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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Contests , Government/Legal , Green , Chevrolet , GM Click above to view high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt Now that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has an agreement with General Motors regarding how to measure the fuel mileage of the 2011 Chevy Volt , our attention turns to the EPA, which now has to decide what official mileage rating will appear on the new car's window sticker and how to determine what that number will be. The first recommendation comes from the Automotive X-Prize, the foundation of which will award $10 million from Progressive Insurance to the winner of its competition to design a production-viable car that people would want to drive that gets 100 MPGe or more. What's with that little 'e' after the familiar miles per gallon? Basically, the X-Prize crew wants to convert all units of energy to a figure that's equivalent to the power from a gallon of gas. That way, a car's powerplant - regardless...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM Click above to view high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt According to General Motors E-Flex spokesman Rob Peterson, the automaker has reached an agreement with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that would see the 2011 Chevy Volt get a unique classification different from other current hybrids. This new classification takes into account the fact that the Volt's 40-mile battery range allows it to complete the bulk of the emissions and economy test procedure without ever running the engine, which would likely give it a mpg rating of 100 mpg or better. This is problematic for the EPA, which considers dual-power vehicles like the series hybrid Volt no different than a parallel hybrid like the Prius. Currently the EPA is expecting the Volt to complete the test cycle with a charged battery, which means the engine would have to run a lot more and essentially kill the charge sustaining control plan. According to Peterson, GM...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM Click above for high-res gallery of 2011 Chevy Volt Inside Line kicked up a dust storm yesterday by claiming that the 2011 Chevy Volt could not recharge its batteries while driving using its on-board, range-extending 1.4L gas engine. 40 miles of electric-only drive was it, and then the battery packs become "400 pounds of uselessness" was what IL said. They got this impression from a press release issued when the production Volt was unveiled to the public , which stated that the gas engine could only "sustain" the battery pack's charge and not increase it. GM got its communications crossed and apparently confirmed IL's take, but has thought about it some more and today reconfirmed what we initially thought was true, that the Volt's gas engine can recharge its batteries while underway. What the Volt's gas engine can't do is completely recharge the battery pack to its full capacity. Rather, when...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Green , Videos , Chevrolet , GM Click above to view video after the jump GM celebrated its 100th anniversary by unleashing the production 2011 Chevy Volt to the world. It was a great way to show that the General is working hard on innovative transportation to kick off its next 100 years, but we're still two years and a month away from being able to actually buy a Volt. Until that time, we're forced to gather intelligence as it becomes available without being able to get behind the wheel. Thanks to the Volt-o-files over at GM-Volt.com, we now know what the Volt looks like when it's traveling on the open road. The video after the jump shows the Volt strolling around GM's closed course proving grounds in Milford, Michigan. The two-minute clip reveals very little of the Volt's capabilities because it's chugging along at a leisurely pace, and the Coldplay soundtrack hides the Volt's audio, which should be limited...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM Click above for live high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt General Motors car czar Bob Lutz hopped online yesterday after the official unveiling of the 2011 Chevy Volt to address criticism of the car's design that began to surface after images of the series hybrid were leaked online last week. Most complainers have decried the fact that the production Volt looks little like the Volt Concept that debuted at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show. This is certainly true, but Lutz points out on GM's Fastlane Blog that while automakers often use design to make an emotional connection with customers, the Volt will instead use the technology beneath its skin to make that same connection. What it looks like on the outside has been largely shaped by the "Form follows Function" rule, with designers given as much leeway as possible to add some style as long as it doesn't violate the Volt's prime directive of fuel efficiency...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Government/Legal , Green , Chevrolet , GM , Toyota Click above for high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt Automotive News reports that Toyota is preparing a statement for a congressional hearing on the progress of EVs, the results of which could influence legislation that gives a big $7,500 tax credit to any hybrid with a battery pack rated at 6 kilowatt-hours of electricity or more. Toyota argues that the legislation is too restrictive and redefines what a hybrid is since the only vehicle eligible (that we know about) would be the 2011 Chevy Volt with its 16 killowatt-hour battery pack, though Toyota never calls out the series hybrid by name. For reference, the current Toyota Prius uses a battery pack that generates 1.3 killowatt-hour, and judging by the Japanese automaker's reaction to this legislation, we doubt that its plug-in hybrid electric Prius currently under development uses a battery pack powerful enough, either. Nevertheless, there could...