Chevy Volt
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Owners of the Chevy Volt range-extended electric car are often pretty technically advanced. Many are conversant not only with auto technology but also with apps and software analysis tools. Two weeks ago, the online Volt community erupted when OnStar abruptly shut stopped giving data access to VoltStats.net, a collaborative tool that let almost 2,000 Volt owners analyze their own and aggregated electric and gasoline use. Now, GM and its OnStar unit have reversed course. The company plans to post a statement--later this afternoon or possibly tomorrow morning--that will explain the reasoning...
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2014 Cadillac ELR Electric Car Will Be Built Next To Volt, GM Confirms
Color us, oh, not very surprised at all. General Motors confirmed yesterday that it would build the 2014 Cadillac ELR range-extended electric luxury coupe at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, on the same line that builds the ELR's Chevrolet Volt sibling. While this had long been discussed in the...
John Voelcker -
2013 Chevrolet Volt: Gas Mileage, Electric Range Test
It had been almost two years since we'd driven a Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car, and the new 2013 model has been slightly modified to boost its electric range. We took a new 2013 Chevy Volt on our usual weekend test route, which covered 360 miles that included about two-thirds freeway...
John Voelcker -
Chevy Volt Outsells Half The Cars On Sale; Is That Failure?
With the Chevrolet Volt racking up the highest sales last month since it launched--though the numbers were helped by incentives for both buyers and dealers--some of the "Volt is a flop" coverage has abated. Now, a post on the fan site GM-Volt.com points out that this so-called "sales failure" has...
John Voelcker -
Are Hybrid & Electric-Car Keyless Entry Fobs A Safety Hazard?
There's no question that the Chevy Volt has been through more than its share of travails. But with last month's Volt sales at an all-time high--though it's not clear they will continue at that rate--things have been looking up for the Volt. Now Ryan Turner, a Volt owner and regular reader of this...
John Voelcker -
Can Chevy Sustain Volt Electric Car Sales After Incentives End?
Last month, more Chevrolet Volts were sold than in any month since the range-extended electric car went on sale in December 2010. The total of 2,831 handily surpassed the 2,289 sold in March, the previous best-selling month for the Volt. But Chevy may not be able to keep up that pace indefinitely...
John Voelcker -
Yesterday, Automotive News (subscription required) reported the news that the Detroit Hamtramck facility, where the 2013 Chevrolet Volt is made, is to pause production of the plug-in hybrid for four weeks. The second time General Motors has temporarily halted production of the plug-in car, the four-week halt, like last time, has been partly caused by an oversupply of Volts. In other words, GM is making Volts, along with its European sibling the Opel Ampera, faster than it is selling them. According to GM however, oversupply isn’t the only reason the plant is closing down for four weeks...
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Will Chevy Volt Sales Hit 40,000 This Year (Ampera Included)?
After being flayed for not achieving its 2011 sales goal for the Chevy Volt, you might think General Motors would shy away from further volume predictions for its innovative range-extended electric car. Not so. CEO Dan Akerson said in late June that the company thought it would sell 35,000 to...
John Voelcker -
Is Ford Fusion Energi (20-Mile Electric Car) A Volt Competitor?
As far as we know, not a single auto journalist has yet driven the upcoming plug-in hybrid Energi models of the 2013 Ford C-Max and 2013 Ford Fusion. But an interesting and illuminating post on HybridCars.com offers more details about those cars' electric capabilities than we'd seen to date. It led...
John Voelcker -
Volt Executive Tony Posawatz Is New CEO Of Fisker Automotive
In an unexpected announcement, struggling startup electric-car maker Fisker Automotive this morning named Tony Posawatz its new CEO and President. He replaces Tom LaSorda, himself appointed CEO only in late February. LaSorda will leave the company but remain available as an advisor. Posawatz spent...
John Voelcker -
2011 Chevy Volt Owner Takes on the Electric Range Challenge
Last week, an article on this site asked, "How Far Can The 2012 Chevrolet Volt Travel on Electricity Alone?" As a Volt owner, I felt duty-bound to answer that question, and to take up the challenge of beating the 60-mile figure claimed by the driver of an Opel Ampera, the European version of the...
David Noland -
Chevy Volt No Good Because You Have To Rearrange Your Garage?
