Q1 2012 Shows Sales of Fuel-Efficient Hybrids and Plug-In Vehicles Soaring

We already know that April was a great month for Toyota Prius hybrid sales, but it turns out that the first quarter of the year produced stellar sales numbers for hybrids in general, as well as plug-in electric cars.
More than 100,000 hybrids and plug-in cars--113,457--were sold in January, February, and March combined, against roughly 79,000 in the same period of 2011.
The vast bulk of those sales--106,207--were hybrids, of course.
The hybrid sales included not only much higher sales of the Toyota Prius, now a lineup of three models plus a plug-in, but also Buicks and Chevrolets fitted with the General Motors eAssist mild-hybrid system.
All varieties of plug-in cars accounted for 7,250, according to data compiled by industry trade journal Automotive News.
Plug-in sales totaled about 17,000 units for all of 2011, the bulk of them either the Nissan Leaf battery-electric vehicle or the Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car.
For 2012, the strong new plug-in entrant is the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, whose April sales beat those of both the Volt and the Leaf.
Analysts expect perhaps 30,000 to 40,000 plug-in cars to be sold in the U.S. during calendar 2012, against perhaps 400,000-plus conventional hybrids.
As always, the bulk of the hybrid sales will come from Toyota.



Source: Green Car Reports

Chevrolet Volt Records Third Best Sales Month

With April Volt sales numbers in, GM reported 1,462 units sold in a month with three fewer selling days than March.
This total is down from the Volt’s second-highest sales figures in December, in which 1,529 were sold, and down also from the March record of 2,289.
Last month we had heard some from GM say they were not expecting April Volt sales to exceed March, although CEO Dan Akerson has been quoted as saying he’d like to see somewhere between 2,000-3,000 month after month going forward.


Some industry watchers have speculated also that GM’s California Volts are still in a transition period of changing over to solo-HOV-lane eligible Electric Advanced Technology Partial Zero-Emissions Vehicle (eAT-PZEV) versions, and this could have put a crimp in the progress.
But if GM sold fewer than some hoped for, Nissan could be said to be looking worse, with just 370 battery electric Leafs sold in April. This is down from 579 units in March and 478 in February. In fact 370 is lower than the 573 Leafs Nissan delivered in April 2011. The Leaf’s best sales month was June, 2011 with 1,708 sold.
Nonetheless, ever-optimistic Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said industry watchers should not let a few mediocre months influence their perspective. He is keeping a long-term view, unwaveringly saying BEVS will comprise 10 percent of the market by decade’s end.
Things ought to pick up also, he said, as Nissan begins building the Leaf in Tennessee in late 2012, and the UK in early 2013.
As for the Volt, it was not a bad month, and being lower than the last month which happened to be a record does not add up to a negative trend.
Indeed, GM is doing what it said it would in building to meet demand, and has been producing them in decent numbers.
Further facts of interest are that for the 2012 calendar year to date, Detroit-Hamtramck has built 5,095 Volts and 3,382 Opel Amperas.
For 2012 model year to date, the assembly plant has so far turned out 16,336 Volts and 5,987 Amperas.
Ampera sales reported for April were 557 total units.



Source: GM-Volt.com

China getting ready for 5m plug-in vehicles by 2020

Imagine all of the cars and light-duty trucks in Washington and Oregon combined. Then imagine them all being either battery-electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. That's what Chinese leaders have in mind by the end of the decade.

The China State Council is pushing for a combination of automotive industry production and public acceptance to allow for as many as five million plug-in vehicles to be on the roads in China by 2020, Green Car Congress reports.

The Chinese government is also looking to boost average new-car fuel economy to about 47 miles per gallon in 2020 from about 34 miles per gallon in 2015, when the State Council is targeting for about a half-million vehicles to be electric drive.

China will enact a combination of research and development funding and subsidies that will be used to boost sales of plug-ins. The government will also speed up the development of an electric-vehicle charging infrastructure and will tilt tax policies to be more plug-in friendly.

China was already expected to account for a substantial chunk of the more than 600,000 plug-in vehicles expected to be sold in Asia Pacific by 2017, as forecast by green-technology research firm Pike Research last year. The auto industry is certainly getting ready. This month, General Motors debuted a demonstration fleet of Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in vehicles in China. GM and the China Automotive Technology Research Center (CATARC) will operate and study the fleet for about a year. At the Beijing Motor Show this week, a number of plug-in vehicles were on display, like the CH Auto Lithia and the Venucia E-Concept.


Source: Autoblog Green

Ampera may outsell Volt in its first year

The Volt’s Euro twin siblings, the Ampera variants, are on track to surpass first-year Volt sales.
This news for the Opel/Vauxhall twins may come as little surprise, but as you’ll recall, GM missed its 10,000-unit target last year after the federal battery investigation and American politics were blamed on slowing momentum to 7,761 units sold.
Well, the Ampera just being introduced has over 7,000 orders, of these a good 60 percent are fleet customers, and the Detroit News reported that Enno Fuchs, e-mobility launch director for Adam Opel AG, said it will be no sweat topping 10,000 Amperas by year’s end.


