- General Motors is developing hybrid versions of the Chevy Traverse, Buick Enclave, and GMC Acadia, per a report by Reuters.
- The three-row mid-size SUVs are built at GM’s Lansing Delta Township assembly plant, in which the company is investing $1.25 billion.
- GM didn’t officially announce the names of the new hybrid models or say when production will start, but it did confirm that Lansing is where they’ll be built.
Right now, the only hybrid model that GM makes is the Chevy Corvette, which is pretty wild when you think about it. However, that will change in the coming years, as the automotive giant today announced it's preparing the Lansing Delta Township assembly plant to build future hybrid models. What will those models be exactly? The highly popular Chevy Traverse, Buick Enclave, and GMC Acadia will get hybrid versions, according to Reuters, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the situation.
While GM announced it plans to invest $1.25 billion in the factory, including over $2 billion in the Lansing area over the next several years, it didn’t explicitly confirm what models will receive the hybrid powertrain or disclose any details about the system. However, the Lansing Delta Township Assembly is where the Acadia, Enclave, and Traverse are all currently built, so it makes sense that they’ll be the first to get the hybrid treatment. Last year, GM reported the highest production numbers in the factory’s 20-year history, as more than 291,000 vehicles rolled off the assembly line.
The General’s strategic shift to hybrid powertrains comes after its big investments in fully electric vehicles failed to pay off due to a mix of tepid adoption rates and the Trump administration nixing federal tax credits for both EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles. On top of that, gas prices in the United States have remained high, and GM’s metaphorical cupboard of fuel-efficient models is bare compared with other major automakers such as Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota, and even Ford.
GMC Acadia.
Buick Enclave.
GM also announced that part of the money that it's investing in the Lansing factory will come from a Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grant; it’s being restructured in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, which initially awarded the funds. And last week during a quarterly earnings call, GM CEO Mary Barra said the company will have hybrids in more than one segment, meaning customers who covet GM-built gas-electric models won’t be limited to three-row SUVs.
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Eric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual '97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a '90 Honda CRX Si.