Geneva 2015: Magna MILA Plus Hybrid Concept To Debut

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

Magna Steyr doesn’t build cars on its own, but the supplier always brings a concept to Geneva when it can, and the MILA Plus is no exception.

The MILA Plus is a PHEV deriving power from a three-cylinder gasoline mill linked to an electric motor on the front axle and between the main engine and transmission to send power to the back. Range in all-electric is nearly 47 miles, and CO2 emissions come at just 32g/km. Total power is 268 horsepower and 428 lb-ft of torque. Total range is 310 miles, and nil to 60 comes in 4.9 seconds.

The lightweight extruded aluminum space frame and bio-plastic panels help bring the overall weight to 3,351 pounds, and the cold-mechanical-joined body-in-white — a process used on the Mercedes SLS AMG and Aston Martin Rapide — uses modular construction to “ability to accommodate different driveline configurations,” as well as “the use of components and systems from large series production” for greater flexibility and efficiency on the production line.


Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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  • 1995 SC The sad thing is GM tends to kill cars when they get them right, so this was probably a pretty good car
  • Mason Had this identical car as a 17 year old in the late 90's. What a ball of fun, one of many I wish I still had.
  • FinnEss At my age, sedans are difficult to get into without much neck and hip adjustment.I apologize sincerely but that is just the way it is. A truck is my ride of choice.Pronto
  • Ajla The market for sedans is weaker than it once was but I think some of you are way overstating the situation and I disagree that the sales numbers show sedans are some niche thing that full line manufacturers should ignore. There are still a sizeable amount of sales. This isn't sports car volume. So far this year the Camry and Civic are selling in the top 10, with the Corolla in 11 and the Accord, Sentra, and Model 3 in the top 20. And sedan volume is off it's nadir from a few years ago with many showing decent growth over the last two years, growth that is outpacing utilities. Cancelling all sedans now seems more of an error than back when Ford did it.
  • Duties The U.S . would have enough energy to satisfy our needs and export energy if JoeBama hadn’t singlehandedly shut down U.S. energy exploration and production. Furthermore, at current rates of consumption, the U.S. has over two centuries of crude oil, https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/exclusive-current-rates-consumption-us-has-more-two-centuries-oil-report.Imagine we lived in a world where all cars were EV's. And then along comes a new invention: the Internal Combustion Engine.Think how well they would sell. A vehicle HALF the weight, HALF the price that would cause only a quarter of the damage to the road. A vehicle that could be refueled in 1/10th the time, with a range of 4 times the distance in all weather conditions. One that does not rely on the environmentally damaging use of non-renewable rare earth elements to power it, and uses far less steel and other materials. A vehicle that could carry and tow far heavier loads. And is less likely to explode in your garage in the middle of the night and burn down your house with you in it. And ran on an energy source that is readily extracted with hundreds of years known supply.Just think how excited people would be for such technology. It would sell like hot cakes, with no tax credits! Whaddaya think? I'd buy one.
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