Buick Enspire Concept: The Shape of Things to Come?

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Ready to get enspired[sic]?

Buick’s latest concept vehicle, appearing at this week’s Beijing Motor Show, carries on the time-honored tradition of saddling vaporware with awful names, but the vehicle itself is worthy of further consideration. Decked out in a Chinese consumer-friendly red paint job, the coupe-like four-door SUV might not be all that conceptual.

Yes, you’re right, this exact vehicle will not make it to production, nor does General Motors claim it will, but a model not too dissimilar to it could. Just not yet.

The all-electric Enspire and its just-barely-floating roof packs a 410 kW eMotion power source, GM says, allowing for 0-60 sprints of just 4 seconds duration. In normal terms, that’s roughly 550 horsepower, presumably allocated to both axles. Driving range totals 370 miles.

Can the Enspire actually perform this feat? We’d gladly accept visual proof. Regardless, it’s a concept, so there’s really no need to know. GM refers to the Enspire as “an exploration of Buick’s bold design ideas and innovative technologies for future mobility,” and, as far as electric crossovers go, it’s certainly not the most ungainly looking one we’ve seen.

The wide stance/lowered roofline/raised body look is something we’d best get used to, as sporty, crossover-style vehicles seem to be what our collective future holds. Sport, luxury, utility, and green sensibilities combine in these vehicles, covering many bases for an automaker.

Inside the Enspire, gauges and other indicators have been packed into an OLED display screen, while the driver peers through a windshield with the largest head-up display we’ve ever seen.

While there’s no mention of the Enspire concept morphing into a production vehicle, the styling cues and proportions could easily find their way into the future Buick lineup. There’s four GM electric vehicles planned by 2020, and a dedicated EV architecture appears in 2021. The new platform is expected to spawn 11 electric vehicles; some of them will undoubtedly carry the Buick badge.

[Image: General Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • OzCop OzCop on Apr 26, 2018

    Why is it these manufacturers who used to have unique designs all appear to be copying Toyota's grill treatment? Ugly as sin in my opinion...

  • Robbie Robbie on Apr 27, 2018

    Grandpa and grandma will look so cool in this...

  • Rochester "better than Vinfast" is a pretty low bar.
  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
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