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newVideoPlayer("/TodayVolt.flv", 506, 423,""); We knew the Chevy Volt would increase global levels of smugness. Here's Matt Lauer, crowing about being the first to drive it to CNBC 's Phil LeBeau — and that was only a test vehicle!
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GM's announced due to the Carpocalypse , it will halt construction on the new 552,000 square foot Flint Engine Plant responsible for the 1.4-liter inline four destined for the Chevy Volt and Chevy Cruze . Back in September GM announced it would construct an all-new plant in Flint, Michigan to produce the 1.4 liter direct injection inline four cylinder engine planned to act as a generator in the Chevy Volt and main power in the Chevy Cruze. GM Spokeswoman Sharon Basel would not say when construction might resume if government loans are made available, but asserted there is time in both programs to accommodate the delay, and GM currently builds the engine in Austria, so they "...have lots of options. The construction of the new plant is not going to interrupt our plans for the Volt or Cruze." Due to a tightening cash situation GM is immediately halting construction of the plant in an effort to stay afloat over the sea of bankruptcy. A delay in the production timing for both...
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Years after being promised smaller and more fuel-efficient cars the next generation of diminutive autos is finally on its way. But these new "small" cars aren't as small as you might think. In order to provide a point of comparison, we've compared the length of these cars to a Ford Super Duty Crew Cab pickup truck. At 21.8 feet long, the long-cab's one of the longest production cars in recent history. So how do the ten upcoming new small cars for North American stack up? Let's find out. 10.) Chevy Orlando GM's previous attempt at a minivan was a massive failure, which is why it is heartening to see the Chevy Orlando concept, which essentially an MPV. Similar in size to the Mazda MPV, the Orlando should offer 7-passenger seating in a much smaller package than a Chevy Uplander. Built on the same platform as the Chevy Cruze, the Orlando will almost certainly offer a dramatic increase in fuel efficiency. Though some version of this car should see production sometime...
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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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newVideoPlayer("/WagonerVoltCapitol_gawker.flv", 506, 423,""); We didn't have the video of Wagoner pulling up in the Chevy Volt mule dressed up in the skin of a Chevy Cruze earlier . Now we do. We also have to say, we're pretty happy with how the Cruze looks in motion. Pretty snazzy if you ask us. We'll take ours with a turbo 1.4-liter four-banger rather than the Volt innards and definitely with the "dog-and-pony show" graphics-delete option. Also, we're now told Alan "Boeing! Boeing!" Mulally and Bob "The Builder" Nardelli are seated and Dodd's started flapping his gums. UPDATE: According to CNBC's Phil LeBeau, GM's modifying their request from the gubm'it — they need $4 billion this month and $4 billion in January (from $4 billion in December, $6 billion in March) to stave off the Carpocalypse !
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There's General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, stepping from a Chevrolet Malibu hybrid last night at his hotel in Washington to the flashing bulbs of the paparazzi after driving from Detroit to testify at Congressional hearings for an auto industry not-a-bailout. If the not-so-Big Three automakers have learned anything since their last trip to Washington, it's the old way of doing business just won't fly. So the decision by auto executives to travel in hybrid cars rather than corporate jets is just the start to overhauling their image as the industry pleads its case for more than $25 billion in federal loans. The next step? Heading over to a 9:30 AM rally at the corner of Delaware Ave. and C street just outside the Russell Senate Building and the 10:00 AM Senate hearing. To get there from his hotel? He'll be driving a Volt mule. Seriously. [via Breitbart , GM-Volt ] [Photo Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert]
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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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Ever wonder what the plug-in unit for the Chevy Volt looks like? Well now you know. Here at the Paris Motor Show the display car is tethered to the very slanted display stand by way of extension cord and locking plug-in mechanism. The power port is, as expected, hidden behind the "Volt" name plate ahead of the mirrors, though we expected it would flip up, apparently the plate slides forward. Pretty trick-looking if you ask us. galleryPost('voltplugin', 3, 'Chevy Volt, Plugged In');
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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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Now that the cat is out of the bag, it looks like the producers of Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen are getting a bit more lax about photos of their star cars. Here we've got the Corvette Centennial concept lazily parked in front of the 2010 Chevy Volt . This shot joins the video of the same pairing. It is rather nice to get a sense of scale by placing these to vehicles next to GM's large trucks.
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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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When Chrysler dropped its bevy of extended-range electric vehicles in our laps today as part of the company's new ENVI program, we wondered how coincidental it was that Chrysler was claiming the same all-electric range as the much ballyhooed Chevy Volt . The Volt makes concessions to seating and obsessively maximizes aerodynamics to get its 40 mile range, but the Chrysler EV and the Jeep EV both claim 40 miles as well. No funny-shaped center consoles, no wacky aero-trickery, just batteries and electric motors. So what's the deal? Not surprisingly, it's mainly the batteries that make the difference here. Battery storage capacity is measured in watt-hours, more or less the total amount of energy used over time. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is simply a thousand watt-hours and this is what's used to measure big batteries, the kind used in modern hybrids.The Chevy Volt uses a 16 kWh battery and only really functions within a range of 50-80% charge in order to extend battery life. In...
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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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