When Cadillac->ke18 unveiled the new ELR at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, the model arrived with a four-cylinder engine and electric generator that delivered a total of 207 horsepower. In the next two years, however, both the ELR and the Volt could adopt a new three-cylinder engine. The new engine would displace 1.0- or 1.2-liters and will be much more fuel efficient than the current 1.4-liter version.

This new engine will be developed in cooperation with one of the company's Chinese partners, which asked to remain unnamed "due to the confidential nature of the subject." If approved for production, the new engine will be used for Volt starting 2015 and for the ELR in 2016.

The company announced no specifications for its new engine, but for sure the new engine is part of the company's strategy to reduce weight by as much as 15 percent by 2016.

There are no details up to this point if the new engine will be offered in the U.S. A GM spokesman said: "We don't have one right now for the U.S. and I wouldn't be able to say that we have one planned for the U.S. at this point either. We have not announced any of that."

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