“We are quite sure that our sales target of 10,000 units (in 2012) is within reach,” Fuchs wrote in an email to the publication.
We’ve been hearing similar things from European GM executives since last year, and even if things for the Volt were off to a rocky start here, the Amperas and European Chevrolet-badged Volts are being comparatively better received.
No doubt it has partly to do with high fuel prices there, and that the Volt has already passed a gauntlet in its home country further proving to progressive Europeans – particularly deeper-pocketed fleet buyers – that the car is a safe bet.
Also not hurting the situation, the Volt/Ampera was recently named the first American car to receive European Car of the Year, and – although priced like a modest luxury car – it is taking sales from competitors, including diesels, even in some countries where no tax credits exist, but a VAT tax does.
Months ago there was some talk of asking GM for more than the first year’s Ampera allocation, so we shall see whether this is deemed feasible in months to come.
The Ampera sells for 41,900 Euros (about $55,300) and it is noteworthy that from the beginning GM has invested in more Voltec variants in Europe than it has in America.
In Europe you can choose between an Ampera or Volt, whereas in the States, we have just the Volt. Perhaps we should also comb news there for test mule sitings or other clues to the second generation Volt?
Meanwhile, Volt sales are picking up here, and GM will sell more than 10,000 in the U.S, having delivered 3,915 year to date through March, and more of these were individual consumer sales.



Source: GM-Volt.com

Volt Production Resumes One Week Early

The Volt is back on track following the best-in-its-history March sales of 2,289 units.

This tops December’s 1,529 units, and GM CEO Dan Akerson has been quoted saying he’d like to see 2,000-3,000 per month, but we’ve heard others at GM say they’d not be surprised if April is weaker month than last.

With the politically mixed environment it has had to face, the “batterygate” issue behind it, and more positive pressure for sales, GM’s halo car still has industry watchers waiting to see where it will go.

Other sales-inducing factors include the solo-HOV-lane legal California Volts now available, ever-rising fuel prices, and an apparent taming of some of the critics, not to mention conservative public figures coming out in its favor besides.

Still, the Volt catches criticism for its price, which despite government subsidies being available, has even some of those who otherwise love the car expressing hope for a decrease. Other early adapters have said they are fine with it, have said it is a good value where it is, and are reaping big savings month after month.

Adverting, marketing, word of mouth recommendations – and a fairly low lease rate deal being offered – are all other factors that stand to increase sales, and most of all are the underlying fundamentals: It is an idea whose time has come.


Source: GM-Volt.com

Is this dub-rockin' Chevrolet Volt actually a Cadillac Converj in disguise?

Our spy photographers managed to spot something curious (and decidedly hilarious) recently. General Motors has been busy testing what would appear to be Chevrolet Volt models with massive 20-inch wheels and tires in place of the low-rolling resistance pieces on the stock plug-in.

Why? Guesses are slim at the moment, but one hypothesis is that this is actually our first glimpse at a Cadillac Converj test mule. That vehicle will make use of an altered version of the Voltec drivetrain found in the Chevrolet, albeit bolted to flashier wheels. The luxury hybrid has been an on-again-off-again affair for General Motors since the concept first rolled across the stage at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show.

Last we heard, the Converj is on track for launch in either 2013 or 2014. If true, now would be the time to begin working out any engineering bugs on the rumored Voltec 1.5 system. With luxury buyers more willing to hand over stacks of cash for new technology, the Converj could make quite a bit more sense to buyers than the Volt. Or bolting chrome dubs to a hybrid, for that matter.


Source: Autoblog Green

GM CEO Akerson Assures All the Volt is Still on Course Despite Five Week Production Halt

If the Chevy Volt is a sales failure, you'd never know it from the guy who runs General Motors.

At a meeting of Volt owners in San Francisco yesterday, GM's CEO Dan Akerson said unequivocally that the company was standing behind its halo plug-in electric car.

"We are not backing away from this product," he told the assembled Volt owners.

Akerson had earlier said, both during a Congressional hearing and on GM's VoltAge blog, that the Volt was designed as a safe, state-of-the-art car, not a "political punching bag."

"Although we loaded the Volt with state-of-the-art safety features, we did not engineer the Volt to be a political punching bag," Akerson told Congress in January. "Sadly, that is what it's become."

In San Francisco, the CEO met with about 30 Volt owners to answer questions, assure them that the five-week production stoppage was just temporary, and reaffirm the company's commitment to the range-extended electric car.

