General Motors has released official pictures and specifications of the upcoming Buick Velite 5, it will debut on next month’s Shanghai Auto Show and launch on the Chinese car market in Q3. The Velite 5 is a variant of the Chevrolet Volt manufactured in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture.
Dash appears to be the same as the Volt’s, with blue lining and a Buick badge on the wheel. The infotainment system is equipped with OnStar, Apple CarPlay, and 4G internet. It also has an autonomous parking function, adaptive cruise control, and a lane departure warning system.
GM states the following specs: pure electric range of 116 kilometers. Full range of 768 kilometers. Charging will take 4.7 hours. The extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) drive train seems to be exactly the same as in the Volt too; the 1.5 liter petrol engine is rated at 99hp and fuel consumption is rated at 0.9 liter per 100 kilometer.
Size: 4579/1811/1494, and wheelbase is 2694.
The Chevrolet Volt was sold in China as an import between 2011 and 2014, but it was far too expensive so sales were slow; really slow, like a dozen per year slow. The Velite 5 will be much cheaper but the exact price is yet unknown.
Shanghai GM badge on the right.
The 5 in the name indicates that Velite will be a sub-brand or a model range. Next up is likely the production version of the…
… 2016 Buick Velite concept, a sporty shooting brake, based again on the Volt platform.
The Velite name was first used on a 2004 roadster concept, and in 2014 there were rumors that Buick was going to use the name for the U.S. version of the Opel Cascada. But that didn’t happen, and the Velite went to China instead.
Interestingly, the first time we heard the Volt was going to be a Buick in China was way back in 2010. At the time it was assumed that General Motors was going to re-badge the Opel Ampera as a Buick. The Ampera is the European variant of the Chevrolet Volt.
Buick Velite concept.
Don’t call it a Volt, this is the Velite 5.
