aldw

A Turbosteamer-electric setup is probably the most favorable setup for a pushrod, as it be very compact and would operate at optimal thermal/fuel use output and thus making irrelevant high-rpm activity, and the power goes straight into an electric motor powering the wheels.

Free market ideologues simply can't see the shortcomings of their ideology all too often, unfortunately...

I know that there are some critics who would like to see Fisker fall just because they're working with the UAW, but Fisker does have good ideas worth making successful, so they do deserve support.

Any DOHC V8 should be for Cadillac IMHO, as it would serve better in that division than Chevy.

Definitely good news to hear, direct electric drive will be the transmission system of the future no matter the powerplant.

Guys like Robert Farago constantly b!tch about GM being hopeless, but change is never easy and GM is making real progress nonetheless. People like him can go choke on their own spite.

The solution regarding the battery problem at present would be to use an ultracapacitor for short-term storage alongside a battery for long-term storage, so that the stress of rapid charge and discharge is on the capacitor instead. This allows for longer battery life.

However, the point is that there are people willing to do that for prestige purposes, and it's those wallets that are needed to improve Cadillac's market standing.

Even if the Japanese platform-sharing vehicles aren't sold in North America, the point is that they still do so to reduce costs anyway. Still, fast tracking the Alpha program is vital to improving Cadillac's brand positioning for future developments.

If Cadillac ever made a production version of such an engine into a series hybrid luxury vehicle, I can definitely see them come back up to tbe bleeding edge of technology and luxury again.

At the very least the new chairman Edward Whitacre is a mechanical engineer even if he isn't a car guy, so there is a little hope there. Still, less talk more action is required.

I knew it, Toyota prefers to cut and run rather than deal with US unions.

Buick being FWD/AWD and Cadillac being RWD/AWD would allow for better product differentiation methinks.

As long as GM keeps doing things right all the time then they'll bounce back sooner rather than later...

It absolutely needs to be on Alpha to be worthwhile, but all the indications I've seen on the web seem to point towards it.

If all this future product really comes to pass, it's about damn time.

News like this just depresses me more about GM's future with such decisions running around...

If the Converj could be funded without government aid, that would be a big help there.

Get a RWD version into production and this thing will be a world-beater.

I do think Cadillac needs brand-specific engines to help with brand building, otherwise naysayers would rip it for having the same parts as the lower brands.

I do wonder if GM would be better off if the engineering people dominated the upper ranks instead of the financial types, much like it is in German manufacturers like Porsche and Audi. Perhaps that could make a huge difference in efficiency...

GM is honestly better off selling SAAB at this point, the money crunch simply exacerbates the problems of lack of brand focus.

The CTS is 5-series sized to begin with, so its silly to compare it to a smaller vehicle, of which the Alpha would be a better point of comparison as long as GM can weather the storm.

This is an excellent concept, the sooner GM can bring something like this into production the sooner competition butt-kicking can commence...

Just build it I say, a good product will sell itself quite well with word of mouth.