China's GAC Group brings E-jet Concept, and bad translation, to Cobo

Seyth Miersma — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:33:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, Hybrid, China, Electric

Automotive conglomerate GAC Group was the lone representative of the Chinese auto industry at the Detroit Auto Show this year, showing two near-production, alternative powertrain Trumpchi-branded vehicles, as well as a new concept car.

The concept in question - the E-jet Concept - was the star of the GAC stand. The exterior design was not far off what we'd expect from more established automakers at a big show, with a generally pleasing shape and some cool detailing on the grille and rear valence. The E-jet is set up as a Voltesque range-extended hybrid, with a 1.0-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine acting as a generator for an electric drive motor. The motor output is listed as 127 horsepower (95 kW) and 168 pound-feet of torque, though the total system output is unknown. In any event, the car isn't particularly quick - the only acceleration specification listed is a 0-50 kilometers per hour (0-31 miles per hour) time of around 4.5 seconds, with a top speed of just under 99 mph.

There was a sedan on stage called simply Trumpchi 4WD Hybrid, which is reportedly ready to go on sale in China in the next few months. GAC has produced 200 units of the Hybrid for testing and demonstration purposes so far. The Trumpchi sedan will be the first all-wheel-drive "full hybrid" for sale in China, and makes use of an electric motor in conjunction with its 1.8-liter, 142-hp engine. True to its name, the sedan also offers real-time all-wheel drive.

The final vehicle shown, was the Trumpchi GS5 BEV, which we take to mean "Battery Electric Vehicle," a fully electric, small crossover. A non-electric version of the GS5 SUV is already for sale in China, and we were told the EV would be available before too long.

While the GAC presentation was largely to-the-point and uneventful relative to other Chinese automaker pressers that we've attended, we did find the specification sheets for the two production cars to be replete with good/bad mistranslations. Lost in transmission were the meanings behind options like "Lamp of Sleeve," "Grainy Gearshift Levers" and the handy "Portable Ashtray." Though it was the utterly cryptic "Tweeter & Sackbut" feature that we'll be puzzling over the longest.

Find out a little bit more about all three vehicles, in the full press release below.

Continue reading China's GAC Group brings E-jet Concept, and bad translation, to Cobo

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