Promising an output of 550hp from its electrified powertrain, company reps say it can travel up to 595km on a single charge
Earlier this year, Buick showed off a beauty of a concept called the Enspire. At the time, company brass said it was strictly an exercise to demonstrate some bold design and innovative technologies. Now, the Detroit brand has filed and received approval for trademark protection of the spellcheck-vexing Enspire name.
For anyone not in the know, Buick’s current naming convention for their crossovers and SUVs involve all of them starting with the prefix ‘En’. The Encore, Envision, and Enclave run the gamut from sub-compact to full-size.
When describing the concept Enspire, Buick called it a machine wherein “sculptural beauty meets advanced battery electric technology.” Promising an output of 550hp from its electrified powertrain, company reps say it can travel up to 595km on a single charge. Beyond those heady statistics, few other specifics were given.
For comparison, megabucks versions of the Tesla Model X are good for 475km of all-electric range, while the new Mercedes-Benz can travel about 100km less than that on a full charge. Jag’s I-Pace and Audi’s e-tron are similar. If Buick’s numbers are even close to correct, they’ll suddenly become the head and shoulders leader in electric crossovers. Don’t hold your breath. Buick currently has no electrification technology installed in its SUVs at all.
A safer bet is the new Enspire coming to market with some form of a 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Those in the know say the new compact crossover from Buick is codenamed the “E2UB” and rides on a version of the platform underpinning the new Cadillac XT4 and GMC Terrain. Given the propensity of General Motors to wring every last cent out of each platform by building a car for each of its four brands out of it, the question is not if but when we’ll see an XT4-related crossover from Buick.
GM is currently playing a clever shell game with their crossover/SUV platforms. For example, the GMC Acadia and Cadillac XT5 share much in the way of bones, yet the GMC is a full five inches longer than the Caddy despite their wheelbases being within a hair of each other. The same is expected for the Enspire/XT4 fraternal twins.
Through to the end of November, General Motors has sold 203,977 vehicles to retail customers in Canada. The company’s total sales of 274,455 cars and trucks comprise of approximately 25% fleet sales. Volume is down about 3% compared to the same time frame last year.
Keyword: Buick Trademarks ‘Enspire’ Name, Another Tri-Shield Crossover Coming?