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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM Things are moving along quite nicely with the development of the Chevy Volt. According to Bob Lutz, test mules of the extended-range electric vehicle are now being built atop the soon-to-be-released Chevy Cruze. This is a logical progression since the production Volt will share its Delta underpinnings with the new compact from General Motors when it finally goes on sale in 2010. Prior to these latest mules, the test cars used last-gen Malibu shells that Lutz and the team affectionately referred to as "MaliVolts." Predictably, Mr. Lutz praises the new Delta platform, and we have every reason to believe that it will be leaps and bounds better than its Cobalt forebear, just as that model is light-years ahead of the Cavalier it replaced. Lutz goes on to say that the battery pack, motor and internal combustion engine are all working very well together, even in the freezing cold temperatures around Detroit these days. It all...
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Filed under: Chevrolet , GM You can never be certain about the information you get from fourth-hand, unconfirmed sources. General Motors will be releasing its third quarter financial results this morning, and it will be ugly for sure. Rick Wagoner will also be announcing more cuts that will likely include layoffs among engineering staff. GM is expected to cancel or delay almost all future product plans in an attempt to staunch its current cash burn rate. One of those aforementioned fourth-hand sources told another website last night that the Chevy Volt is among the programs on the chopping block. AutoblogGreen contacted GM's Volt spokesman Rob Peterson, who stated that "there's no truth in that statement whatsoever" regarding the story that appeared on Jalopnik. Chevrolet spokesman Terry Rhadigan also said "I'm not going to respond to specific speculation. The Volt remains a top priority for our Company and there are no changes to the timing of the program."...
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Filed under: Chevrolet , GM You can never be certain about the information you get from fourth-hand, unconfirmed sources. General Motors will be releasing its third quarter financial results this morning, and it will be ugly for sure. Rick Wagoner will also be announcing more cuts that will likely include layoffs among engineering staff. GM is expected to cancel or delay almost all future product plans in an attempt to staunch its current cash burn rate. One of those aforementioned fourth-hand sources told another website last night that the Chevy Volt is among the programs on the chopping block. AutoblogGreen contacted GM's Volt spokesman Rob Peterson, who stated that "there's no truth in that statement whatsoever" regarding the story that appeared on Jalopnik. Chevrolet spokesman Terry Rhadigan also said "I'm not going to respond to specific speculation. The Volt remains a top priority for our Company and there are no changes to the timing of the program."...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM 2011 Chevrolet Volt Ever since that cold day in January when the Chevrolet Volt concept rolled onto the stage at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show , the single biggest question has been the battery. More specifically, could GM find a lithium ion battery that would provide 40 miles of range on a charge, last the life of the car and not drive the price into the stratosphere? Although we still don't have any independent evidence that GM has achieved those goals, the company does claim to be meeting its targets. The first step on the path was evaluating more than two dozen battery suppliers in spring of 2007 followed by the awarding of two development contracts in June of last year. Although Bob Lutz acknowledged that one of those battery suppliers was in the lead last June and in August acknowledged that one had been selected to supply batteries for production, no official announcement had been made. Reuters is now reporting that Korea's...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM 2011 Chevrolet Volt Ever since that cold day in January when the Chevrolet Volt concept rolled onto the stage at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show , the single biggest question has been the battery. More specifically, could GM find a lithium ion battery that would provide 40 miles of range on a charge, last the life of the car and not drive the price into the stratosphere? Although we still don't have any independent evidence that GM has achieved those goals, the company does claim to be meeting its targets. The first step on the path was evaluating more than two dozen battery suppliers in spring of 2007 followed by the awarding of two development contracts in June of last year. Although Bob Lutz acknowledged that one of those battery suppliers was in the lead last June and in August acknowledged that one had been selected to supply batteries for production, no official announcement had been made. Reuters is now reporting that Korea's...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM 2011 Chevrolet Volt Ever since that cold day in January when the Chevrolet Volt concept rolled onto the stage at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show , the single biggest question has been the battery. More specifically, could GM find a lithium ion battery that would provide 40 miles of range on a charge, last the life of the car and not drive the price into the stratosphere? Although we still don't have any independent evidence that GM has achieved those goals, the company does claim to be meeting its targets. The first step on the path was evaluating more than two dozen battery suppliers in spring of 2007 followed by the awarding of two development contracts in June of last year. Although Bob Lutz acknowledged that one of those battery suppliers was in the lead last June and in August acknowledged that one had been selected to supply batteries for production, no official announcement had been made. Reuters is now reporting that Korea's...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Green , Chevrolet , GM 2011 Chevrolet Volt Ever since that cold day in January when the Chevrolet Volt concept rolled onto the stage at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show , the single biggest question has been the battery. More specifically, could GM find a lithium ion battery that would provide 40 miles of range on a charge, last the life of the car and not drive the price into the stratosphere? Although we still don't have any independent evidence that GM has achieved those goals, the company does claim to be meeting its targets. The first step on the path was evaluating more than two dozen battery suppliers in spring of 2007 followed by the awarding of two development contracts in June of last year. Although Bob Lutz acknowledged that one of those battery suppliers was in the lead last June and in August acknowledged that one had been selected to supply batteries for production, no official announcement had been made. Reuters is now reporting that Korea's...
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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 , Sedans/Saloons , Wagons/Estates , Green , Chevrolet , GM , Pontiac , Saturn Click above for live high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt GM is not going to let the Volt or its E-Flex powertrain get lonely. The first Volt -- the one due in late 2010 -- hasn't been finished yet, yet is so popular that GM is publicly theorizing about how far it can spread the technology through the empire. Ideas include a smaller car with a smaller battery pack that could go 20 miles on pure electric, and be much cheaper. A proper wagon, just "a little bit bigger," could also make the cut. And those variants don't all need to be Chevrolets. Other GM brands will certainly be blessed with Volt technology, if not an outright case of brand engineering. Cadillac is one of the wolves thought to be circling the Volt's henhouse, and using Volt systems in a Caddy might allow GM to make a profit on such a car without tax breaks . If there were a more economical...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Wagons/Estates , Green , Chevrolet , GM , Pontiac , Saturn Click above for live high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt GM is not going to let the Volt or its E-Flex powertrain get lonely. The first Volt -- the one due in late 2010 -- hasn't been finished yet, yet is so popular that GM is publicly theorizing about how far it can spread the technology through the empire. Ideas include a smaller car with a smaller battery pack that could go 20 miles on pure electric, and be much cheaper. A proper wagon, just "a little bit bigger," could also make the cut. And those variants don't all need to be Chevrolets. Other GM brands will certainly be blessed with Volt technology, if not an outright case of brand engineering. Cadillac is one of the wolves thought to be circling the Volt's henhouse, and using Volt systems in a Caddy might allow GM to make a profit on such a car without tax breaks . If there were a more economical...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , Wagons/Estates , Green , Chevrolet , GM , Pontiac , Saturn Click above for live high-res gallery of the 2011 Chevy Volt GM is not going to let the Volt or its E-Flex powertrain get lonely. The first Volt -- the one due in late 2010 -- hasn't been finished yet, yet is so popular that GM is publicly theorizing about how far it can spread the technology through the empire. Ideas include a smaller car with a smaller battery pack that could go 20 miles on pure electric, and be much cheaper. A proper wagon, just "a little bit bigger," could also make the cut. And those variants don't all need to be Chevrolets. Other GM brands will certainly be blessed with Volt technology, if not an outright case of brand engineering. Cadillac is one of the wolves thought to be circling the Volt's henhouse, and using Volt systems in a Caddy might allow GM to make a profit on such a car without tax breaks . If there were a more economical...
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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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