General Motors vice chairman Tom Stephens, wrote on GM’s FastLane Blog: “The Buick crossover we showed received consistent feedback from large parts of all the audiences that it didn’t fit the premium characteristics that customers have come to expect from Buick.” He added, “We decided that the important plug-in hybrid technology would be applied to another vehicle, at no delay, that we’ll discuss in the very near future.”

GM says it will use the plug-in hybrid powertrain for another vehicle that will debut in 2011. The plug-in hybrid system was originally intended for the Saturn Vue crossover, but those plans were canceled when GM discontinued the Saturn brand.

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Behind the scenes, though, it’s an expensive and annoying distraction for General Motors, and a huge blow to Cobasys, makers of the nickel-metal-hydride batteries. For six months now, GM has been forced to divert batteries it should have fitted to this year’s mild hybrids toward its dealers’ repair bays instead.

The bulk of the cars recalled, about 8,000, were ’07 Saturn Vue Green Lines (the last of the old, squarer body); the remaining 1,000 were the brand-new ’07 Saturn Aura Hybrid sedan. For 2008, the company’s Belt-Alternator Starter system was also fitted to the restyled and very popular Chevrolet Malibu, its platform mate the Aura, and a totally redesigned version of the Vue Green Line.

GM discovered the problem last fall, said spokesman Tom Wilkinson, by analyzing warranty claims data on battery packs replaced by its dealers. These days, automakers pore over claims data closely, to identify abnormal levels of claims for any given part or system. “We saw the problem, and did a root-cause analysis” with the vendor—in this case, Cobasys.

The problem turned out to be an unspecified manufacturing defect—neither GM nor Cobasys will provide more detail than that—that created hairline cracks in the plastic modules containing groups of battery cells. While hardly visible to the naked eye, the electrolyte seeping through those cracks into the overall pack housing reduced the pack’s performance—meaning the hybrid system had less power to restart the engine after stops, so the engine remained on much more of the time, compromising mileage.

Wilkinson stresses that no electrolyte leaked out of the pack housing itself, nor were there any fires or other safety issues. But when GM projected the early failure rates out over the 10-year, 150,000-mile life required of the system, it was clear the number of failures would be large. So once the problem was identified and a fix instituted at Cobasys, prudence demanded that all potentially defective packs be replaced as soon as possible.

GM phased the recalls by region, replacing packs first in the hottest climates, since high temperatures increase the stress on a pack. Wilkinson said the last batch of recall notices has just gone out to hybrid owners in the northern U.S. and Canada.

The entire episode has put a cloud over Cobasys, jointly owned by Energy Conversion Devices and Chevron Corp. The company’s long-term future was already up in the air, since GM had announced in March that its second generation of the Belt-Alternator Starter mild-hybrid system will use a lithium-ion pack supplied by Japan’s Hitachi Ltd. Now industry rumors say GM is on the verge of buying Cobasys outright, to ensure greater control over the supply of this critical hybrid component—which it must stock as a replacement part for more than 10 years.

The recall couldn’t have come at a worse time. With gas prices over $4 a gallon, small and midsize car sales have soared as full-size trucks and SUVs clog dealer lots. At those prices, the payback period on a mild hybrid system is shorter than ever, but GM is forced to trim its planned production—earlier this month, the company told Automotive News the target was 27,000—to ensure that the BAS hybrids already on the road work properly.

How does GM feel about all this? “We’re not back to where we need to be,” says GM’s Brian Corbett in measured tones, “We’re selling a lot fewer hybrids than we’d like.”

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The GM spokesman, who was not clearly identified in the Automotive News article, said the company voluntarily recalled about 9,000 hybrid vehicles beginning in December 2007. GM said the problem involved an internal leak in the battery pack that caused the hybrid system to fail. The vehicle could still be driven, although without the benefits of the hybrid system.

The news about the battery-related recall comes at a time when GM is trying to ramp up its green image—despite hybrid sales numbers which remain significantly lower than those reported by Toyota, Honda, and cross-town rival Ford. It’s unlikely that the recent introduction of GM’s first hybrid sedan, the Chevy Malibu Hybrid—one of the vehicles affected by the battery problems—will reverse the trend.

The battery problems affected the Saturn Vue Green Line, Saturn Aura Green Line, and Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. Through May, combined 2008 sales for the three vehicles were approximately 1,000 units. The company uses a different supplier for the hybrid system found in the company’s full-size SUV hybrids, which account for approximately several hundred sales so far this year.

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Get ready for a wave of hybrid press releases coming from Detroit’s North American International Auto Show, running from January 13-27 January. The first two announcements to hit the wire are about “two-mode” hybrid SUVs from General Motors and BMW. GM will unveil the 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line and BMW will show the X6 ActiveHybrid Concept. Both vehicles will be available in the United States in late 2008.

If these vehicles seem familiar, it’s because the underlying technology has been in development for years—and has been trotted out at previous auto shows. The so-called “two-mode” hybrid system was developed in a three-way collaboration between General Motors, DaimlerChryser, and BMW, dating back to 2005. The system is designed to blend gas and electric power in large vehicles with towing capabilities—and to help the three automakers catch up to Toyota in the hybrid race.

The 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line is a reincarnation of the previous Vue Green Line, which debuted in 2006 using a less robust of hybrid technology. That version—the one currently on sale—employs a belt alternator starter system to produce a 10–15 percent increase in fuel economy compared with the conventional Vue. In March 2007, GM halted production of the Vue Green Line just six months after it was introduced—and then brought it back on line when the Vue was redesigned for 2008.

