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We appreciate the exuberance of the good people over at GM-Volt regarding the 2011 Chevy Volt . In the midst of the Carpocalypse it's nice to see someone excited about GM product that doesn't begin with a "C" and end in either a "V" or a "ZR1." Still, we can't help but enjoy the humor in the statement posted with this picture: That’s GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner driving the Volt experimental prototype mule car of the right making sure to stay one step a head of the Prius! Well, at least it's one way that GM can stay ahead of Toyota in the alternative-energy game. [ GM-Volt [
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We reported back in July the European version of the Chevy Volt could be built in the UK. Now we're hearing that those rumors are in fact true. The European Volt ( Opel Volt perhaps?) will be built in the UK at the Ellesmere Port plant, home of the current Vauxhall Astra, and not imported from the Hamtramck plant in the U.S. GM sources say that the project has caught the interest of UK business secretary, Lord Mandelson and that he is interested in seeing the plug-in electric car manufactured locally in the UK. GM Europe President, Carl-Peter Forster said, “We would look at assembling Volt at Ellesmere Port if super-credits were included in the EU CO2 legislation - because this would encourage automakers to provide more ultra-low CO2 vehicles earlier and in greater volume. While the CO2 policy is close to finalisation, we will wait to see the final policy before making any further decisions." It is expected that within the next couple months GM will release a business plan before...
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Edmunds Inside Line stirred up kind of a hornets nest yesterday when they made the claim the Chevy Volt won't use the engine to recharge the battery. Turns out they weren't exactly right. GM's VP for Global Program Management, John Lauckner, rebuffed Edmunds' claims and stated, in no uncertain terms, that the engine can recharge the battery, but recharging the battery is not its objective. Engines are most efficient when operated at a steady state — tons of tricks can be implemented to optimize performance at a constant RPM, and that's the plan for the Volt. As with any steady-state output, sometimes there will be surpluses. Those surpluses of electricity not used by the electric motor, as might occur during light loads, will be dumped into the battery so that energy isn't wasted. But recharging the battery is not the objective of running the engine. In addition to extra electricity from the engine/generator, energy reclaimed from regenerative braking will...
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GM has announced it will invest $370 million in a new 552,000 square-foot plant in Flint, Michigan to produce the 1.4-liter four-cylinder engines intended for duty in the Chevy Cruze and Chevy Volt . The engines will be rolling off those new lines in two flavors — turbocharged with 140 HP and 148 lb-ft of torque for the Cruze, and a non-turbocharged 100 HP version for the Volt. The plans also indicate the 1.4-liter is destined for service in two additional U.S.-bound models expected to debut in the 2011 time frame — helping GM to their planned goal of "one-third of...North American engine volume will be four-cylinders by 2011." Complete details on this huge win for the city of Flint (Won't Michael Moore be proud!) and details on the tech in the engines below the jump. GM's 'Boost' In Efficient Four-Cylinders Includes More Turbos Strategy Highlighted by the 2011 Chevy Cruze's new 1.4L Turbo that is Expected to Be a Fuel Economy Leader FLINT, Mich...
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Edmunds Inside Line is reporting the Chevy Volt apparently doesn't use the engine to recharge its batteries while driving, going against what every media outlet — CNBC , the buff books and every web site including this one — have reported as fact for the past two years. Confusion apparently stems from a press release issued when the concept version of the Chevy Volt was first revealed in 2007 indicating: "When the battery is depleted, a 1-liter, three-cylinder turbocharged engine spins at a constant speed, or revolutions per minute (rpm), to create electricity and replenish the battery." Instead, we're now being told, via the press release from last week's production reveal : "a gasoline/E85-powered engine generator seamlessly provides electricity to power the Volt's electric drive unit while simultaneously sustaining the charge of the battery." So, after some portion of the initial 40 miles of all-electric driving depletes the battery, the...
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Thanks to the folks at GM-Volt.com , you can now not only see the Chevy Volt slowly moving on a GM road course, you can see it with a soundtrack! Yes friends, a spaceship-like sedan apparently deserves Coldplay, as its spacey sprocket of an unofficial musical accompaniment. Check it out below the jump and tell us in the comments how long you were able to watch before the music became too annoying to bear any longer. We made it nine seconds. [via GM-Volt ]
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Yesterday's reveal of the production Chevy Volt got us thinking we should take a closer look at the design features, both inside and out, that make GM's plug-in hybrid unique. We've picked out what we think are the five exterior and an equal number of interior design elements we feel are most important, and taken a little deeper look at each. Without further ado, hit the jump for our top ten key design elements that make the Volt so...eclectically electric.
