2013 Chevrolet Volt get Slightly Improved Pure Electric Driving Range

The introduction of the 2013 model year Chevrolet Volt brings an increase in the car's pure-electric driving range by three miles (4.8 km) for a total of 38 miles (61.1 km), compared to the 2012 model's 35 mile EV range.

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GM Claims Volt Owners Have Collectively Saved a Supertanker of Fuel Since EV went on Sale

From time to time, makers of hybrids and pure-electric vehicles all like to mention how much gasoline fuel their cars saved over the years in comparison with regular models, and General Motors is no different.

The Michigan-based carmaker did its math and discovered that ever since the Chevrolet Volt went on sale at the end of 2010, owners of the plug-in hybrid electric car have collectively saved a supertanker of gasoline after driving 40 million miles (64 million kilometers) on electricity and avoiding the use of more than 2.1 million gallons (8 million liters) of gasoline.

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GM Claims Volt Owners Have Collectively Saved a Supertanker of Fuel Since EV went on Sale

From time to time, makers of hybrids and pure-electric vehicles all like to mention how much gasoline fuel their cars saved over the years in comparison with regular models, and General Motors is no different.

The Michigan-based carmaker did its math and discovered that ever since the Chevrolet Volt went on sale at the end of 2010, owners of the plug-in hybrid electric car have collectively saved a supertanker of gasoline after driving 40 million miles (64 million kilometers) on electricity and avoiding the use of more than 2.1 million gallons (8 million liters) of gasoline.

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eBay Motors' Store Selling 29 Brand New Cars at Half Price Through March 30th!

Looking for a great deal on a new car? You'll be hard pressed to find a better one than the ongoing promotion from the online unit of AutoNation Direct as the company is selling 29 brand new vehicles from Ford, General Motors and Nissan for half their price through eBay Motors.

The new promotion kicked off last Friday, March 23, and will continue through this Friday, March 30. Up until today, AutoNation Direct has sold 18 vehicles.

Some of the previous deals include a 2012 Nissan Maxima V6 for US$16,797.50 (€12,650), a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro 2LS V6 for US$12,720 (€9,605), a 2012 Ford Focus Sedan SE for US$9,842.50 (€7,430) and a 2012 Chevrolet Volt for US$22,615 (€17,080).

The company says that the vehicles will appear randomly on its site, meaning that one will have to spend hours on end refreshing AutoNation Direct's eBay store page and be faster than anyone else to grab the deal when it appears.

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Colorado Giving Chevrolet Volt Buyers a $13,500 Tax Break

While the Obama administration is proposing a tax credit increase from $7,500 to $10,000 on alternative-energy vehicles for consumers in the near future, the state of Colorado is one-step ahead.

In addition to the federal tax credit of up to $7,500, Colorado is now offering residents who purchase or lease a new Chevrolet Volt a state tax credit of up to $6,000 for a total price reduction of as much as $13,500.

The Volt is priced from $39,145. If you include the $13,500 federal and state tax credits, the cost drops down to $25,645 for Colorado buyers.

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GM Replacing 120-volt Charging Cords on Most Chevy Volts, but Don't Call it a Recall

All owners of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and some of the 2012 model will soon be notified by GM to replace their 120-volt charging cords with new ones after certain consumers complained about overheating problems.

GM spokesman Randal Fox told Reuters that he did not know the total number of the vehicles affected, but said it was fewer than the 11,000 or so Volts sold so far in the States. He also made a point to note that this was not a safety recall.

"It's just an effort to offer a more consistent charging experience. It's not a safety recall. It's more of a customer-satisfaction program," Fox said.

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Opel Ampera to Run at the 2012 Rally Monte Carlo

The Chevrolet Volt's European twin, the Opel Ampera, will be making its inaugural appearance at this year's edition of the international Rally Monte Carlo.

All in all, six Ampera sedans will participate in the “Alternative Energy” version of the rally, which starts in Annecy-le-Vieux, Clermont-Ferrand and Lugano on March 22 and finishes three days later in the capital of Monaco, Monte Carlo.

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Toyota Says it Sold More Prius C in Three Days than the Volt and Leaf Combined in a Month

According to Toyota, the newest member of its Prius family of hybrids, the Yaris-sized Prius C, is off to an extremely good start since going on sale in the States on March 12.

