Chevrolet News
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Ah, local car-dealer ads on television. You've likely seen them, usually during the local ad minute on national shows, often late at night or in the cheaper slots. They're mostly formulaic, but each one mixes several elements for its own unique blend of attention-grabbing pitch. DON'T MISS: This family has 2 Chevy Bolt EV electric cars, uses no gas The dealership itself is usually the backdrop, with frequent images of long rows of brand-new cars or trucks just waiting for you to come down and buy one. The spokesperson is a dealership employee, often the owner or sales manager, talking fast...
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This family has two Chevy Bolt EV electric cars, uses no gas at all
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the first mass-priced electric car to offer a range of more than 200 miles, something previously offered only by pricey Tesla luxury cars. Initially put on sale last December in California, the 238-mile Bolt EV is slowly rolling out across the country and will be on...
John Voelcker -
2018 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid carries over with few changes (updated)
It appears that Chevy isn't following its own precedent as the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid enters its third model year. In the past, the Volt received a battery upgrade every other year that provided it with increasingly more electric range—but that's not the case for the largely unchanged...
Andrew Ganz -
First impressions of Chevy Bolt EV by Nissan Leaf driver
If you're serious about driving a green car, but not happy with your local choices, you need to move to California. The Golden State has roughly two dozen battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on sale, not to mention three hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Electric-car advocate Kelly Olsen...
John Voelcker -
2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric car: first national lease deal starts at $329 monthly
As the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV rolls out across the U.S. over a nine-month period, electric-car advocates have focused intently on its sales numbers. It's fair to say that in its first four months on sale, they haven't yet broken any records. But now, for the first time, there's a national lease...
John Voelcker -
2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel first drive
When the first Chevrolet Cruze Diesel was launched back in 2014, it made a lot of sense. Diesel was in vogue. German manufacturers were pushing diesel power in a huge way, with Volkswagen's "Clean Diesel" leading the charge. Oh, how things have changed. DON'T MISS: Volkswagen diesel scandal - all...
Brandon Turkus -
For a few years now, Tesla has shown what a nationwide network of DC fast-charging sites for long-range electric cars should look like. Its Supercharger network now covers virtually all of the lower 48 states, and until earlier this year, it was completely free to Tesla drivers. The Chevrolet Bolt EV, the first affordable battery-electric car with 200-plus miles of rated range, also offers DC fast charging as an option. DON'T MISS: Fast-charging a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car But Bolt EV fast charging is less capable than Tesla's in three crucial ways. First, there's no coherent...
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Fast-charging a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is the first mass-priced electric car with more than 200 miles of range to go on sale in the U.S. That alone makes it a landmark vehicle, and has led to significant interest in the first electric car that provides comparable range to that of Tesla cars over the last nine...
John Voelcker -
GM confirms Chevy Volt to be sold as Buick Velite 5 in China
In the 20 years since General Motors and its Chinese partner SAIC reintroduced the Buick brand to China, more than 8 million Buicks have been sold in what is now the world's largest car market. That's because the last Chinese emperor drove a Buick in the 1930s, and the brand retained a huge cachet...
John Voelcker -
Another Chevy Bolt EV electric-car owner weighs in on pros and cons
We've had a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car in our fleet for a handful of days, and have been thinking about our impressions of the car in everyday use. While a major snowstorm cut half the days out of our test run—with a 7-foot snowdrift blocking the road to my house—we've been...
John Voelcker -
Chevy Bolt EV pricing across U.S.: some discounts, some markups on electric car
With a base price of $37,495 and an EPA-rated range of 238 miles, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV has no real direct competition at the moment. All other electric cars in its price bracket offer substantially lower ranges, while the 200-mile luxury electric cars sold by Tesla now start at $75,000. Just...
Stephen Edelstein -
What does a Chevy Volt do when it runs out of gas and battery charge?
Unlike conventional hybrids and many plug-in hybrids, the first-generation Chevrolet Volt makes extensive use of both electric and gasoline power. With a fully-charged battery pack, it will drive on electric power alone until the charge is depleted, at which point the onboard gasoline engine...
