Back in March, General Motors announced its all-new electric-vehicle platform that will be introduced across its four major brands. These include Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC. Right now, there’s lots of buzz around Buick because this particular carmaker just unveiled its new plug-in-hybrid and its first electric crossover SUV. 

GM’s recent unveiling of the Buick Velite 6 PHEV

On July 3, GM China released details on its new plug-hybrid model. And as you probably noticed though, we don’t get the better Buicks in the U.S. The new PHEV is being exclusively offered in China first, which is Buick’s biggest sales market.

 Buick has dubbed its PHEV as the Velite 6, and its wagon body style makes it look like a sportier version of the Regal TourX If the Velite name sounds vaguely familiar to you, it’s probably because Buick used the name Velite for a concept car in America back in 2004.  The Velite 6 will be powered by what GM has called “Buick eMotion electric drive technology.” 

“Leveraging cutting-edge plug-in hybrid technology, the VELITE 6 will offer no compromises in vehicle performance or driving range, making it an ideal option for both daily commuting and long-distance traveling,” said Molly Peck, executive director of Buick Sales and Marketing at SAIC-GM.

GM China

Buick’s first  all-electric crossover 

Staying on-trend here, Buick’s new all-electric crossover SUV has been titled as the Velite 7. The new Velite 7 will feature GM’s updated EV platform. The new platform will be based on LG Chem’s modular lithium-ion battery as AutoNews reported.

What’s so special about this battery is that it’s more advanced and efficient. The new battery also contains a liquid-cooling battery thermal-management system. This means the Velite 7 can drive for over 300 miles on a single charge. The Velite 7 is actually the third alternative fuel vehicle that Buick has introduced in China. Aside from the Velite 7 and  Velite 6, there’s also a Velite 5 sedan.

The Velite 7 will be launched in China for 2021. Enthusiasts are excited about Buick’s latest product reveal even though this model won’t be coming to the U.S. at this point. Some folks at Autoweek are saying though that the Velite 7 is a hint at what we can expect from the new electric Chevy Bolt crossover SUV.

More on GM’s future plans

GM’s future plans include producing one million EVs each year but much is still unknown given our current environment. The EV under the GM umbrella we can actually get excited about in the U.S. is the 2022 Chevy Bolt EUV, not to be confused with the Chevy Bolt EV  that’s available to us today.  GM’s recent adoption of the EUV acronym stands for Electric Utility Vehicle.

The Chevy Bolt EUV crossover SUV is expected to go on sale in 2021. This model is intended to compete with the likes of the Tesla Model Y.  We are hoping that the Bolt EUV will look as sharp and bold as the Buick Velite 7 does.