‘Tis the season for thin news cycles and cheesy top ten lists. Yahoo! Finance has thrown its hat in the top ten ring with its list of the biggest flops among all consumer goods introduced for 2011. Both the Fiat 500 and Chevrolet Volt have made it among the chosen few, rubbing elbows with such luminaries as Netflix’s Qwikster and Disney’s Mars Needs Moms. Read More »
GM may have designed the Chevrolet Volt to cancel out potential “range anxiety,” but the company is responding to a new type of worry today: fear that the Volt’s battery will catch fire.
* The problem? A Volt that had been crash tested in May caught fire three weeks after the crash conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This was revealed in early November.
* The cause? A ruptured coolant line in the battery, which prompted a new safety investigation that was announced this past Friday.
* The solution? GM’s just-announced free vehicle loaner program and more tests.
Read More »
The more vehicles General Motors is able to build using the battery technology pioneered in its 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the better chance the automaker has of earning a return on its significant investment into the electrically driven automobile. It’s the classic economies of scale issue… but what is the next logical vehicle application?
While many of the early prognostications pointed to a Voltec-powered Cadillac, a report from AutoWeek says GM CEO Dan Akerson is suggesting a minivan may come first. There’s also some talk that an unknown hatchback is in the works (yes, the Volt is indeed a hatchback that’s shaped to look more like a sedan, but whatever).
Also notable are Akerson’s expectations that at least 10-percent of all GM production will be hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles within 10 to 15 years. Akerson wants each of the automaker’s four core divisions – Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet (check) and GMC – to have a vehicle using Volt technology, though no timeframe for that expansion has been given.
In other Volt news, Akerson told reporters at the 2011 Automotive News World Congress that the General is on track to sell 25,000 Chevrolet Volts for the 2011 model year, which is a sizeable increase from the 10,000-20,000 units expected as production began.
Moving past the ever-present greenery, Akerson and GM North American President Mark Reuss both stated that the company is putting some of its next-generation truck programs on the fast-track. We’d imagine that means we’ll see new fullsize pickups from Chevy and GMC sooner rather than later.
[Source:Autoblog]
Many eco-friendly car buyers have been patiently awaiting the arrival of the Chevrolet Volt at their local dealer since the extended-range juggernaut was unveiled in concept form nearly four years ago, and now the wait is almost over. To be more precise, the wait is nearly over if you ordered one of the first 160 retail examples of General Motors’ halo car and you live in one of the battery-powered sedan’s initial launch markets. The first batch of Volts have left the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant and are en-route to California, Texas, Washington D.C and New York.
Volt marketing director Tony DiSalle says that the first batch of Volts represents a milestone for Chevrolet, adding that customers will soon “experience gas-free commuting with the freedom to take an extended trip whenever or wherever they want.”
The Volt finally hits prime time with an EPA-approved range of 35 miles on a single charge, and with the ability to travel up to 379 miles when also using its 1.4-liter gas engine generator. The Volt also enters the Chevy showroom with the Motor Trend and Automobile Car of the Year awards. Hit the jump to read over GM’s official press release.
General Motors is getting closer to the day it takes that financial plunge and once again offers its stock to the world. The day of the IPO, which is speculated to occur in November, will be a very important day for the future of GM. If it goes well, it will provide the automaker with a massive infusion of cash, much of it which figures to be used to repay the government. The money could also be tucked away into the General’s treasury where it can serve to fund product development. One such area of development? Electric vehicles.
GM is finally getting ready to release the Chevrolet Volt upon the waiting world, and early demand for the vehicle is high. However, the technology’s long-term financial viability at GM remains very much in doubt, and according to TheDetroitBureau.com sources, while other Voltec programs are being explored, nothing has been approved yet because executives and board members are waiting to see how the IPO affects their research and development budgets.