Volt owner Fred Ehnow attended the lunch and posted his thoughts in the Volt Owners Group on Facebook. Some excerpts (slightly edited for clarity):

GM CEO Dan Akerson speaks to Chevy Volt owners, San Francisco, Mar 2012 (photo: Shad Balch, GM)

Akerson assured us that the five-week Volt production shutdown was nothing more than a matter of keeping inventories in line with demand.

He pointed out that the best-selling car in the U.S. last year, the Chevrolet Cruze, also had a two-week production shutdown in November, and nobody made a fuss over it.

But because the Volt has been under such heavy scrutiny, the media has pointed to the shutdown as yet another indication that the Volt is doomed.

He said that in the old days, GM would not have shut down production, but rather would have tried to bend the demand curve by incentivizing dealers and offloading Volts to fleet sales.

That's what got them (and other American auto manufacturers) into the troubles they were in several years ago.

Akerson spoke and answered questions for over an hour. I was impressed with how genuine and unguarded he was.

To add a note of Machiavellian reality, it may be worth remembering that CEOs are paid to say the right thing.

There's another scenario in which Akerson publicly supports the Volt...right up until the time when he doesn't.

But we think it's far too early for GM to make that decision. The car's barely been on sale for a year, and one year is a very short time in the life of a vehicle program.

Our best guess: GM continues to hammer away at Volt sales through 2012 and 2013, and launches the 2014 Cadillac ELR luxury coupe--based on Voltec mechanicals--next year.

But will there be a Volt 2.0? That's the big question to us.

And it seems far too early to answer--despite what you read in the media.

Source: Green Car Reports

Owner Explains Why he Purchased Plug-in Prius versus Volt and Leaf

Last month, Toyota said that it had 2,100 pre-orders for the 2012 Prius Plug-In Hybrid.

Now, with first sales of that car being logged this week and dozens of them delivered to dealers, we have a third viable, high-volume plug-in car available to U.S. buyers.

Consumers can now buy a pure battery electric vehicle (the Nissan Leaf), a range-extended electric (the Chevy Volt), or the first plug-in hybrid (the plug-in Prius).

Their EPA electric ranges are 73 miles for the Leaf, 35 miles for the Volt, and 11 miles for the Prius Plug-In. Each is priced between $32,500 and $40,000 before incentives.

Given all that, we'll be very curious to see what the sales mix of these three plug-ins turns out to be--and how buyers evaluate each car against the other two.

One reader and early buyer of a Prius Plug-In Advanced model, Jim Bradbury of Rowlett, Texas, agreed to share his thoughts with us:

I test drove a Nissan Leaf, which is a little small. The range anxiety kept me from buying one. I liked its dash and the futuristic sounds.

It's nice to know I can drive the Plug-In Prius across country, and where there IS a charging station along the way, I can charge up and save a little gas.

What helped make the decision against the Leaf is the fact that DFW Airport is 43 miles from my home. I can't make it there and back in a Leaf, even on a full charge, but I can in the Plug-In Prius.

As for the Chevrolet Volt, I test-drove it. It's only a four-seater; the Prius has five seats. And I'm a big guy, so it was harder for me to get in and out of the Volt. There's more headroom in a Prius than a Volt.

While the Volt will go up to 40 miles in electric mode, the engine doesn't drive the wheels, and the Volt only gets 36 miles per gallon when it runs out of battery--while the Prius Plug-In gets 50 MPG.

Finally, the Chevy Volt looks too much like an ordinary car. The Prius Plug-In and Leaf are both unique looking and make a statement about "Being Green". The Volt looks too much like a Chevy Cruze, and the average person doesn't notice the difference.

2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid - production model

But the Leaf and the Volt are both good cars. I spent a lot of time looking at the cars and their features. I have test driven a Prius twice now, and it's a fun car to drive.

I wish the Prius had a bigger battery so it could go 20 miles or more in all-electric mode, but it's only 3 miles from my home to the grocery store, the bank, and the post office.

So, the 11+ miles of electric range for the Plug-In Prius is adequate to run those errands in pure EV mode.

I teach at a community college 11 miles from the house. There are charging stations at a recreation center 2 miles from the college where I can charge my car on the way home while I exercise. I won't use much gas on those 23-mile round trips.

I'm a Digital Systems Engineer and I like the Prius from an engineering perspective. The regular hybrid Prius has been around for 13 years, and has a proven track record for quality and reliability.

And there you have it: one man's clearly articulated reasons for choosing the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid over a Leaf or a Volt.

Source: Green Car Reports

EPA Says Prius Plug-In Gets 11 Miles Electric Range

Depending on how one drives it, Toyota’s Prius Plug-In can go a few miles farther than its U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rating, but officially it can be expected to travel 11 miles with “Electricity + Gasoline,” and the sticker lists All Electric Range at 6 miles.

