to protect the CTS, ATS and LTS from needing to be turned into to fleet whores. Cadillac is going down the same road Porsche did in the late 80's. They need to turn their lines into lower volume, higher priced and higher profit cars. Porsche tried with the 944 and 924 and do as Cadillac the volume game and that did not work for them and has not worked for Cadillac. Just look at the resale of anything that is not a truck based SUV or V series now. I see the XTS as a tool to make the remaining DTS lovers happy and to fill in for the livery market. I see it as like the Captiva of the Cadillac line. Autoweek also echo'd this though. The XTS is not going to be a bad car as Autoweek has pointed out but it also does not fully represent the full futre and direction of Cadillac. I expect the XTS to be phased out or transformed to the next level at the end of this models life. Great car no but a very good car and one that will support the team till better can be found or developed. It is the one to carry the volume load till they can get Cadillac to the point it can move up to where they need to be. The XTS life wil be multi tasked and transitional. How long it lives depends on how well it does with the task it was given. If Cadillac was a football team think of the XTS as an offensive tackel. While it is not a high profile place to play it is still important in supporting the star running back and quarterback. It may not be all pro but it is the best option available at this time. Will GM upgrade this tackle? I expect they will but they have many other things Cadillac needs to do first. Only the first step to Cadillacs future has been shown in the ATS. The next will be the CTS and LTS but we still have some time to kill till we get them. Rebuilding Cadillac will take more time and there are no other options other than to ride it out with the work you have in hand till the rest is ready. The XTS is the life boat from DTS to the future. Excellent point made that I totally agree with.

Ocnblu I actually do like the 4 door countryman. I can at least sit in a partially reclined position in that car. Otherwise I do not fit in any Mini especially the 2 doors.

And I will concur, sir! I Second this, Motion Passed This is an A+

So except for the distance on this lone car, electric cannot touch CNG for driving. Both do not have power/pumping stations everywhere like Petrol. That is about the only draw back I can see.

WOW, that really sucks, probably some ASSHOLE Executive paid the winterization crew made up of Illegal's to take the car to his private vacation home or it is long gone out of the country sold to someone. Really sucks, they are wrong in how they handled this. Shame on you B of A.

Awesome Pics!

WOW, Too Funny, The end of the Mayan calendar it may be, but not the end of the world. We have a whole new life ahead of us for creating new technology and jobs. Just need to get everyone moving on this.

WOW, I remember when my dad took me to the junk yard to get parts and I would sit in all the old late 60's to mid 70's muscle cars and pretend to drive. If I only knew that the value of keeping these seats around would be worth so much.

Mountain Lakes

I am NOT looking down on them. I commend them for what they have done, but I feel they went the wrong direction when there are far better options out there for making Green Cars.

I understand the point you make, but in todays economy, I do not believe this is the right approach to take for a small company that has a small sales even though they are in the ubber rich category. Is there a niche group of people willing to pay out mega bucks for this car, Yes I believe there will be at first, but will there be enough to sustain and make profitable this car? No I do not believe so. If Porsche was not already mid engine, they would fail at trying to do a mid engine sports car. The 944 which was my favorite car from them and still is was a total failure. Their customers expect mid engines, but for most people, no they do not and I do not think Maserati can do it profitably. Unless some other division also picks up the technology to reduce R&D costs.

So this is way better than the current 2 seater coupe/convertible. I saw in the costco parking lot the current model and thought it ugly, but asked the wife and she looked at it, the person inside put down the hard top roof and while it looked a bit better, the wife still felt it was but ugly. This coupe with the sloping roof and lack of rear visibility on the corners still does nothing for me. Good Luck to Mini as I do not think this cuts it.

WHY WHY WHY, The extra Cost alone will not really help them. I can think of many better ways for this company to spend money to increase their profit than a mid engine Auto!

H'mmmmm Can someone get some real answers from GM on the HP and Torque issue? This just seems all sorts of wack!

Nice looking car but a toy still. This is NOT a GREEN car no matter what anyone says. 1) The battery pack produces 10 years worth of Green House Gas based on what a basic econo car running gas produces. 2) Except for the PNW - Pacific Northwest with all it's Hydro power, most of the country use Coal to generate Electricity and this produces mountains of green house gas. End result, better to go CNG than Electric! Pass on this limited range car with lousy recharge times. In time Electric cars will get us there but not yet. Smart Stepping stone is CNG. How about you guys do a review of the CNG Bi-Fuel Trucks and Vans from GM!