Beat

  • Chevrolet Beat Diesel (aka Chevy Spark) brochure image from India, Aug 2011

    It must be the Chevrolet Spark minicar's moment in the sun. Last week, GM confirmed that the smallest Chevy ever sold will come to the U.S. as a 2013 model. Then we put two and two together to wonder if Chevy's first all-electric car might be a converted Spark. What we forgot to mention--until now--is that two weeks ago, Chevy launched the Spark in India (where it's known as the Beat) with a tiny three-cylinder turbodiesel engine displacing less than a liter. Diesels are more and more popular in India for their extremely high fuel economy, and this one is rated (on the Indian test cycle) at a...

  • Chevrolet Beat EV electric vehicle with GM executives, India, June 2011
    Will GM's First All-Electric Car Be A Chevy Spark Minicar?

    Sometimes news comes out of adding up little pieces of information. Doing that with a few items from the past week, we're beginning to wonder if General Motors might launch an all-electric car in the U.S. in the next couple of years. Based on recent spy photos from renowned photographer Brenda...

  • Chevrolet Beat EV electric vehicle with GM executives, India, June 2011
    Chevy Shows Fourth Electric-Car Project: Beat EV Minicar In India

    Right now, the sole plug-in vehicle you can buy from Chevrolet--or indeed all of General Motors--is the 2011 Volt range-extended electric car. But that doesn't mean GM isn't testing a lot of other concepts. The company just isn't doing it in North America, the sole region where Volts are sold this...

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