This falls short of the “up to 15 miles” at speeds up to 62 mph estimated after consulting with Toyota and reported in HybridCars.com’s full review.

Although not an apples-to-apples comparison, the Plug-In Prius is often weighed against the extended-range electric Chevy Volt. With its larger battery pack, the domestically produced rival from GM is intended to stay in all-electric mode at speeds of up to 100 mph for an EPA-estimated 35 miles distance – though this too can vary greatly depending on usage and ambient temperature.

As mentioned, plug-in Prius test drivers have routinely seen over 11 miles electric range, especially when driving in a gingerly manner.

And where the Prius Plug-In’s EPA efficiency ratings begin to outdo the Volt is in other drive modes. In “EV Mode,” it’s rated at 95 mile per gallon equivalent, which a tad above a fully charged 2012 Volt’s estimated 94 MPGe. In hybrid mode, the EPA says the Prius Plug-In returns 50 mpg combined. This compares very well to the Volt’s 37 mpg combined in gasoline-only mode and means – in the absence of on-the-way recharging facilities – for longer trips the Toyota starts to pay back more.

While the two vehicles are often compared and contrasted based on more metrics than the scope of this brief can consider, in short it is a qualified decision to determine between the two.

###

Note - As an extra bit of PIP news, the plug-in Toyota is also eligible for $1,500 California Clean Vehicle Rebate and application for a solo HOV sticker under certain conditions. It’s available in 14 states this year and Toyota is no longer taking online reservations. It says in 2013 it will offer nationwide availability. It’s eligible for a $2,500 federal tax credit, and aside from California, other states or localities may have subsidies available. MSRP for the base Prius Plug-In is $32,000 and price for the Advanced model is $39,525. This latter version comes standard with features including Premium HDD Navigation with Entune, Plug-In Hybrid Applications through a smartphone, Head-up Display, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, and more.

Source: GM-Volt.com

Bob Lutz Steps Up To Defend Chevy Volt

I never thought I’d see the day when an American political party would cheer for the demise of any American company, never mind an institution like General Motors. Yet the Republican party has consistently and consciously lied, slandered, and invented its own facts when it comes to the Chevy Volt and GM’s government-sponsored bailout. Bob Lutz, one of the chief arcitects of the Volt, has stepped up with the hopes of setting the record straight. Too bad he is playing for a deaf crowd.

The Forbes article, entitled “The Chevy Volt and the Wrong-Headed Right” is “Maximum Bob” Lutz’s matter-of-fact counter-argument to a growing chorus of conservative haters. Among the many lies spread by Fox News and pundits like Glenn Beck is that the Volt can only drive 35 miles, period, that President Obama forced GM to make the Volt, and that the recent NHTSA fire investigation is proof that electric vehicles are dangerous. It’s all non-sense, but then again we live in a culture that celebrates airgheads like the Kardashians and Jersey Shore.

Lutz lays out six simple, indisputable facts in regards to the safety of the Volt, and its Genesis.

1) Not one Chevrolet Volt has ever caught fire in normal use or in accidents. Not a single one.

2) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, even after the highly artificial crash test (placing the car on its back, even though it did not roll over in the test) nevertheless awarded the Volt NHTSA’s highest crash-safety rating: 5 stars. Volt is supremely safe.

3) The crashed Volt, its battery shorted by coolant from the period unjustifiably spent “feet up,” caught fire three weeks after said test. (I submit that this would provide adequate time for surviving passengers to exit the vehicle.)

4) On average, 278,000 cars with gasoline engines caught fire in the U.S. each year between 2003 and 2007, according to theNational Fire Protection Association.

5) No factory-produced electric vehicle has ever caught fire, to the best of my knowledge.

6) The Volt, the most technologically advanced car on the planet, was conceived by me and my team well before any federal bailout of GM.

What is even more damning is that Lutz, as elf-described conservative Republican, is simply ashamed of the right-wing talking heads who are knowingly spreading mis-information against the Volt in an attempt to harm GM and President Obama. I am all for a healthy discussion on the pros and cons of new technology, and the Chevy Volt certainly isn’t a panacea for all our energy problems. There are plenty of legitimate criticisms of the too-expensive Volt, and sales certainly have been less than stellar.

It’s borderline slander, a purposeful and malicious mis-representation of the facts to the detriment of not just a car or a company, but the entire country. Republicans seem to think it is OK to lie and cheat, so long as they get Obama out of office. That is a scary thought, and gives me even more reasons to distrust the GOP as a better alternative to Obama. If they’ll lie about a car, what else are they willing to mislead the public about?

Source: Gas2.0

Presidential energy blueprint calls for 80-percent clean energy by 2035

As GM-Volt readers know, this week’s Volt news was about politics and GM’s efforts to rebuild its falsely maligned image. But even as certain congressional Republicans targeted GM, the Volt, and President Obama, the president said he is doubling down on his agenda for energy security.

