http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-1...st-Hibernating#

 

Hopefully it is dead. I think this was a product just to appease the supposed passing fancy of a fickle hybrid public, according to GM, but what they failed to realize is that this was not a passing fancy. Hopefully, they've gotten the message to take hybrids and PHEV's seriously.

 

BAS is a P1 hybrid system similar in concept to Honda's IMA in their Civic and Insight. If you get past the snob factor it's quite an effective system that can be bolted on to almost any standard engine and transmission with minimal modifications.

Systems like this have their place, just like car strong hybrids, utility strong hybrids, plug-in hybrids, etc.

 

Similar except as you say a BAS could be easily hooked up aftermarket while IMA is engineered into a vehicle. Also IMA provides meaningful assist while BAS provided little more than autostop. IMHO the systems are worlds apart.

 

It's not dead. Replacement was announced almost two years ago. Next gen version will have lithium ion battery and a larger motor-generator. Will be much more like the IMA system in functionality.

http://hybridreview.blogspot.com/200...or-hybrid.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120457521368908461.html

Also, I noticed the author in the first note in this thread only drove the first Vue BAS. The 2009 BAS Vue/Malibu/Aura was more refined and more efficient.

 

GM BAS is not dead and it's not hibernating. Think of it as being in a transformational stage. Like a caterpillar spins a cocoon and comes out a butterfly.

Had Saturn stayed afloat, the first generation of BAS would still probably be available in the Saturn VUE. That package seemed to work. The "problem" with the application in Aura and Malibu is that shortly after they were developed, GM pulled ahead plans to mate the base 4 cylinder engine in those vehicles with a fuel efficient 6 speed transmission. That turned out to be such an excellent combination that the fuel economy of a 4 cyl 6-speed was VERY close to the fuel economy of a 4 cyl 4-speed with BAS and the 6 speed option is a lot less pricey than the 4 cyl + BAS.

In any event, work has long been underway on a more effective BAS using the 6 speed transmission and using more powerful lithium ion batteries. Soon the caterpillar will give way to the butterfly and the new improved BAS will be available in a really cool vehicle at a GM dealer near you.

 

There is BAS stop / start and there is BAS hybrid. What's the diff? Batteries. As you point out, a mechanically inclined individual could upfit a BAS unit to provide stop start capability to a car. BAS hybrids, like the Saturn VUE also provide some degree fo regenerative braking (thus the need for the battery, to store the brake energy) and some small amount of launch assist.

There are a number of ways to accomplish stop / start, BAS being one of the more costly approaches. If all you are going to do is stop / start, there are more cost effective approaches available.

The next GM BAS products will have more battery to store more energy from brake regen and will be capable of providing more launch assist.

 

From what I can tell BAS systems are being outpaced by other technology such as direct injection engines, 6 speed transmissions and just more efficient traditional gasoline engines.

My current Malibu Hybrid with BAS gets worse gas mileage than our 2LT malibu with the 6 speed transmission.

Currently the car has 5000 kms and my average reading is 10.6 L per 100.

Now with the talk and focus on small displacement engines with single or dual turbo units (Chevrolet Cruze, Regal) it looks like the BAS is being abondoned from what I can tell.

 

Mark,

Good to see another GMer on the board here. Take a quick re-read of my previous post. I am very familiar with the upcoming GM product plan. Without going into any detail or saying anything that has not yet been said publicly, you will be seeing an improved BAS system in the near future.

The issue with the Malibu / Aura BAS applications center around the fact that the vehicles were contented around base 4 cylinder / 4 speed auto applications. They launched just shortly before earlier than expected implementations of some of the technology improvements you described. The FE improvement of a BAS system is similar to the FE improvements you can expect from combining Direct Injection and 6 speed transmissions and other base engine level improvments that went into the Malibu, but not into the Malibu Hybrid. So you had two conflicting sets of hardware getting similar FE improvemnts.

The next versions of BAS will start with the same technology assumptions (6 speed, Direct Injection, additional FE improvements) and will have a more capable battery and motor generator, so the amount of FE improvement will be more significant than it was with the first BAS apps.

 

GM would have to improve BAS quite a bit before it can be competitive with Honda's IMA hybrid system. Personally, I am amazed at how much Honda accomplishes with such a compact, lightweight system. BAS also has to cost less than $3,000.