If you watched the Super Bowl last Sunday, you may have seen the ad featuring Dr. Evil as he pledges to save the world with General Motors' electric vehicles. In a Twitter post promoting the ad, Buick has now shared a first image of a concept that foreshadows an all-electric crossover set to be unveiled this summer.
For now, the company doesn't say much about the EV under development. The image shows a very stylish LED headlight with a hood that advances a very angular shape, and the inscription at the bottom makes it clear that it’s a concept. The production version might look completely different, but you can bet the visual signature of the headlights previewed here will be part of the final version’s design – the image wasn't chosen at random.
The concept remains nameless for now, though recall that last December, GM applied to reserve the Buick Electra name, an application still in the analysis phase. Of course, GM could have other plans for the name than this crossover, but it’s hard not to make the connection with the all-electric model to come.
That said, there are other candidates for the designation that will make its way onto the model’s trunk. On January 26, GM made a reservation request for the name Velite. The name is already used in China where it designates a family of models; the Velite 5 is a plug-in hybrid sedan, the Velite 6 an electric SUV offering some 400 km of range (a plug-in model is also available) and the Velite 7 an electric SUV offering around 500 km of range.
Speculation aside, what's certain is that Buick will finally have something electric as it catches up to the rest of GM’s brands, all of which already have electric models on the road or soon will.