The president’s Blueprint to Make The Most of America’s Energy Resources – delivered Wednesday during the last State of the Union Address for his term in office – focused on initiatives Obama hopes will lead to clean sources comprising 80 percent of U.S. energy by 2035.

In a fact sheet released by the White House, Obama’s plan calls for transitioning to cleaner sources of energy to “enhance national security, protect the environment and public health, and grow our economy and create new jobs.”

The White House said U.S. renewable energy use has nearly doubled over the past few years, and in 2011, the U.S. again became the “world’s leading investor in clean energy – but staying on top will depend on smart, aggressive action moving forward.”

Actually, the White House began by also calling for reliance on non-renewable and fossil fuels.

“This commitment includes the safe and responsible production of our oil and natural gas resources,” the White House said, echoing thoughts the president had already spoken:

“Nowhere is the promise of innovation greater than in American-made energy. Over the last three years, we’ve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration, and tonight, I’m directing my administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources. Right now—right now—American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years. That’s right—eight years. Not only that—last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past 16 years. But with only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, oil isn’t enough.”

Following are the fact sheet points in their entirety:

President Obama’s Plan to Advance Safe Production of Oil and Gas Resources To Create Jobs, Enhance Energy Security, and Cut Pollution

Make a new lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico to move forward on our national commitment to safe and responsible oil and gas development: In his State of the Union Address, the President directed the Department of Interior to finalize a national offshore energy plan that makes 75 percent of our potential offshore resources available for development by opening new areas for drilling in the Gulf and Alaska. On Thursday, the President will take a concrete step forward to develop our oil and gas resources, announcing that the Department of Interior will hold a new lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. This lease sale will make approximately 38 million acres available, and could result in the production of 1 billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Promote safe, responsible development of the near 100-year supply of natural gas, supporting more than 600,000 jobs while ensuring public health and safety: In 2009, we became the world’s leading producer of natural gas. In the State of the Union, the President directed the Administration to ensure safe shale gas development that, according to independent estimates, will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. These actions will include moving forward with common-sense new rules to require disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking operations on public lands.

Reducing our dependence on oil by encouraging greater use of natural gas in transportation: The President’s plan includes: proposing new incentives for medium- and heavy-duty trucks that run on natural gas or other alternative fuels; launching a competitive grant program to support communities to overcome the barriers to natural gas vehicle deployment; developing transportation corridors that allow trucks fueled by liquefied natural gas to transport goods; and supporting programs to convert municipal buses and trucks to run on natural gas and to find new ways to convert and store natural gas.

Harnessing American ingenuity to catalyze breakthrough technologies for natural gas: The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) will announce a new research competition in the coming months that will engage our country’s brightest scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to find ways to harness our abundant supplies of domestic natural gas to lessen our dependence of foreign oil for vehicles. The breakthrough technologies they will develop, whether they are for new ways to fuel our cars with natural gas or a method to turn that gas into liquid fuel, promise to break our dependence on foreign oil for our cars and trucks, allow us to breathe cleaner air, and ultimately save consumers at the pump. To date ARPA-E has hosted four rounds of competitions and attracted over 5000 applications from research teams, which has resulted in approximately 180 cutting edge projects.

The President’s Commitment to Clean Energy

Doubling the share of electricity from clean energy sources by 2035: The centerpiece of the Administration’s strategy is a Clean Energy Standard, or “CES” – a flexible approach that harnesses American ingenuity and innovation, and channels it toward a clean energy future. By creating a market here at home for innovative clean energy technologies, we will unleash the ingenuity of our entrepreneurs and ensure that America leads the world in clean energy.

Supporting clean energy with targeted tax incentives: The President supports renewing and extending a number of proven and successful provisions that are crucial to the continued growth of the domestic clean energy sector. This includes tax incentives for clean energy manufacturing, which could create up to 100,000 jobs, and the Production Tax Credit to support investment in the deployment of clean energy technologies like wind and solar.

Opening public lands for private investments in clean energy: To enhance energy security and create new jobs, the Department of the Interior is committed to issuing permits for 10 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity – enough to power 3 million homes – from new projects on our public lands by the end of 2012.

Securing renewable energy for the U.S. Navy: Securing a safe, clean and reliable energy supply for our nation’s defense forces is essential to carrying out missions vital to the security of the United States. The Department of Navy has committed to adding 1 gigawatt of renewable energy produced from sources like solar, wind, and geothermal to its energy portfolio for shore-side installations – enough to power 250,000 homes. Using existing authorities such as power purchase agreements, the Navy will ensure these energy projects are cost neutral and require no up-front investments by the government.

Energy and politics

It would appear everything in the country where it has been said “United we stand, divided we fall,” has political ramifications about which various factions rally around or oppose.