[Source:Autoblog]
Green Car Journal has chosen its five candidates for the 2011 Green Car of the Year Award. Competition is fierce this time around with both the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt nabbing nods. While those two have been busy snapping up headlines over the past year, the rest of the vehicles on the list are no less impressive. The Lincoln MKZ Hybrid made the cut thanks to its incredibly efficient drivetrain borrowed from the Ford Fusion Hybrid. Meanwhile, the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid is bound to make an impressive showing thanks to its competent highway mileage and high-tech lithium-polymer battery pack.
Of all of the eligible vehicles, the only one without a battery pack is the lovable 2011 Ford Fiesta. While the subcompact is likely to be eclipsed by the rest of the electron-powered pack, the vehicle’s 40 mpg highway is no less impressive than all of the high-tech wizardry on board the hybrids and EVs. The winner of this year’s award will be announced at the 2010 LA Auto Show on November 18. Check out our gallery of the nominees below and then hit the jump for the press release.
2011 Green Car of the Year Finalists Revealed
Winner to be Announced at the LA Auto Show Nov. 18
LOS ANGELES, October 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ – Green Car Journal announced today its five finalists for the 2011 Green Car of the Year®, including the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, 2011 Ford Fiesta, 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid and the 2011 Nissan LEAF. For the sixth consecutive year, this increasingly important award will be announced during a press conference at the LA Auto Show Press Days on Nov. 18.
The Green Car of the Year® award is a program that honors environmental leadership in the automobile field and recognizes vehicles that become available to consumers during the award year. For the first time, the Green Car of the Year® finalists include two primarily electric-drive vehicles in addition to two hybrids and a high mile-per-gallon, gasoline internal combustion engine.
“These five 2011 Green Car of the Year® finalists reflect an auto industry in transition,” said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com. “It wasn’t long ago when electric drive was a novelty. Now, it’s expected that auto manufacturers will include electric drive in some form among their model offerings.”
While four of the five Green Car of the Year® nominees do incorporate electric drive, the Ford Fiesta nominee underscores that internal combustion continues to evolve in important ways. This hatchback achieves up to 40 EPA estimated highway fuel economy, running on conventional gasoline. Along with vehicles incorporating electric drive, a new generation of internal combustion gasoline and clean diesel models are expected to push efficiencies ever higher in the coming years.
Dozens of potential nominees weighed in during the selection process. Green Car Journal editors considered vehicles employing all fuels and technologies in the effort to raise the bar in environmental performance, including high efficiency gasoline internal combustion, advanced diesel, hybrids, electrics and vehicles capable of running on alternative fuels. In the Green Car of the Year® program, nominees must stand out as exemplary models that forward environmental performance in meaningful and quantifiable ways. Market significance and “newness” are also factors. All nominees must be on sale by January 1 of the award year.
Jurors include leaders of the nation’s top environmental organizations, including Carl Pope, chairman of the Sierra Club; Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of Ocean Futures Society and Matt Petersen, president of Global Green USA. Also, Jay Leno, noted auto enthusiast and host of the “Tonight Show,” as well as automotive icon Carroll Shelby join Green Car Journal editors in rounding out the 2011 jury.
[Source:Autoblog]
General Motors has been advertising its “extended-range electric vehicle” since 2007, but does anyone remember the first video commercial for the Chevrolet Volt? It first aired back in late 2007 and featured a dog licking a person’s foot. The gist? You care about the environment and save water on showers by having Fido lick your feet; Chevy cares about the environment and so it’s working on the Volt (watch the 30-second spot here).
In the very near future – i.e., during the World Series – GM will begin airing a series of new commercials using the Volt’s just-revealed new tagline: “More Car Than Electric.” We got a sneak preview of these commercials during a Volt media event last week (and promised we wouldn’t reveal anything about the visuals or the voiceovers) but thought that the slogan might generate some discussion.
Is it convincing? Does it do what it needs to do? We’ll soon get an idea of how the general public reacts, but what’s your first take?
[Source:GM]