After a rough period last year, the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car has settled down and is now the best-selling plug-in car in the U.S. General Motors is continuing a program, launched a year ago, that makes Volts available for loan both to interested buyers and members of the...
John Voelcker -
Better Place is now rapidly ramping up the first full deployment of its electric-car service and battery swapping network in Israel, but the company has ambitious plans in other countries as well. In Israel, it's illegal for electric-car users to plug their cars into just any old wall socket. They must recharge on an approved, networked charging station--of which Better Place has the only one at the moment. But in other countries, that kind of law is less likely to be accepted by drivers and governments. So Better Place is partnering up in some cases to broaden its reach and attract new...
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Chevy Volt A Plug-In Hybrid? More Electric Than You Think, Owners Say
If you have a car that both plugs in and runs on a conventional engine, what's the mix of miles done on grid power versus gasoline? You might think it's something like 50-50. In the case of the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, with an electric range of 6 to 15 miles, that's probably about...
John Voelcker -
Tony Posawatz, Chevy Volt Product Line Director, Retires From GM
The Chevrolet Volt electric car, now in its third model year, has survived the bankruptcy and government-led restructuring of General Motors, politically motivated attacks on electric cars, a battery-safety investigation by the NHTSA, and some breathtakingly inept marketing efforts. But many...
John Voelcker -
2014 Cadillac ELR: Volt-Based Coupe To Get New Engine?
Over the past decade, Cadillac has been trying to build--or rebuild--its reputation as a world-class luxury brand. Style, luxury, and performance all play into the mix of its new products, but it may take another decade for the world to think of Cadillac in the same category as German luxury...
John Voelcker -
Will Buick Launch A Volt Version Called Electra?
Sometimes online news sites can build complete stories--almost entirely hypothetical--around a single factoid. This is one of those stories. The factoid is that General Motors registered its intent to use the name Electra on a product in the category of "Motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles...
John Voelcker -
Volt Owners: Here’s Why Your Delayed Charging Failed
this problem as resulting from high frequency ground currents
George Parrott -
It may be hard to imagine, but the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car is about to enter its third model year. The new 2013 Chevrolet Volt will offer a slightly higher all-electric range, up from 35 to 38 miles. Its base price of $39,995 will not change. Next year's Volt will also receive a higher EPA efficiency rating, from 94 to 98 MPGe, or Miles Per Gallon Equivalent--a measure of how far the vehicle can travel on electricity with the energy content of 1 gallon of gasoline. The 2013 Volt will be fitted with a battery pack that holds slightly more energy--up from 16 to 16.5...
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Chevy Volt Plug-In Sales Surge In CA, Outsells 'Vette Too
It's quite the morning for electric-car news today, but we didn't want to let one from yesterday slip by either. After a lumpy start to sales of the Chevrolet Volt, it appears that California dealers now can't keep the range-extended electric car in stock. According to an analysis of registration...
John Voelcker -
Electric-Car Prices: Tesla, Nissan, Chevy Should Be Ashamed--Here's Why
Always read the fine print. That's a lesson every car buyer should take to heart. Especially since Nissan, Chevrolet, Tesla, and Mitsubishi all now engage in a pricing practice of which they should be ashamed. It's so-called "net pricing" of their electric cars, in which the price appearing in...
John Voelcker -
GE Is In The Electric-Car Business For The Long Haul, Says CEO
While the popularity of electric cars grows, it's reassuring to know that it isn't only the automakers that are committed to the concept. General Electric Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt has confirmed that the company will continue to back EVs, even if initial sales haven't been as high as many hoped...
Antony Ingram -
Electric-Car Politics: Attacks Hurt U.S. Innovation, Security
The partisan politics around electric cars have been poisonous pretty much since they launched in December 2010. But commentators are now raising two issues that had almost gotten lost amidst Congressional hearings on Volt battery fires, the GM bailout, the Solyndra collapse, and lazy reporting...
John Voelcker -
2013 Chevrolet Volt Details: New EV-Hold Mode, MyLink, Safety Systems
If you want a 2013 Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car, searching the web may not get you much. Chevy hasn't yet put details of next year's Volt model on its website, for instance. But it did release ordering details to its dealers, and the intrepid sleuths at GM Inside News uncovered them...
John Voelcker