With regard to energy, in which billions of dollars, millions of lives, and the future of this society depend on how it is managed, political considerations are quite explicit.

But what do you think? Is the president’s outline feasible?

His call for clean energy is harmonious with the Volt, as his opponents have more than pointed out, and his agenda naturally goes far beyond the automotive sector.

We’ve seen for decades how presidents have championed energy issues, made poignant statements, observed critical facts, warned the hand writing is on the wall …

Will facts finally sink home, and will positive “change” really take place soon enough?

Looking at the points above, would you amend the president’s focus in any way?

If the thought of “politics” turns you off, fine. You can alternately think about this as being about life as we know it.

So what are truths, policies, or directions that more people need to agree upon?

At this stage, the one truth we can all see, if nothing else, is that solutions are needed.

Source: GM-Volt.com

GM Introduces Tru 140S and Code 140S Concepts at Detroit Auto Show

This week at the Detroit Auto Show, Chevrolet introduced a pair of proverbial question marks: two compact, 40-mpg, low-$20,000-range cars that GM thinks could be winners, but will yet be gauging interest in for the time being.

The silver Tru 140S with 1.4-liter turbo has stop-start technology, and is based on the front-wheel-drive Cruze/Volt platform. The eAssisted 1.4-liter turbo Code 130R is based on the new rear-wheel drive Cadillac ATS platform.

Green car advocates and Volt fans in particular often express the desire for more plug-in models. GM says it’s working on it, but cites a massive market for “millenials,” or generation Y buyers who want inexpensive and fun cars.

Code 130 (left), and Tru 140S.

“Chevrolet has always stood for making the aspirational attainable for all generations” said General Motors North America President Mark Reuss. “These two concepts interpret that vision for a new generation. We’re seeking out our newest customers’ opinions, listening to their advice, and engaging them in new ways.”

The Tru 140S is positioned as an “affordable exotic,” GM says, if that isn’t too much a contradiction of terms. The three-door hatchback was painted in a new matte white with Chevy performance chrome wheels featuring crossflag emblems.

“Tru 140S is designed to look confident, exotic, expensive and fast,” GM says.

It uses a direct-injected engine, stop-start technology, regenerative braking – distinguishing it slightly from the Code 130R which is showcased in red-metallic matte paint and gold wheels.

“Code 130R features heritage performance-inspired styling,” GM says. “With an aggressive front fascia, Chevrolet fender flares, straight body side and Chevy crossflag emblem, Code 130R makes a link to Chevrolet’s performance heritage.”

Both vehicles share in common:

• Sedan-sized functionality in performance coupe form that seats four passengers
• Interior connectivity and convenience featuring innovative storage, WiFi, smart phone integration with Chevrolet MyLink and heads-up display
• 40 mpg (highway) with a 1.4L Turbo Ecotec engine with approximately 150 horsepower, 148 pound-feet torque
• Possible production price range in the low $20,000s

GM says the cars were designed to nail preferences for 80 million American drivers up to age 30 as counted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It adds these younger folk represent 40 percent of today’s potential car-buying public.

We’ve already seen the company catering to this market with the Chevy Sonic – which GM advertisements show is now an accomplished bungee jumper, parachute diver, and likes to hang out in places where pseudo urban graffiti has been carefully applied.

According to GMInside News, GM took a unique approach to designing the Tru 140S and Code 130. Instead of the usual focus groups, GM went to college campuses and showed students various vehicle silhouettes and asked them to select the ones they liked best.

GM got a “sizable amount of feedback” and determined that young would-be customers gravitated strongly to two four-passenger coupe shapes. Those two final silhouettes ended up being the shapes you see in these featured concepts.

“Young customers tell us they want functionality with coupe-like aesthetics. Both the Code and Tru body styles resonated with this audience,” said Frank Saucedo, director of the GM North America Advanced Design studio in Los Angeles, where the two concepts were developed.

Inside the cars, GM says connectivity and personalization enable individualization – which this generation says is essential.

“This buyer prizes connectivity. Allowing them to stay connected by integrating their personal devices through MyLink and WiFi enabling the vehicle to be their own docking station,” said Saucedo. “The interiors currently exist in 2D only. This allows us the flexibility to continue the discussion and encourage more dialogue as we continue to develop these concepts.”

Given that the cars are nearly ready for production based on the Volt/Cruze Delta platform and Cadillac ATS Alpha platform, you might ask what is GM waiting for? The answer: More feedback from this lucrative but elusive audience, and final design decisions too.

Nick David, lead designer for the Tru 140S, told GMInside News its design is very feasible for production. He disclosed that the rear bumper and fender flares are more expressive for the concept vehicle, but the design’s main theme is something GM can produce.

