Chevrolet Volt News
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Plug-in hybrids can offer most of the environmental benefits of long-range electric cars with less cost for giant batteries or range worries. So why don't they sell better? As our esteemed former editor John Voelcker regularly noted, consumers just don't get them. As he concluded in his post wrapping up nine years of editing Green Car Reports, "...more than seven years after the debut of the Chevrolet Volt, consumers still don't understand what they are, how they work, or why they might be advantageous. Consumers 'get' hybrids: They run on gasoline, but are more efficient, somehow. And they...
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No more Volt, Rivian electric truck, hidden climate report: Today's Car News
General Motors announced it would kill the Chevrolet Volt in mid-2019. Rivian revealed its good-looking electric truck. A new report details how much climate change will hurt the U.S. economy. And new solid-state batteries from China. All this and more on Green Car Reports. Following other...
Eric C. Evarts -
GM to kill Chevy Volt production in 2019 (Updated)
General Motors confirmed Monday morning that it plans to cease production of the Chevrolet Volt in March, as part of an effort to streamline production and pivot its business more toward zero-emissions and personal-mobility efforts. The Volt was the first production plug-in car sold in the U.S...
Eric C. Evarts -
GM confirms it will reach EV tax credit ceiling this year—then phaseout begins
Beginning next April, buyers of General Motors’ electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids won’t be getting the same break on their purchase as those who buy those vehicles from any other brand. Any other brand but Tesla, that is. GM has confirmed to Green Car Reports that it will reach...
Bengt Halvorson -
Nothing comes close to Tesla: 2018 Q3 plug-in sales
Even with solid increases, other electric-car sales paled in comparison with numbers from Tesla in September and for the third quarter of 2018. The next highest sellers, were the Chevrolet Bolt EV, with 3,949 sales from July to September, and the Nissan Leaf just behind with 3,767 for the quarter...
Eric C. Evarts -
2019 Chevy Volt gets higher prices with more equipment
In June, we heard that the 2019 Chevrolet Volt will come with a faster charger and more luxury features. Now, CarsDirect has learned how much those features will add to the price. The price of the base Volt LT model will go up $300 to $34,395, including destination and before any applicable federal...
Eric C. Evarts -
I’ve owned two Chevrolet Volts, an early 2011 model and, currently, a second-generation 2017 version. I have loved them both. They’re sleek, sprightly, and have enough electric range to cover most driving. For longer trips, the gas engine kicks in when the charge runs out. The Volt, to me, is the perfect compromise between electric and gas, traditional and cutting-edge—and the car I almost always recommend when people ask me what electric-car they should buy. Three features set the Volt apart from—and in my opinion way above—other plug-in hybrids such as the...
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2019 Chevy Volt gets faster charging, stronger regen, more luxury features
Updates to the 2019 Chevrolet Volt will help experienced electric-car drivers maximize their electric driving and minimize the times the gas engine needs to run. The biggest improvement is a new 7.2-kw on-board charger that can effectively cut charge times in half. The advantage for Volt drivers...
Eric C. Evarts -
GM recalls 2013 Chevrolet Volts for battery software (Updated)
GM said Friday that it will recall 3,233 2013 model year Chevrolet Volts to remedy a problem with battery cell balancing that could cause the car to shut down in traffic. The recall mirrors two service campaigns for the 2017 and 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EVs for similar behavior. Some 2017 Bolt EVs got...
Eric C. Evarts -
Buick to launch new electric, plug-in hybrid models in China; what about US?
For 15 years now, Buick has been a far more important brand in China than it is in North America: four out of five Buicks sold globally are purchased by Chinese buyers. The brand has a wider range and variety of vehicles in that country, along with numerous models U.S. buyers never lay eyes on. So...
John Voelcker -
Best deals on hybrid, electric, fuel-efficient cars for April 2018
Often, to sell electric cars, supporters and salespeople argue that buyers will save money in the long run from lower fuel (or power) bills. With deals up to $15,700 off and payments as low as $179 a month, several hybrid, electric, and fuel-efficient cars will cost less this month right up front...
