Chevrolet News:Spying: Chevrolet Impala Eco

[William Maley]

William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

June 26, 2012

Chevrolet seems to pulling a page out of Buick’s playbook; offering hybrid versions of their mid and full-size sedans. Buick does it with the Regal and LaCrosse, and Chevrolet currently does it with the Malibu and soon to be Impala.

Spy shots of a Impala pre-production prototype running around with no camouflage were caught. This wouldn’t be news, except for one small change. The grill on this particular Impala goes away from the Camaro-esque, three-bar grille, towards a solid insert with two small openings on the top and bottom. This is most likely is an aerodynamic aid to help improve fuel economy and might be evidence to this model being equipped with GM’s eAssist system.

If the Impala was to be equipped with the eAssist (and it appears to be very likely), it would use the 182 HP, 2.4L inline-four with a belt-driven electric motor/generator system and wear the Eco nameplate.

Source: Automobile Magazine

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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Sleepy time...

[David]

WOW, I have to say that this screams VOLT to me when I see it. I know they are saying it will be the Buick Equal hybrid, but I get a total VOLT feel from the car. Be interesting to see what really happens with it.