Saturn recently announced that the new 2007 Aura Green Line Hybrid will be available for a starting price of $ 22,695 including destination charge, making it the lowest priced hybrid on the market. In addition to its value-focused pricing, the Internal Revenue Service has also certified Aura Green Line buyers with a $ 1,300 tax credit.
Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak said: “The Aura Green Line is a great value among hybrids in the midsize car segment. With a starting tag price of more than $ 2,000 less than any full-size hybrid sedan. median and a $ 1,300 tax credit makes true hybrid fuel economy available to more people than ever. “
The Saturn Aura Green Line receives an official EPA fuel economy rating of 28 mpg for city driving and 35 mpg for highway driving, representing an improvement of up to 30 percent in the combined fuel economy of the EPA vs. Non-Hybrid Aura XE, based on driving conditions. .
The Saturn Aura Green Line is assembled at General Motors’ Fairfax Plant in Kansas City, Kansas and is now ready to go to various Saturn Retail facilities.
What makes the Saturn Aura Green Line different from the other hybrid out there? The hybrid system used in the Aura combines sophisticated controls with a precise electric motor / generator mated to a 2.4-liter engine. The system offers fuel economy gains by providing electrical power assist during acceleration and early fuel shutoff during torque-leveling deceleration and by shutting down the engine at idle. Aura’s hybrid system also captures electrical energy through regenerative braking.
Regenerative braking according to Wikipedia is a system that reduces the speed of the vehicle by converting its kinetic energy into electrical energy. This electrical energy is stored for future use or fed back into a power system for use by other vehicles.
The Aura Green’s hybrid powertrain delivers 164 horsepower or 122 kW at 6,400 rpm and 159 pound-feet or 215 Nm of peak torque at 5,000 rpm. Saturn’s new hybrid sedan concept is based on the all-new Aura midsize sedan, which won the North American Car of the Year award in 2007. The Green Line features the same full-package list that earned Aura five stars. complete in government side impact and frontal crash tests, making it one of the safest vehicles available. Some of the standard features included in the Aura Green include the following: front two-stage airbags, side head curtain and thorax protection in the front seats, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, electronic control StabiliTrak stability and GM’s OnStar safety and security system. The Aura Green will also be equipped with genuine GM parts that are renowned for their quality and durability, such as GM shock absorbers that disperse or absorb energy and in the process prevent uncontrollable movements of the vehicle, especially when driving on uneven surfaces.
The Aura Green is just one of four hybrids that Saturn has previously announced alongside the 2007 Vue Green Line, which launched last summer. The Vue Green Line employs the same hybrid technology as the Aura Green and provides an EPA highway fuel economy rating of 32 mpg.
Saturn for 2008 will offer the Vue Green Line with the first front-wheel drive application of GM’s new 2-mode hybrid and plug-in technology. Its lithium-ion battery pack, which will hopefully be ready soon, along with some powerful electric motors and high-efficiency electronics, will help the Vue get much better fuel economy.