Eric C. Evarts -
Which plug-in hybrid would you buy today if you had to? Twitter poll results
The Chevrolet Volt, now in its second generation, has long been the king of mass-market plug-in hybrids. With 53 miles of battery range, its electric performance is exceeded only by the BMW i3 REx range-extended electric hatchback. But the BMW's starting price is close to $50,000, taking it well...
John Voelcker -
Competition for the title of most popular electric car has sparked a long and highly charged race between Tesla and Chevrolet. Though these brands offer vastly different versions of electric vehicles, they seem to be the two dominating electric vehicle sales in 2017. Reports show that top monthly electric car sales rotated between the Chevy Volt, the Chevy Bolt EV, and the Tesla Model S for the majority of the year. DON'T MISS: Plug-in electric car sales for Nov: Volt vs Prime neck-and-neck, Bolt EV just misses 3K The Tesla Model S is the current winner of overall sales for 2017, but the...
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Which plug-in hybrid would you buy today if you had to? Take our Twitter poll
This has been something of a plug-in hybrid month. Last week we got our first drive in the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, which we felt was the first affordable car with a range similar to that of the Chevrolet Volt. This week we're driving the 2018 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid. DON'T MISS: 2018...
John Voelcker -
Will Toyota Prius Prime outsell Chevy Volt this year?
Compared to the U.S. sales of, say, full-size pickup trucks, the monthly reports on deliveries of plug-in hybrid and battery-electric cars contain some fairly low numbers. The Ford F-Series routinely sells 80,000 a month or more, while the most any plug-in car has ever sold in the U.S. is about...
John Voelcker -
Don't be fooled: only some electric cars are sold nationwide, even now
Almost seven years after modern electric cars entered the mass market, there are now more than two dozen battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models on sale in the U.S. But that impressive number shouldn't disguise a fundamental truth about those vehicles: only about half of them are widely...
John Voelcker -
Costco members now get GM Supplier Pricing on Chevy Bolt EV, Volt
Costco members in the market for a new vehicle now have a new round of incentives to consider as they head into the final car-buying months of 2017. Specifically, shoppers interested in a General Motors vehicle will discover Supplier Pricing on nearly every car—including the Chevrolet Bolt EV...
Sean Szymkowski -
2012 Chevy Volt has now crossed 400,000 miles, range remains steady
As more battery-electric cars are sold and more drivers become aware of them, the question of battery life recurs among pretty much every potential buyer. How long will the battery last? Will I have to replace it every 18 months as I do in my smartphone? Data on the liquid-cooled battery packs of...
John Voelcker -
Small SUVs are all the rage, steadily eating into sales of passenger sedans and hatchbacks of pretty much every size. It's not just limited to North America, either: the trend is global, which is why several makers have jacked up perfectly standard front-wheel-drive hatchbacks and turned them into "crossover" utility vehicles. Now GM may be shaking up its product lineup to redirect its plug-in hybrid technology toward smaller SUVs as well. DON'T MISS: Chevrolet CrossVolt Trademark Renewed: AWD Electric Car In Chevy's Future? (Dec 2014) And a news report yesterday suggests that it's at least...
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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 -
China's Buick Velite 5 is a Volt with a nose job
China is hugely important to General Motors, as it is to virtually any global automaker. It's the largest market in the country and, recently, it has put in place an increasing set of requirements that more vehicles sold there be fully or partially electric. It also happens to be by far the largest...
John Voelcker -
Is Chevy FNR-X concept the plug-in hybrid CrossVolt SUV?
It's a single teaser shot, obviously of a Chevy front end, with unmistakable design nods to the Camaro muscle car. But the image of the Chevrolet FNR-X concept, to be unveiled at the Shanghai auto show less than two weeks hence, may be the first clue to some new GM plug-in hybrid offerings in the...
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 -
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