General Motors is set to begin sales of its first vehicle equipped with a 48-volt system, helping to reduce fleetwide fuel consumption levels as required by Chinese regulations.
The Buick Excelle GT with the 48-volt system will hit the market Thursday, GM said.
The system will reduce the compact sedan’s fuel consumption, powered by GM’s 1.3-liter Ecotec turbocharged gasoline engine, to 5.3 liters from 5.9 liters, according to SAIC-GM, GM’s joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp.
A 48-volt system enables automakers to apply fuel-saving and cost-effective technologies such as stop-start systems and regenerative braking.
SAIC-GM produces and markets cars and light trucks for Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac. It currently markets just two electrified models — the full electric Buick Velite 6 compact car and the plug-in hybrid Cadillac CT6 sedan.
GM is the second-biggest foreign automaker in China, after Volkswagen Group, and the SAIC-GM joint venture needs to roll out additional electrified and fuel-efficient models to meet the country’s strict fuel economy requirements.
In 2019, fleetwide fuel consumption at SAIC-GM was 6.29 liters, according to figures disclosed this month by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Under Chinese regulations, passenger vehicle makers must lower average fleet fuel consumption from 6 liters (39 mpg) in 2016 to 5 liters per 100 kilometers (47 mpg) in 2020, and down to 4 liters per 100 kilometers (58.8 mpg) in 2025.
Because of disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak, first-quarter sales at SAIC-GM plunged 58 percent to 179,184, according to SAIC.
Last year, deliveries at SAIC-GM slipped 19 percent to 1.6 million.