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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 , 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: 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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