Detroit Auto Show: Saab BioPower concept
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Jan 7th 2007 at 4:10PM 
We have reported on Saab's BioPower vehicles before, but not this one is particular. It is a new concept vehicle at the Detroit Auto Show. The vehicle uses no fossil fuels at all during operation. It runs on 100 percent ethanol, and because of that it gets more power than its gasoline powered equivalent. However, the trade off, of course, is that because it uses ethanol only, the engine alone provides less fuel efficiency.
In addition to the biofuel engine making 260 horsepower, the vehicle has three electric motors for an additional 148 kilowatts. The engine is a 2.0 liter turbocharged four cylinder - not the 2.3 used in their production BioPower vehicles. The hybrid technology comes from General Motors. The powertrain also makes use of a continuously variable transmission, or CVT, for additional fuel saving capabilities. Apparently, it also can run solely on electric power in city conditions, making it a full hybrid system.
The new-tech powertrain is wrapped in a Saab 9-3 convertible body, and is quicker to 60 mph by almost 3 seconds than the standard car. Saab introduced a BioPower concept at the British International Motor Show which ran on E85 and did not include the hybrid drivetrain.
EDIT: A reader of this site and a Saab message board posted a link in the comments that the only change to this vehicle since it was shown last April may be in the description Saab was allowed to use. The car may or may not be changed, but if it was not, GM may not have allowed Saab to reveal that this was a plug-in hybrid model until the Detroit show. Does anyone else have any information that may lead to cracking this case?
Related:
[Source: The Car Connection]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Swade 5:13PM (1/07/2007)
The 2.0 litre BioPower engine was Saab's first BioPower engine. They only introduced the 2.3 version recently.
And this car, originally released in Stockholm in March 06, had its plug-in capability hushed up, most likely to allow for a bigger splash when the Volt came along.
The full story of the cover up is here:
http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2006/04/did_gm_screw_sa.html
And you can see the original plug-in-included press release for the BioPower car at the following link:
http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2006/04/the_smoking_gun.html
Now that the Volt has been seen, it's clear that it's a very different car to the Saab concept, but t's still disappointing for Saabists that their plug-in capability was silenced to make way for a North American Chevy debut instead.
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Jeremy 6:44PM (1/07/2007)
I must say that I find it a little odd too that GM would inhibit Saab from generating all the positive press they can get. This BioPower Saab is indeed in Detroit now and in it's full plug-in glory. I wonder if Saab wanted to wait until Detroit? I find that unlikely as well. But, alas, the powers-at-be made a decision. It qualifies as news now, for what it's worth -- at least it'll get it's full due of credit now.
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Swade 3:35PM (1/08/2007)
Jeremy,
First of all, this concept is still not mentioned as a plug-in by GM. I just re-read the press release at GM Media to be sure.
The story was initially broken by a Swedish journalist, Robert Collin, in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. All the backstory and the smoking gun press release with the plug-in capability are noted in the links I left in my previous comment.
Cheers.
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Dr. Drive 10:30PM (1/14/2007)
Truth is SAAB is on the chopping block and this is why gm is supressing SAAB. Does gm have money and know how to back its companies? Yes! Caddy replacing SAAB in UK. Once Caddy gains control of SAAB's market good bye SAAB! Other GM brands are soaring with new products and taking SAAB's ideas!
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