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At the 2009 North American International Auto Show, General Motors unveiled a vehicle the automotive press hadn't seen coming: a luxury coupe based on the same technology as the highly-anticipated Chevy Volt Extended-Range Electric Vehicle, or E-REV.  The company said the car, known as the Cadillac Converj, was just a concept -- GM has not yet decided whether to build the Converj.  But the car appears to use drivetrain parts and design elements from several vehicles further along in the development pipeline, so the Converj may well arrive in showrooms in a few years.

As an E-REV, the Converj would be something of a cross between an electric car and a hybrid.  It would be able to operate on battery power alone for up to 40 miles at highway speed, but carry a small gasoline engine that would activate when the batteries were low, giving the Converj the same range as a conventional, gasoline-powered car.  Since GM chose to show the car as a Cadillac product, it would likely be appointed as a luxury car and command a price premium over its Volt sibling, but details are scarce.

What the Auto Press Says

When the Converj appeared, rumors had circulated that a Cadillac version of the Volt might be in the GM's plans.  But nothing specific about the car was known.  The first appearance of the Converj caused a great deal of buzz -- but also raised many questions.

Nearly every automotive journalist seems to agree that the Converj is a beautifully-designed car.  Instantly recognizable as a Cadillac with its huge pointed grille and angular wedge shape, the Converj is sleek and appears smaller than the Volt.  It borrows most of its exterior design from another recent concept -- a design study showing what a coupe version of Cadillac's popular CTS entry-level luxury car might look like

Inside, the concept seats four, with very Volt-like touch-sensitive electric switchgear, a large central touchscreen display and thin sport seats trimmed in cream-colored leather. 

Mechanically, little about the car is certain.  GM spokespeople at the Detroit Auto Show said the Converj would use similar technology to that of the Volt, but hinted that both its battery and its gasoline engine might not be the same as what is found in the Chevrolet.

Here is what the press has to say about the coming Cadillac Converj:

• "Consisting of a large T-shaped battery, electric motor and a four-cylinder motor generator, the Voltec system is capable of producing 273 pound-feet of instant torque and can push the Converj to 100 mph.  Like the Volt, the Converj's range is 40 miles on electric power alone and several hundred miles with the help of the motor generator. GM says the recharge time is 8 hours when using a typical household outlet." - Edmunds
• "Although basically a Global Delta-sized vehicle, the Converj has big car presence, and a convincing interior package that seats four - in fact, there's more leg and head room inside than in the forthcoming CTS coupe." - Motor Trend
• "All we can say is that we'd love to hear that that the Converj is going into production tomorrow, but the reality of GM's current financial situation probably means they won't be able to make any firm commitments for awhile." -- Autoblog
• "WHAT MAKES IT TICK? No one seems to know, possibly even G.M. ‘The battery pack could either be larger or smaller than the one in the Volt, and so could the engine,' [GM Vice Chairman Bob] Lutz said." - New York Times
• "Luxury is going green at the Detroit auto show. But will customers follow?"-- Wall Street Journal
• "Fuel saving is further enhanced by an all-glass roof incorporating solar panels and a design that promises very good aerodynamic efficiency." -- AutoCar

Key Details

Through rumors, off-the-record conversations with both PR representatives and engineers, and "spy shots" taken by photographers who haunt automakers' testing tracks like paparazzi, the automotive press generally knows a great deal about a car before ever seeing it.  With the Converj, that's not the case.  When the car first appeared at January's Detroit Auto Show, no one knew it was coming.  Edmunds summed up the press reaction after the car's unveiling with, "Well, GM did it again in Detroit, an actual surprise at a major auto show."

As a result, details are scarce.  The car is said to use the same drivetrain as the 2010 Chevy Volt, which would give it a T-shaped lithium-ion battery running underneath the center of the car, and a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that isn't even connected to the drivewheels, serving only as a generator to recharge the battery when it is low.  But even that is conjecture -- GM engineers told journalists the final layout might or might not use Volt components.

One last conjecture is worth repeating: the Converj, for all its promise, looks like something that could easily have been put together quickly from already-developed vehicles -- its body is a slightly modified version of the already-revealed CTS coupe concept, its drivetrain that of the Volt -- so GM may not intend to produce it.  The company, in financial trouble, needs to convince the federal government that it is going green quickly in order to retain its federal bailout funding.

"Despite its sleek styling," the New York Times warns, "there is the impression this surprise Detroit debutante was cobbled together quickly to impress skeptical audiences of, say, congressmen."

As the vehicle edges closer to production, or vanishes from sight as the bailout rolls on, we'll post details here.