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At GM's "blogger town hall" at the end of yesterday's Chevy Volt unveil , the General's Vice Chairman and product czar, "Maximum" Bob Lutz , made mention to a Volt feature we hadn't yet heard about, and is even more techie-cool than the iPod-like interface on the center stack. Apparently, the Volt will "know how far you are from home" using what we're assuming is an on-board GPS system. The plug-in electric extended range hybrid's computer will then use that distance, along with route information, to determine how long the car needs to run the gas engine to charge the on-board battery pack, allowing the vehicle to truly maximize fuel economy. Even if you're not drinking the GM Kool-Aid, you've got to be wow'ed by a system like that — as long as it actually works. Read the full quote from "The" Bob after the galleries and the jump below. "with the Volt, you never have to worry you use the full 40 (mile...
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Wonder why the 2011 Chevy Volt looks the way it does? Want to know how it works? Why not let Bob Lutz explain it to you? The video follows the jump.
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Wonder why the 2011 Chevy Volt looks the way it does? Want to know how it works? Why not let Bob Lutz explain it to you? The video follows the jump.
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If you're a GM fan-boy, you're probably a pretty happy camper this week. GM's celebrating its centennial and you've seen the live reveals of both the upcoming Chevy Cruze , the 40 MPG+ econobox you can't ignore yesterday , and today , the Chevy Volt , GM's resuscitation of the electric car. One of these two will save GM, the other will not. If you can't tell from the headline, let's make it clear again: Keep your fancy-pants electric cars, GM — you won't be saved by the Chevy Volt. No, instead, it's the little Chevy Cruze that should get the savior-like halo. galleryPost('2011VoltNotSavior', 9, 'Chevy Volt - Mass Market MPG'); galleryPost('2010ChevyCruzeLiveD', 9, 'Chevy Cruze - MPG For The Masses'); Despite the hype, and as I laid out in a piece today for Popular Mechanics , the Volt, Tesla Roadster, the upcoming plug-in Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight will not be what I'd call mass-market game-changers...
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If you're a GM fan-boy, you're probably a pretty happy camper this week. GM's celebrating its centennial and you've seen the live reveals of both the upcoming Chevy Cruze , the 40 MPG+ econobox you can't ignore yesterday , and today , the Chevy Volt , GM's resuscitation of the electric car. One of these two will save GM, the other will not. If you can't tell from the headline, let's make it clear again: Keep your fancy-pants electric cars, GM — you won't be saved by the Chevy Volt. No, instead, it's the little Chevy Cruze that should get the savior-like halo. galleryPost('2011VoltNotSavior', 9, 'Chevy Volt - Mass Market MPG'); galleryPost('2010ChevyCruzeLiveD', 9, 'Chevy Cruze - MPG For The Masses'); Despite the hype, and as I laid out in a piece today for Popular Mechanics , the Volt, Tesla Roadster, the upcoming plug-in Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight will not be what I'd call mass-market game-changers...
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GM's 100th birthday celebration kicks off in a few short hours featuring their revival of the semi-electric car in just a few hours with the official unveil of the Chevy Volt on a very MTV Unplugged-like stage. Click here to get electric with us tomorrow at 8:30 AM EST as we watch Chevy's exercise in generating buzz both under the hood and with the worldwide apparatus collectively known as the "media." For the moment, hit the jump to see our past coverage of the excitement — but whatever you do, wake up early tomorrow here at our Chevy Volt Live-Blog ! (10:10 PM EST) UPDATE: We've got shots of the Renaissance Center Wintergarden stage taken this evening in the gallery below. galleryPost('VoltGMNextEarly', 6, 'GM Gets Ready To Rock Down To Electric Avenue'); The Chevy Volt, A Jalopnik History An Electric Sled Through Time Edmunds Thinks Chevy Volt Design Is "Huge Disappointment," "Completely Unacceptable" First Full Picture...
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An aspiring designer at GMInsideNews has taken it upon himself to restyle the Chevy Volt , responding to criticism that the plug-in corporate savior is a bit on the bland side. Aside from applying a selection of questionable hues to the Volt, he sketched in "lightning bolt zigzag style headlights" in an effort to give the design some teeth. The beltline has also been jacked into a pseudo-G6 high-rise tribute, resulting in an effort that's arguably more derivative than the prevealed Volt we've already seen. What do you think? Full renderings in technicolor goodness after the jump. [ GMI ]
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The Observer of all things Auto at Edmunds has cobbled together a series of quotes allowing them to say what they think without actually saying what they think: The 2010 Chevy Volt is ugly. Quoting their own Jane Nakagawa, they bust on the Volt pretty hard, calling it "a huge disappointment" and "completely unacceptable." Harsh. If the "leaked images of the Volt" with their recklessly unflattering photo angles are to be believed, the Volt may be ugly, but we'll reserve judgment until we see it in the flesh tomorrow morning during the live unveil at the Renaissance Center. [ Edmunds AutoObserver ]
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