Rebuilding GM

The Big Three used to own the American auto market; now they own only slightly more than half of it. General Motors could lay claim to 27.5 percent of new car and truck sales; Ford to 19.6 percent. Together, the Big Three have 60 percent of the U.S. market.

But don’t count the Americans out just yet. GM, for instance, is still the largest automaker in the world, whose worldwide brands include Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Oldsmobile, Saturn, Hummer (fast becoming a liability), Saab, Holden, Opel and Vauxhall. GM has a host of rebirth strategies, but new models are the key. I’ve just tested two of them, the Pontiac G6 (a new midsized sedan) and the Buick Terraza (a minivan). Actually, Buick calls the Terraza a "crossover sport van," a designation apparently based on its SUV-like front-end styling.

Actually, I liked the 3.5-liter V-6-powered Terraza, especially its fresh interior, which uses high-end audio equipment (rather than the GM parts bin) as its primary inspiration. It can hold seven passengers, with the first two rows in nice leather captain’s chairs. The second and third seat can be folded or removed entirely to create a really large cargo area. It was big enough to accommodate a really bulky and heavy Indian chest..

The Terraza also handles remarkably well for a minivan.

The G6 (which will gradually replace the Grand Am) is new for 2005, and also powered by a 3.5-liter, 200-horsepower V-6. The Grand Am was over the hill, so I’m not sure why Pontiac had to retain so much of its front-end styling. Otherwise the G6 has a nice, slippery shape.

My test car was a $26,000 GT, but there are fairly well-equipped base vehicles (air, CD, cruise control, keyless entry) for $20,675. I appreciated the 29 mpg highway mileage, but you’ll be able to kiss it goodbye with the 240-horsepower GTP version of the car. The G6’s pluses include good drivability, a nicely redone interior, a taut chassis and fresh styling. Both the Terraza and the G6 had GM’s $150 remote-start feature. It works as advertised, but I hope people don’t use it to warm up their cars on cold mornings. Consider the global-warming implications!

Speaking of global warming, I had the opportunity to visit California with GM recently to check on its progress with fuel cells and the hydrogen economy. We toured HRL Laboratory (formerly Hughes Research Labs) in Malibu and Sandia National Labs in Livermore. At both labs, the focus is on storing hydrogen in metal hydrides.

On the surface, it’s a screwy idea. Storing a gas in a metal? Calling Buck Rogers. But there’s some method to all this. The goal of the research is to create a storage system built around a complex metal alloy that can hold 5 to 6 percent of its weight in hydrogen. That means that the "gas tank" equivalent, if it weighed 100 pounds, would carry 5 to 6 pounds of hydrogen.

The greater efficiencies of hydrogen mean that such a car would have acceptable range. Hydrides store hydrogen and release it when exposed to heat. So you not only have to get the hydrogen to bond to the metal, you have to find an energy-efficient way to release it, too. Another challenge is getting this all to happen quickly, so the hydride can be recharged with hydrogen in three to five minutes – approximately the same time it takes to fill your gas tank now.

The current GM fuel-cell vehicle, the Sequel, reportedly will be able to carry 8 kilograms of hydrogen and go 300 miles. Hydride storage offers the possibility of significantly increasing that range, but it’s not there yet.