GM’s plug-in hybrid “flexes” its muscles

GM’s plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Volt incorporates the company’s E-flex power train system, so named because the auxiliary power plant can be swapped out depending on what the battery-charging engine-of-choice is for a particular region. In the US, of course, it’s a gas-powered 1.0 liter 3-cylinder engine. In Asia, GM demo’d the car with a GM-supplied fuel cell. And for Europe, GM is using a 1.3l turbo diesel engine for the Opel Flextreme concept car it’s unveiling at the Frankfurt Auto show.

For both of these cars, the battery will remain the same lithium ion pack, presumably by one of the two vendors currently under contract to deliver prototype lithium ion battery packs: Compact Power/LG Chem and Continental/A123Systems.

From jalopnik and Carscoop.