Likewise, the Code 130R – which GMI noted was reminiscent of a BMW 1-Series – is at least as close to production-ready.

GM’s next step is it will tour with the cars to auto shows and other venues to “gauge reaction” from “next-gen” buyers. If GM determines the feedback is strong enough, the cars might see production in a few years.

“For the car company that can successfully engage this generation, there is a tremendous opportunity,” said John McFarland, senior manager for Chevrolet Global Marketing, who heads youth research for the brand. “At Chevrolet, we want to build authentic and meaningful relationships with these customers on their terms. We want to hear what they have to say, engage them in our design process, and give them what they want – not what we think they want.”

Source: GM-Volt.com

OnStar, Verizon unveil second-generation research vehicle at CES; Volt with Verizon 4G LTE Network

OnStar and Verizon Wireless unveiled a second-generation connected research vehicle at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The static Chevrolet Volt research concept vehicle focuses on a comprehensive in-vehicle experience as in-vehicle energy management applications.

Users in the car have access to streaming content from the cloud enabled by the Verizon 4G LTE network and building on OnStar’s Advanced Telematics Operating System (ATOMS). Prototype applications demonstrate streaming content, sharing content throughout the vehicle, rear seat infotainment management, and video chat via Skype: vehicle to home, vehicle to mobile device, or vehicle to vehicle.

Additionally, OnStar built on its work with smart grid technology and home connectivity to develop in-vehicle energy management applications:

• OnStar RemoteLink: Full integration of OnStar’s RemoteLink mobile application, giving the Volt owner the opportunity to access remote vehicle information and services.

• Real time diagnostics and Eco Routing: Volt owners can access charge status, distance on remaining charge, find and reserve charging locations and manage pertinent Volt information and vehicle diagnostics.

• Home Energy Management: OnStar allows users to control the home thermostat, lights, garage door and other systems directly from the vehicle.

Following the 2011 CES joint research vehicle, OnStar’s advanced innovation engineering team continued collaboration with Verizon’s LTE Innovation Center to further investigate the potential of the connected vehicle. The takeaway was developing a more holistic cloud-connected in-vehicle experience.

While the applications shown in the static Chevrolet Volt research vehicle are only conceptual, they demonstrate future opportunities the OnStar ATOMS Cloud capabilities can provide in combination with broadband accessibility, OnStar said.

Source: Green Car Congress

GM says if necessary it will cut Volt production

Yesterday GM said although it’s too soon to tell, if demand is perceived as insufficient, it will not rule out reducing the Volt’s production this year from its present goal of 45,000 for the U.S., and 15,000 for export.

This statement came from the company’s Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson when asked whether GM could meet output targets for the Volt.

“We’re going to match production with demand,” Akerson said just after the start of the North American International Auto Show. “There’re new variables in the equation, so we’ll see.”

Observers and pollsters note the battery investigation by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration – which is reportedly close to concluding – did make an adverse impact on Volt sales that could linger.

The upside for GM is the positive customer service gestures it gave particularly with regard to the battery and cooling system updates. This was noted not just by GM-Volt.com, but also by NHTSA and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

NHTSA’s administrator, David Strickland, was quoted as saying the company “really did put customers first” and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has been said to be pleased with GM’s response.

Yesterday GM’s global product development chief Mary Barry told Reuters she did not know exactly when NHTSA’s probe would close, but said, GM is optimistic based on feedback received.

“We’re a short time frame, not an extended, protracted period” she said with regards to a resolution.

But still in question is demand for the Volt later this year. An industry analyst at IHS Automotive, Rebecca Lindland was quoted by Businessweek as saying GM’s worldwide sales target will require more than just retail deliveries to be achieved.

“I think fleet customers will help but it is going to be tough to reach that 60,000 mark without them,” Lindland said. “These contracts can be lucrative when structured correctly. It is also a good way to get more consumers familiar and comfortable with the technology so it is worth the investment for GM.”

Also potentially muddying the outlook is a congressional subcommittee which later this month which will inquire whether news of a June NHTSA post-crash-test fire was deliberately withheld.

But while GM has said it is willing to be flexible with production, it has not said it won’t build the expected allotment of Volts this year either.

GM’s North American President Mark Reuss said the automaker is still filling orders and may not know until around the second quarter.

“There’s no trend because we haven’t satisfied demand,” Reuss said to reporters. “I told everybody that we’d be looking at satisfying demand right around second quarter. We’re not there yet, so I don’t know.”

Source: GM-Volt.com

Chevrolet Volt Review - VIDEO

Jason Cullinane purchased his Volt Feb. 2, 2011 after he passed on another one where the dealer tried to hit him for an additional $2,500 over sticker.

“Fremont Chevrolet was honest and charged only MSRP,” Cullinane said. So it got the sale.

