If the 1.5-liter engine does not make it to the US, we’d love to see Buick offer the Envista with a hybrid option. General Motors has a few “affordable” electric vehicles in the pipeline, including the $30,000 Equinox EV. However, even that will be roughly $7,000 more than the Envista. We’d love to see something in the mid-$20,000 range that can achieve around 40 mpg.
The Envista is also a pretty attractive car, influenced by the drop-dead gorgeous Wildcat Concept. The name “Envista” was actually inspired by a different pretty concept car, the Avista, from 2016 (pictured below).
A Buick executive told CarBuzz that the product planning team wanted to use the Avista name, but they were advised that all new Buick models have to start with “en.” Someone at the back of the room reportedly yelled out, “What about Envista?!” And the name stuck.