Stephen Edelstein -
Fleeing my home in New York’s Hudson Valley for California during February and March has a number of charms. Currently at the top of the list: reading about Winter Storm Stella while watching the surfers at Rincon Beach. For electric-car nuts like me, however, there’s another California perk that’s not far behind: the wide availability of the Chevy Bolt. Back home, I’d been hankering for a Bolt test drive for months. As a long-time Tesla Model S owner, I was eager to see how it compared to the gold standard of electric cars. DON'T MISS: Chevrolet Bolt EV: Green Car...
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Why I canceled my Chevy Bolt EV electric-car order: a reader explains
The advent of affordable 200-mile electric cars promises to increase public acceptance of cars with plugs—or at least that's the hope of both carmakers and advocates. The first of those, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, is now entering the market, state by state, to great acclaim. But not every...
John Voelcker -
Chevy Bolt EV: 800-mile trip in 238-mile electric car shows challenges remain
With about twice the range of any non-Tesla electric car, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV has generated a great deal of excitement and won numerous awards over the last year. In combination with a nascent DC fast-charging infrastructure, it offers the possibility of much longer road trips powered solely...
John Voelcker -
GM says green-car buyers should consider its diesels: here's why
Diesel engines will continue to appear in pickup trucks, European luxury SUVs, and at least a few mass-market crossover utility vehicles. Two of those are the Chevrolet Equinox and Mazda CX-5 crossovers that will launch for the 2018 model year. But the future of diesel in U.S. passenger cars...
John Voelcker -
'Thousands' of self-driving Bolt EVs to be deployed next year: report
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV is a crucial car for General Motors in more ways than one. With an EPA-rated 238-mile range and $37,495 base price (before federal, state, and local incentives), the Bolt EV considered a groundbreaking electric-car game changer. But the Chevy hatchback is also GM's main...
Stephen Edelstein -
Chevy Cruze Diesel: quieter, more fuel-efficient, B20-capable
Automakers today find themselves in something of an unenviable position. Strict corporate average fuel economy rules continue to ratchet up, while President Trump may—or may not—attempt to change those rules. Until the uncertainty resolves, however, automakers have to stick with their...
Brandon Turkus -
With the 238-mile Chevy Bolt EV electric car now in its third month of sales and rolling out to additional states every month, the industry is focused on its sales numbers. Retail buyers have asked to what degree GM's plans to dedicate a number of the early Bolt EVs to its Maven car-sharing service might affect availability. If yesterday's announcement from Los Angeles is anything to go by, the bulk of Bolt EVs are still likely to end up with retail buyers. DON'T MISS: When can I buy a Chevy Bolt EV electric car? See state-by-state schedule According to a release from GM and its Maven...
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Chevy Bolt EV electric range: can 238 miles stretch to 300 miles?
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV has an official EPA-rated range of 238 miles per charge on the combined test cycle. That gives it the longest range of any electric car currently on sale in the U.S. that isn't a Tesla, at a base price around half that of the least-expensive model from the Silicon Valley...
Stephen Edelstein -
Chevy Cruze Diesel lawsuit to move into discovery phase
Shock waves from Volkswagen's admission that it had installed "defeat device" software on its so-called clean diesels to cheat on emission tests continue to reverberate around the auto industry. The diesel-emission scandal that emerged in September 2015 has already cost VW Group more than $20...
John Voelcker -
Chevy Bolt EV is basis for 'huge range of electric cars': GM CEO Mary Barra
It's common practice in the industry for automakers to base multiple different models on the same basic platform or architecture. This allows them to amortize the development costs of new platforms across a wider range of products. It also means that two seemingly dissimilar models—such as a...
Stephen Edelstein -
2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel sedan rated at 37 mpg combined
With the elimination of Volkswagen diesel models, the 2017 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel is one of the few remaining options for buyers seeking a mainstream-priced diesel car. The second-generation Cruze Diesel was confirmed last year, but the initial sedan variant is only just now going on sale. We now...
Stephen Edelstein -
GM releases second Chevy Bolt EV autonomous driving video
The Chevrolet Bolt EV may very well turn out to be a game-changing electric car in more ways than one. With an EPA-rated 238-mile range and a base price of $37,495, the Bolt EV has the potential to appeal to a much broader range of customers than previous electric cars. At the same time, it's also...
Stephen Edelstein