In its first three days on the market, the Prius C sold 1,201 units, with Toyota making it a point to note that it surpassed the combined sales of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf for the entire month of February. In other related news, our local grocery disclosed that it sold more apples in an hour than Prius C in a day.

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Chevy Volt and Opel Ampera win 2012 European Car of the Year Award

The Chevrolet Volt and its sister model, the Ampera, which is sold as under both the Opel and Vauxhall nameplates, have won the 2012 European Car of the Year (COTY) Award with 330 points.

Coming into second place was the Volkswagen Up! city car with 281 points while the new generation of the Ford Focus finished third with 256 points.

The other cars that made it to the final round of the competition were the Range Rover Evoque (186 points), Fiat Panda (156 points), Citroen DS5 (144 points) and the Toyota Yaris (122 points).

The competition brought together votes from 59 automotive journalists in 23 European countries.

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GM to Halt Chevy Volt Production for Five Weeks Because of Low Sales

Dismal sale numbers and a rising inventory which at the end of February, stood at 6,300 vehicles, enough to cover 154 days at the current rate it sells cars, are to blame for General Motors decision to stop production for both the Chevy Volt and its European cousin, the Opel Ampera, for five weeks until April 23.

"We need to maintain the right inventory levels and continue to meet demand," GM spokesman Chris Lee told Automotive News.

On Thursday, General Motors told the 1,300 workers building the Volt at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in Michigan that the shutdown would take place on March 19.

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2012 Chevrolet Volt with Low Emissions Package Granted Access to California's HOV Lanes

In order to encourage carpooling and decrease traffic congestion, the State of California came up with the idea of creating the so-called High Occupancy Vehicle lanes or HOV for short, which could only be used by cars with two or more occupants.

Last July, however, the Golden State altered the regulations allowing single-passenger vehicles to use them as well, provided they were all-electric or powered by hydrogen fuel cells or natural gas.

Despite being a hybrid, the Volt was excluded from the list specifying the vehicles allowed to use the HOV lanes, which span more than 1,400 miles and reduce driving time by an average of 36 minutes each day, because of its emissions.

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Man Proves to Newt Gingrich that You Can Put a Gun Rack in a Chevy Volt

It's amazing how fast people react these days. While campaigning in Suwanee, Georgia, a couple of days ago, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich attacked President Barack Obama on his plans to increase subsidies for alternative fuel-powered cars.

Gingrich started by making fun of the green car lobby. "How dare we go out and drive vehicles bigger than their bicycles!" said the former House Speaker before he aimed his guns on the Chevrolet Volt.

"You know the Volt is an interesting experimental car," said Gingrich. "The average family that buys it earns $170,000 a year. This is Obama's idea of populism. And in this new budget he wants to increase the amount given to every Volt buyer to $10,000. Which is an amount which a lot of people would by a decent second-hand car, but it wouldn't be an 'Obama' car."

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Chevrolet Goes Big for Super Bowl with Five New Ads

GM's Chevrolet division will have a huge presence at this year's Super Bowl game as it plans to air no less than five commercials focusing on the Camaro, the Sonic and the Volt.

These include the "Needing Getting" music video for the Sonic from the band OK Go that will air during the pregame program, the "Aliens" spot showcasing the Volt, the "Chevy Happy Grand" with the Camaro Convertible, the "Sonic Anthem" that chronicles the sub-compact's stunts, and the "Joy", again with the Sonic.

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California wants 1.4 Million Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2025; Manufacturers Agree, Dealers Object

The state of California has been at the forefront of the nation’s regulations when it comes to reducing emissions since the 1970s. And now it has taken another step in this direction by approving the Advanced Clean Car program.

It is a set of regulations that aims to reduce emissions and, among other things, requires 15.4 percent of all new vehicles that will be sold by 2025 to be all-electric, plug-in hybrids or powered by fuel cells.

By implementing this program, California regulators wish to reduce passenger vehicles emissions by 34 percent between 2014 and 2015, and overall smog-forming emissions by 75 percent. It’s a goal similar to the federal standards proposed by President Obama.