In fact, General Motors’ intention to release a hybrid version of the Saturn Vue dates back to the Detroit Auto Show in 2003. At that time, Tom Stephens, GM’s vice-president of powertrain, said, “GM will introduce a Saturn Vue with an advanced hybrid system in the latter half of the 2005 calendar year.” Stephens indicated that “drivers can expect fuel economy gains of up to 50 percent” with the hybrid Vue. That’s the same fuel efficiency goal for the 2009 Vue Green Line.

BMW will use the Detroit show to introduce the Concept X6 ActiveHybrid to American audiences. The hybrid crossover SUV was first unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show in September. The two-mode full hybrid—which appears in American form as the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon, and the hemi-powered Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango— has been BMW-ized in the X6 hybrid. The motors, batteries, gear sets and sophisticated software should add up to a 20 percent fuel efficiency improvement over the conventional X6. Exact numbers have not been announced.

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GM commenced production for the 2008 Vue Green Line uses 27 percent less fuel than a conventional gasoline-powered Vue. The 2008 version features the previous model’s mild hybrid belt-alternator-starter system, but its control software has been upgraded to achieve better mileage than the original Green Line.

The old model had EPA estimates of 23 city/29 highway, while the 2008 model rates at 25 city/32 highway—making it second only to the Ford Escape Hybrid in overall fuel efficiency. The Green Line’s 32 highway mpg slightly edges out the Escape, which is rated at 30 mpg on the highway.

In late 2008, a second version of the new Vue Green Line, featuring the first front wheel drive application of the GM’s Two-Mode hybrid system, will hit the assembly line. A plug-in version of the Two-Mode system is also being developed, but no production dates have been announced.

The 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line starts at $24,795, the lowest base sticker price for any current hybrid SUV or crossover on the market.

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The mild-hybrid Saturn Vue Green Line is G.M.’s first gas-electric vehicle, unless you count the company’s ultramild-hybrid pickup trucks. The hybrid field is starting to get crowded—there are now a dozen to choose from—so the pitch for Green Line is “the most affordable S.U.V. hybrid.” In other words, this Vue appeals to your inner accountant. The numbers would impress any C.P.A.

For $24,200, the Green Line delivers an E.P.A. fuel economy rating of 25 m.p.g. in town and 32 in the country, which is the highest highway rating for any sport utility. For comparison’s sake, a conventional gas-only Vue with 4-cylinder engine, front drive and automatic transmission is rated 22 in town, 27 on the highway.

We drove the Green Line on two successive 78-mile highway loops, one well below the speed limit and a second in complete disregard of the 65 m.p.h. signs. As a saint, we achieved an impressive 36 m.p.g. As a sinner, our fuel economy dropped to 24. We have little doubt that a careful foot applied to the Green Line could regularly produce 30 m.p.g. on the highway.

Instead of a discrete electric motor that can drive the wheels just like a gasoline engine, the Green Line uses a belt alternator-starter; it shuts the engine off when the car comes to a complete stop, eliminating gas consumption at idle. The Green Line’s 36-volt battery and motor-generator smartly wake up the engine as soon as the driver’s foot comes off the brake pedal.

Kudos to Saturn’s technical team for producing an auto-stop feature that works smoothly and consistently. In contrast, Honda’s system requires the car to return to at least 10 m.p.h. before it will shut down again. In the Vue, you can lift and return your foot to the brake as often as you like—as you would in stop-and-go traffic. Each time, the engine pauses for a few moments at low idle, then drops to a full engine-off stop.

What you can’t do is launch forward in all-electric mode. That feat—the thing that, in the view of many people, makes a hybrid a hybrid—belongs for the moment only to full hybrid systems from Toyota and Ford. Were good mileage the only criterion for likability, this review would be over.

Credits and Debits

The problem, though, is that every automotive credit requires a debit, and accountants’ fingerprints can be seen all over this Vue. Handling is acceptable but not impressive. The 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine is loud but delivers barely adequate performance. Aerodynamics are a crucial factor in fuel economy, and the Vue’s was improved—to a drag coefficient of 0.36, from 0.38—by lowering the chassis an inch and leaving off the roof rack. Unfortunately, ridges that remain on the roof call attention to the fact that something is missing. The lower profile also leaves the Green Line feeling more like a portly wagon than a high-riding S.U.V. The doors are easy enough to open, but the upright backseat is excruciating; passengers will yearn for the relative comfort of flying cross-country in coach class.

A 36-volt battery pack, which lets the auto-stop function do its thing, is housed in the cargo area. The rest of that compartment is occupied by what Saturn calls a rear cargo organizer; it is a set of hinged plastic dividers so flimsy that my friends guffawed when we showed it to them.

The biggest flaw may stem from the cost-containment measures applied to the instruments. The typical hybrid driver needs real-time information to wring the most miles from the fuel, but Saturn provides only silly green lights and a little dial and pointer. A green “eco” light is supposed to come on when the Vue matches or beats the E.P.A. economy estimates, but we found the flickering light to be worthless. The dial is supposed to indicate when the battery is charging or providing an assist, but a meter to monitor mileage on a specific trip would be much more useful. There is also the Green Line’s overall feel of righteous deprivation. While the Green Line is rather Spartan, the Red Line, a higher-performance Vue, has a distinctive front end, sport suspension, 18-inch alloy wheels, leather seats and much more. The not-so-subtle message: You can spend your money on high-quality fun and get a Red Line, or opt for a big green bummer.

Sadly Wanting

The Vue Green Line proves that G.M. is capable of improving the fuel efficiency of many of its vehicles at a modest cost. The well-engineered belt alternator-starter could be offered on tens of thousands of G.M. vehicles, virtually eliminating wasted fuel at idle. Yet as an overall package, the Green Line is sadly wanting. G.M. started with a laudable goal, to show that it can deliver gas-saving technology at a discount, but it has fallen far short of other hybrid makers on the execution.

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