Author: Turbocharged Little Fatty

On the evening of Children’s Day, SAIC-GM Buick held a brand day event named “Breaking New Grounds”, and also launched globally with the Buick parent brand.

At the event, Buick announced:

• Introduction of a new technological platform and intelligent assisted driving system;
• A pure electric SUV concept car;
• A flagship MPV;
• A brand new car owner app and brand logo.

All of these show that Buick has taken the first step towards intelligent network connections and new energy transformation.

The Revival of Electra, Return with Electricity

Speaking of Buike Electra, it’s actually the name of a car under Buick back in 1959.

After discontinuing production in 1990, Electra’s name was sealed until the arrival of Electra-X concept SUV today.

Buick Electra-X concept SUV adopts the “PURE Design” pure design aesthetic concept which means removing complexity and highlighting essence.

Among them:

• P represents purity, using natural “bodies” instead of complicated “lines” for a purer and fuller look.
• U stands for unconventional, breaking traditions and exceeding expectations. The cockpit breaks traditional layout and can realize a wider range of scenarios.
• R stands for refined, more authentic and natural.
• E stands for expressive, respecting personality and releasing emotions. Freeform borderless visual experience responds to the changing real-world light.

Buick Electra-X concept SUV will be equipped with a new generation of VCS intelligent cockpit, using Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip, supporting 5G connection, and the new electronic and electrical architecture will also support OTA for the whole vehicle.

Equipped with an EYEMAX 30-inch integrated curved screen with a resolution of up to 6K and 1 billion colors, supporting partition backlight technology. This “integrated curved screen” looks similar to the “surround panoramic super retina screen” carried by Cadillac LYRIQ, but LYRIQ’s surround panoramic super retina screen has a resolution of 9K (8960×1320).

Electra-X also supports iKey mobile phone keys, scene mode intelligent switching, panoramic HUD, and voice control customized function combination.

What I am most concerned about is that the Buick Electra-X concept SUV will be equipped with the new generation of Super Cruise super auxiliary driving system. Previously, the Super Cruise super auxiliary driving system was only available on Cadillac models, while Buick’s products only had eCruise Pro auxiliary driving system, just a L2+ auxiliary driving system supporting instruction changing lanes.

Now, Electra-X concept SUV becomes the first Buick product to carry Super Cruise, which completes Buick’s products’ shortcomings in advanced auxiliary driving.

From the current information available, Electra-X will carry the new generation of Super Cruise super auxiliary driving system that is consistent with the one carried by Cadillac LYRIQ. It has a DMS driver attention maintaining system and a centimeter-level high-precision map. It can achieve “hand liberation” on high-speed and expressways covered by high-precision maps. At the same time, it also supports instruction changing lanes and automatic changing lanes.

Buick Electra-X concept SUV, like Cadillac LYRIQ, comes from the General Motors Ultium platform.

Ultium Otten is a brand new three-electric technology platform created by General Motors for electrification, with three major advantages of high safety, high flexibility and high intelligence, all originating from the wireless battery management technology, wBMS.

Otten platform replaces wire harness communication between battery modules with wireless communication, reducing signal attenuation, optimizing battery volume and weight, increasing energy density of the entire battery pack, improving battery cooling abilities, while also reducing costs. In addition, the battery layout and configuration of the Otten architecture is more flexible, with development space and technology upgrade capabilities greatly improved. Based on the all-new VIP intelligent electronic architecture, a lot more features can be continuously upgraded in the future.

Currently, General Motors has introduced GMC Hummer EV, BrightDrop EV600 electric logistics vehicle, and Cadillac LYRIQ through the Otten platform, with Buick Electra-X being the first car model introduced based on the Otten platform.

In the future, the new generation of Buick electric vehicles based on the Otten platform will be named after the Electra series. In this series, Buick will also introduce SUVs, coupe SUVs, sedans, MPVs and other products. According to Buick’s plan, by 2025, they will launch 12 new models on the Chinese market, including 5 new generations of pure electric vehicles, 7 of which will be equipped with VIP intelligent electronic architecture, and 7 high-end sub-brand Aviar models. Moreover, all 12 models will be equipped with intelligent driver assistance systems.

In addition to the Buick Electra-X concept SUV, Buick also unveiled an MPV model called the “Land-based Private Jet” – Buick GL8 Century, last night.

The dimensions of the Buick GL8 Century are 5230×1980×1867mm, with a two-tone body and four-seater layout.Luxury intelligent curtain system with one-click lifting and lowering for the rear seats, supporting multi-mode intelligent projection. There is also a vehicle control interaction screen between the two seats, and the headrest of the seats is equipped with BOSE ultra-near-field speakers.

In addition to the Buick Electra-X concept SUV, the Buick GL8 Century, Alt-Nen platform, and the new generation of Super Cruise super-assisted driving system we just talked about, the Buick brand also brings a brand new logo and a new owner’s application.

The comprehensive revitalization of the Buick brand’s “tricolor shield” represents the product genes of “safety, texture, and comfort.” The tricolor shield adopts a design of opening in parallel, which shows an enterprising posture and a leading strength, symbolizing the Buick brand’s rebirth and upgrading of driving experience in the era of intelligent electric power, and continuously breaking through and releasing unlimited possibilities with a broader vision, more surging passion and creativity.

Buick has upgraded the iBuick mobile application for car owners to a brand super app, providing more Buick users with more social attributes, richer interactive content, more convenient car owner services, and optimized car viewing experience in line with the current era, with a more caring attitude.

Buick GL8 Century will be launched this year to further open up the high-end luxury MPV sub-segment, and jointly form a new Buick MPV product matrix with the Land-based Business Chamber, ES Landmaster, and AVIA.

With the starry sky roof, the Buick GL8 Century’s sense of technology and luxury is directly “maximized”.

As a historical traditional automobile brand, Buick has enough senior experience in the global automobile market. However, facing today’s intelligent and electric era, Buick is more like a newly born child.

After the comprehensive brand renewal, Buick, which is advancing towards electrification, intelligence, and high-end, is like an “old naughty boy”.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.