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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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Rumors of tomorrow's " important changes " at GM have approached a fevered pace, but the latest one we've heard is coming directly from someone who's directly related to someone who could be directly affected if the rumor is true. So, it must be true, right? Anyway, we've just been told by the family of a Chevy Volt engineering team member that not only is the untouchable Volt program on hold, GM's even letting some of the engineering team, aka "the chosen people," go. Hit the jump for the full rumor. "My uncle works on the Volt as an engineer. He's getting laid off Friday because apparantly the project (aka VOLT) is on hold indefinitely." We've put in a call to GM PR to ask them about the veracity of our tipsters claim, but we've yet to receive a response. We'll let you know when we've got more to tell you — but in terms of reliability, it would mean yesterday's Reuters report claiming GM was expanding R&D...
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Rumors of tomorrow's " important changes " at GM have approached a fevered pace, but the latest one we've heard is coming directly from someone who's directly related to someone who could be directly affected if the rumor is true. So, it must be true, right? Anyway, we've just been told by the family of a Chevy Volt engineering team member that not only is the untouchable Volt program on hold, GM's even letting some of the engineering team, aka "the chosen people," go. Hit the jump for the full rumor. UPDATE: One PR source is telling us this morning that the Volt program is definitely not on hold and another is telling us all options are still on the table. We guess we'll find out later today. UPDATE #2: We're now being told, more vigorously this time, that there's no plan to cut the program. "My uncle works on the Volt as an engineer. He's getting laid off Friday because apparantly the project (aka VOLT) is on hold indefinitely...
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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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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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newVideoPlayer("/ChevyVoltReveal.flv", 494, 400,""); As the production-ready 2011 Chevy Volt drove onto the turntable for all to see, as much electricity was in the air as was in the Volt's batteries. GM clearly hopes this will be the start of a revolution for the company, and if the Volt lives up to the hype, it very well may be. As for how it looks? Well, judge for yourself from the video. The proportions are pretty sleek, though vaguely similar to the 2010 Honda Insight and Toyota Prius , but at the same time more distinctive than either.
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You saw the live shots of the Chevy Volt already, but now here it is, folks: the long-awaited Chevy Volt press photos — without engineers covering up all the important bits of the car . As we've already said, the plug-in hybrid should achieve a 40-mile all-electric range, after which point a 1.4-liter inline four-cylinder will be doing the electricity-generating duties. Just don't call the gasoline mill an engine: In Volt parlance it's a "range extender." More importantly, a full charge on the batteries will take just three hours from a 240-volt socket — eight on a standard 120-volt outlet. But our favorite number has to be the 273 ft-lb of torque from zero RPM. If everything (and by everything, we mean the batteries) comes together, expect the Volt to start rolling out of GM's Hamtramck assembly plant toward the end of 2010. Full press release and details are below the jump. galleryPost('voltpresshots', 12, 'Production Chevy Volt');...
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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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