• The Buick Electra GS is a concept sedan meant to preview Buick’s new direction for China.
• This vehicle will use the new Xiao Yao vehicle architecture, a flexible architecture that can do EV, PHEV or EREV powertrains. 
• The platform will be able to support DC fast charging speeds of up to 640 kW. 

InsideEV’s Editor-in-Chief, Patrick George, and I are still in China, both awestruck by just how good the PHEVs and EVs on Chinese roads are. It’s not just the local brands either. It seems like this year,  Western automakers are starting to figure out just how to hit back. Buick showed off three concepts at the show—one of which stopped me dead in my tracks for a solid ten minutes. It’s too bad that the rest of the Buick stand was empty aside from about eight GL8 PHEV minivans and one lone Electra E5, which is based on GM’s Ultium platform. 

Called the Buick Electra GS, this concept is one part of a triptych of EV concepts meant directly for China. This super long, sporty sedan is meant to take on the sporty Avatr or Nio sedans that have become ubiquitous on Chinese roads. The design of the Electra GS Concept is meant to foreshadow a new direction in Buick’s fully electric future.

Of course, Buick’s press photos do show a very handsome and long design. However, I don’t think they do the car justice. The Electra GS is long, low, and wide in a way that I don’t think I’ve seen from a Buick sedan, well, ever. The car feels sporty and ready to pounce in a way that the decidedly stately sedans never have. Patrick and I stumbled on the car by accident while peering around GM’s other Chinese offerings from Wuling, SAIC and Baojun.

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Source: Buick

The Electra GS, and its two sister concept vehicles, the Electra L sedan and Encasa MPV are part of a new Xiao Yao vehicle architecture. This new vehicle platform seems to be divorced from what we know as the GM Ultium platform. It will use LFP batteries from CATL with the potential for a max charging speed of up to 640 kW. Also, this vehicle architecture won’t explicitly be EV only; Buick says that it can do PHEV or EREV (extended range electric vehicle) as needed. Buick says that it aims to cover all key price points in China’s NEV (new energy vehicle) market within the next two years.

Although this might not be as lightning quick as, say, BYD, this does seem a lot faster than GM of not that long ago. The Xiao Yao scheme and Buick Electra GS Concept will only be for China, but this seems like a huge misstep. The American public is still clamoring for PHEV (or EREV) models alongside EVs. GM has no real hybrid offerings in the U.S. An EV and hybrid version of the Electra GS could be just what the doctor ordered. Just look at what Lexus has done to the latest ES, for example.

Photo by: Buick

The Buick Electra GS Concept is likely to go on sale in China within the next year. It’s unknown if it will ever reach the U.S. Hopefully it does, though. 

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