Cadillac’s plug-in hybrid - the Voltec-powered Converj

The ‘on the rise’ category of proposed luxury plug-in gas-electric hybrids has yet another addition – Cadillac’s concept Converj! The car’s low, sporty looking 2+2 coupe design is equipped with a 16 kilowatt-hour battery and a 40-mile all-electric range, like the Volt.

The technology behind the powertrain for the Converj and the forthcoming production Volt has been given brand name ‘Voltec’ by GM. This power train, giving 273 pound-feet of torque and a top speed of 100 mph, uses an electric motor to drive the wheels.

Cadillac Converj Concept at Detroit Auto Show

Cadillac Converj
Cadillac Converj

One of the absolute smash hits of the Detroit Show -- so sayeth I -- is Cadillac's concept Converj, a gorgeous, provocative, heated diamond of a sports coupe that could -- just theoretically -- contain the same range-extended gas-electric hybrid powertrain from the Volt. GM has inevitably hung a branded name around this technology: Volt-tec. (Whatever happened to E-Flex?) Like the Volt, the car is proposed with a 16 kilowatt-hour battery and a 40-mile all-electric range. The Converj joins the Fisker Karma in the growing class of proposed luxury plug-in hybrids.