Saturn Flextreme Concept This is an installment in a series of articles looking back
on show cars and trucks that we really feel deserved a little more attention than they got. If you have a pointer for a ForgottenConcept topic, please shoot us a line or leave a remark below. Saturn Flextreme First Shown: 2008 Detroit Auto Show Description: Plug-in hybrid compact cars and truck Sales Pitch:”Flextreme reveals that unique thinking can lead to fantastic cars and trucks.”Much More Forgotten Concepts Saturn Flextreme Details: First seen at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, the Saturn Flextreme Concept was an online duplicate of the Opel Flextreme
Concept which had actually been unveiled at the 2007 Frankfort Auto Show just a few weeks earlier. The Flextreme idea was a 4-door small vehicle featuring a plug-in serial-hybrid drivetrain similar to that introduced in the Chevrolet Volt Concept presented at the Detroit Show a year earlier. Unlike the Volt Concept, which featured a tiny gasoline engine, the Flextreme was powered by a little 1.3-liter diesel.
When totally billed, the Flextreme was asserted to travel up to 34 miles on electric power alone, after which the diesel motor took over. Saturn asserted a consolidated electric/diesel range of 444 miles. The Flextreme included center-opening side doors which, when opened up with each other, developed a usefully large flow to the cars and truck’s interior.
As opposed to a back hatch, the Flextreme incorporated a set of gullwing-style doors located on the auto’s rear bodyside. For metropolitan explorers, a set of Segway Personal Transporters were kept under the lorry’s cargo location and also might be accessed from outside of the auto.
No word on if the Segway batteries were charged while in storage space under the car. Forgotten Concept: Briggs & Stratton Hybrid Saturn Flextreme CG Says: The Chevrolet Volt Concept was unveiled to much excitement back in 2007, however the buzz may have come mostly from the car press, which appeared to comprehend the E-Flex plug-in crossbreed system better than the general public.
When the production Volt arrived for 2011, public feedback was lukewarm at best, as General Motors dealt with public and media hesitation, specifically that from Fox News. Consequently, Volt variants like the Opel and also Saturn Flextreme never developed into complete manufacturing versions. Unfortunately, the E-Flex concept– which is differ just like Nissan’s e-Power system— never saw life past the Volt, unless you count the temporary, and incredibly rare, Cadillac ELR.