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Green , Videos , Chevrolet , GM Click above to watch video after the jump General Motors' goal for the exterior of the 2011 Chevy Volt is to create as much pizazz as possible with superior aerodynamics to ensure the least amount of parasitic loss for the electric drivetrain. The interior, however, is all about how the driver interacts with the vehicle. And with the Volt, GM designers attempted to pull off a Buck Rodgers meets Apple iPod theme. A quick glance at the futuristic Volt interior shows a very unique approach to integrating design and technology. The first thing we noticed was that GM decided to use two seven-inch LCD screens, with one working as the main driver instrument panel (no gauge cluster here) and the other for everything from navigation to tracking battery charges. Both screens are user configurable, and two different configurations can be saved for two different drivers. Follow the jump for more including a video...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Green , Hatchbacks , Chevrolet , GM Click above for high-res gallery of 2011 Chevy Volt Everyone who has been waiting with bated breath for the past year and a half to see the production version of the Chevy Volt can now breathe a big sigh of relief. After some extremely unflattering press shots shots were accidentally released last week, people were extremely disappointed with what appeared to be little more than a Prius clone. Anyone who spends time photographing cars knows how hard it can be to make them look good and how easy it is to make them look really awful. Unfortunately, those shots that were unapproved and never supposed to be released anyway fell into the latter category. The car that GM rolled out this morning as part of its centennial celebration in Detroit is a much more attractive machine that while different from the concept is still very attractive. Rather than the egg shape look we saw, it's actually much more like...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM Click above for gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt in more colors Reaction to the production 2011 Chevy Volt and its aerodynamic design appears to be split, with the majority of folks favoring the more macho flanks of the Volt Concept. But the production Volt's shape is a concession to function, being as aerodynamic as possible to improve the efficacy of the car's regenerative braking system. While the shape of the car isn't going to change, you will be able to order your Volt in colors other than Baby Blue hue it's wearing in the leaked images from yesterday. Autoblog reader Jesse Shipe was kind enough to photoshop some quick color changes on the Volt, and we've decide to take ours in black. Gallery: 2011 Chevy Volt - colors Gallery: 2011 Chevy Volt Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM Click above for high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt The hubbub from yesterday afternoon's "leak" of images showing the production 2011 Chevy Volt has died down, and The Detroit News asked General Motors what we were all wondering: what the hell happened? Chevy PR dude Terry Rhadigan claims "human error" was behind the accidental release of production Volt images on GM's own media website and one external media site. According to GM, the images were only published briefly before being removed from both sites. All it took were moments, however, for Marty Padgett to publish the pics on his website, thecarconnection.com. That's where Autoblog first found them, though we were still able to download higher res versions from GM's own media site by doing a simple search for 'volt'. Padgett seems to think the accidental release of the pics was really an intentional move by GM to generate buzz...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM Click above for high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt Though its first official public debut isn't scheduled until early next week, the 2011 Chevy Volt has been introduced to the internet early courtesy of the The Car Connection, which published these apparently official pictures of the revolutionary series hybrid today. In the past few weeks we've seen official teasers shots of the car mixed with spy video taken on the set of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen , all of which have only served to increase excitement ahead of the car's official debut next week. These pics give up the goods like no others, however, and show various GM execs and engineers directly responsible for its development posing alongside like proud papas. The list includes, in order, Tony Posawatz, Bob Lutz, Bob Boniface, Frank Weber, and Andrew Farah. What we see is a vehicle about the size of the current Chevy Cobalt or next-gen Cruze with...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Hybrids/Alternative , Chevrolet Click above for high-res gallery of Chevy Volt mule spy shots Today the Chevy Volt passes from the vaporware stage into the physical manifestation of GM's efforts to bring the series hybrid to production as promised. Though what you're looking at is the body of a last-gen Malibu, we have confirmation that underneath is the Volt's E-Flex powertrain being track-tested for the first time, or at least the first time in front of a spy photographer's zoom lens. Of course, there are still a lot of questions surrounding the Volt, like whether or not GM will meet its self-imposed deadline of late 2010 for production, or if the price will continue to rise above the estimated $35,000 we've heard thrown around. What we do know is that the E-Flex powertrain will be paired with the next-generation Delta chassis. Two suppliers, Continental Automotive Systems and A123 Systems, are tasked with developing the Volt's all-important...
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