GM, Chrysler make plans for electric car production

There was news out of both GM and Chrysler on Monday showing that both companies that recently emerged from bankruptcy proceedings are preparing for the next generation of electric cars. The Detroit News reports that GM is moving forward with plans to produce a cutting edge Cadillac electric car:

General Motors Co. has decided to produce the Cadillac Converj, an extended-range electric car using the same technology as the Chevrolet Volt, The Detroit News has learned.

Cadillac included the Converj, a concept car that wowed industry critics and the public at the 2009 North American International Auto Show, in a presentation made to the automaker’s board of directors Nov. 2, according to sources familiar with the production plan.

A production date has not been set, and it likely will be a few years before consumers can buy a Converj.

There’s an interesting statement in the article from GM Vice Chair Bob Lutz that the company should have started their electric car program with the Cadillac brand because the higher sticker price of that brand would help offset the high cost of the battery systems at this time.

It looks as though the company wants to use this as a way of getting electric car technology into their fleet, which would then help to reduce the cost of that technology, and then later move it into other cars with a lower sticker price. At the same time, they do still intend on building the Chevy Volt.

In a separate article, the News reports that Chrysler is reworking its electric and hybrid car program to account for new technology coming from Fiat and a new direction mandated by the company as it looks to become competitive again.

Chrysler Group LLC is restructuring its electric program as it works to develop hybrids and electric vehicles for its own brands as well as for partner Fiat SpA.

The combination of the extra duties, a change in the lineup of electrified vehicles on tap and the adoption of Fiat’s product development system has resulted in the need to redistribute engineers who were grouped together in a special division known as ENVI under the leadership of Lou Rhodes.

The plan now is for the company to produce two hybrid vehicles, one a Dodge Ram pickup and the second a minivan, before producing a pure electric vehicle. The first purely electric vehicle will be a commercial van produced by Fiat.