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Volt Probe Fuels Republican Fire, GM CEO Says Company has Become a "Political Punching Bag"

The issue of the Chevy Volt's fire risk and the following NHTSA investigation that ended last week after GM modified its hybrid and the federal agency cleared the car, seems to be spreading beyond the automotive realm.

According to Bloomberg News, a report released by the House Oversight and Government Committee Report led by California Republican Representative Darrell Issa poses the question whether the six-month delay in making the fire-risk issue public has anything to do with the government’s 32 percent stake in General Motors.

“This unnatural relationship has blurred the lines between the public and private sector as President Obama touts the survival of General Motors as one of the top accomplishments of his administration”, read the report. “On a political level, this relationship raises serious questions about whether or not the administration is too heavily invested in the success of GM to be an effective regulator.”

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Case Closed: NHTSA Clears Chevrolet Volt on Fire Risk, Says Everything's Okay Now

All ends well for General Motors as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced today that it is officially closing the safety defect probe into the post-crash fire risk of the Chevrolet Volt.

The federal safety agency stated that after an eight-week long investigation and following a fix announced by GM to reduce the potential for battery intrusion from side impacts, it concludes that "no discernible defect trend exists".

"Based on the available data, NHTSA does not believe that Chevy Volts or other electric vehicles pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles," the agency said in a statement.

NHTSA had opened the investigation on November 28, 2011, after some Volts either caught fire or started to emit smoke and/or sparks in the days or weeks following a crash test.

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Holden's Version of the Volt to Cost Over $60,000 in Australia!

Bad news for Australian drivers interested in GM's Chevrolet Volt as the local version of the car that will be marketed under the Holden brand and which is expected to arrive later this year will reportedly cost well over AU$60,000 (equal to US$62,000).

While Holden has yet to publicly announce prices, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that GM's subsidiary told its dealers that the Volt will carry a retail price of AU$59,990 before on-road and dealer costs, which the newspaper says rises to as much as AU$66,000 (US$68,200) with the aforementioned fees.

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GM Announces Fix for Chevrolet Volt to Address Safety Concerns Over Fires

As Toyota found out the hard way, when there's a safety issue on hand, no matter how small or unlikely the possibility of something going wrong on a customer's car is, in the long run, it's much better to address the problem before someone gets hurt…

In General Motors' case, the problem has to do with the Chevrolet Volt's battery package as severe-impact lab tests performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA] resulted in some cars catching fire days or weeks after the crash.

GM's own investigation found that the problem has to do with the protective casing around the battery coolant system as it could be pierced during impact allowing fluid to leak onto a circuit board thus causing an electrical short.

The Detroit-based automaker said it will address the problem by strengthening the structure around the batteries while also adding a sensor in the reservoir of the battery coolant system to monitor coolant levels and a tamper-resistant bracket to the top of the battery coolant reservoir to help prevent potential coolant overfill.

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Chevy Volt and Fiat 500 Amongst Worst Product Flops of 2011, Says Report

A report on the seven worst product flops in the U.S. from 24/7 Wall Street that was re-posted on Yahoo Finance includes two vehicle introductions, the Chevrolet Volt and the Fiat 500.

According to the author of the report, Chevrolet's extended range electric vehicle made it on the list because it underperformed in sales while the fact that it is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for fires related to the car's lithium-ion batteries is also mentioned.

As for the 500, the article says that while the Italians expected to sell some 50,000 cars during its first year in the States, Fiat sold fewer than 12,000 from January through July, and that the company ousted its chief Laura Soave this past November. For the record, Fiat sold 15,826 examples of the coupe and the 500C through October.

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Media Headlines Reduce Demand for Volt, Coolant May be the Cause of Battery Fires

Despite handling the Chevrolet Volt fire-risk issue brightly going to great lengths to dispel current owners’ fears and satisfy them, media headlines seem to have taken their toll on the extended range EV's sales after all.

According to CNW Marketing president Art Spinella, a new survey conducted by his research company reveals “a decline in the consideration of the GM vehicle”.

The study shows that the number of early adopters “Likely” or “Very Likely” to buy a Volt between July and December decreased by 20.5% after the fire reports, a percentage that was double among the general public. Electric vehicle enthusiasts are the only ones not affected by the reports, yet analysts expect the Volt to will miss its 2011 sales target by around 20%.

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