Now approaching his first year, he is still so gung ho about his Volt, has on occasion generously offered test rides to people, and at Chevy’s request, he now offers this video (which he said will be followed by another one).

Keep in mind also, all this enthusiasm is being offered although this is his first American-made vehicle.

“I have driven many kinds of cars in the past but I have never owned an American car,” he said. “My parents drove plenty of American cars during my childhood and I grew up with their frustrations at the lack of quality and reliability. I have owned vehicles from VW, Toyota, BMW, and Subaru. Having owned the Volt for almost a year now, I can say that the quality of the vehicle is at least as good as any other car I have driven.”

Plans are to keep this Volt for “10 years or more,” and the car has grown on his wife who first had to get over misgivings about it.

“My wife initially hated the car because of her experiences with American vehicles,” Cullinane said. “Now that she has been in it and had quite a few miles under her belt, she is impressed. This is no small feat by the way. She is still ambivalent about the exterior design, especially the nose and she thinks that the center stack controls (physical and digital) need to be redesigned but she thinks the interior is comfortable and that the engineering is awesome.”

How GM Fixes the Chevy Volt Battery Pack

After the NHTSA opened an investigation into the Chevy Volt’s somewhat-combustible battery pack, GM has scrambled to to communicate and issue a fix that will ensure new buyers and current owners. Well, the fix is in, as they say. But can it repair the damage to the Volt’s reputation?

GM has issued a “voluntary recall” that was not mandated by the NHTSA (hrmm…) for all 8,000 Volts sold to customers, and another 4,000 or so on dealership lots. The 2-3 hour fix will add strength to the steel cage surrounding the T-shaped lithium-ion battery and its liquid cooling system. From the looks of the above graphic, the strengthening measures appear to be in the form of an I-shaped bracket.

The battery pack was punctured as a result of the NHTSA’s side-pole impact test, replicating an accident where a car slams into say, a light pole. This test punctured the Volt’s battery pack, allowing liquid from the cooling system to seep into the battery pack, and several weeks after the test the battery pack caught fire. These structural enhancements were tested four times, to GM’s satisfaction. All new Chevy Volts and Opel Amperas will have these structural enhancements.

Additionally, GM will add a tamper-proof cap to the top of the battery coolant reservoir to prevent overflow, and they will add a cooling fluid monitoring system.

Is it just me, or does this all seem a little overboard for a fire that happened three weeks after the fact? I’m not saying GM is blameless, as they failed to inform the NHTSA about the proper way to discharge a battery after an accident. Then again, GM has staked a lot of its reputation on the Volt, and while I wouldn’t so so far as to say it will make or break the company, GM needs to tread carefully with this car.

So, I guess I’m torn. Part of me says this is overkill. But part of me also says that new GM needs to establish a reputation of doing the “right” thing, no matter the cost. So I’m just going to say, kudos, GM, you got the fix out fast. I hope this is an important lesson learned for all automakers who want to delve into the realm of EV’s.

Source: Gas2.0

GM repairing, not recalling, Volts

PRESS RELEASE

General Motors is advising Volt owners to return their electric cars to dealers for repairs that will lower the risk of battery fires.

The company hopes that the repairs, which will add steel to the plates protecting the batteries, will ease worries about the car's safety. Three Volt batteries caught fire after government crash tests last year, prompting a federal investigation and sending GM engineers scrambling to find a fix.

The free repairs, announced Thursday, will fix 8,000 Volts on U.S. roads and another 4,400 still for sale. The cars are covered by a "customer service campaign" run by GM, which is similar to a safety recall but allows the carmaker to avoid the bad publicity and federal monitoring that come with a recall.

GM and federal safety officials believe last year's fires were caused by coolant leaking from damaged plastic casing around the batteries after side-impact collisions. That coolant caused an electrical short, which sparked battery fires seven days to three weeks after the crashes.

GM has a huge incentive to fix the problem and protect the Volt's image. Although the car isn't a big seller -- it's fallen short of sales goals -- it burnishes GM's image as a greener, more innovative carmaker.

The safety stumble could make it even harder for the Chevrolet Volt to compete with rival electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf. To contain the bad publicity after the fires, GM last year offered to buy back Volts from worried owners. Still, no owners have reported fires after crashes.

Starting in February, dealers will add steel to a plate that protects the Volt battery, spreading the force of a crash over a larger area, says Mary Barra, GM's product development chief. Tests by the GM and the government have shown that the repairs prevent battery damage and coolant leaks.

"We have made the Volt even safer," says Mark Reuss, GM's North American president.

GM has done crash tests on four reinforced Volts and found that the fix worked. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration -- the federal safety agency -- has also crashed a Volt with the added steel. "The preliminary results of the crash test indicate the remedy proposed by General Motors today should address the issue," the agency says.

GM launches Volt in China

General Motors of China will receive its first shipments of an undisclosed number of Chevy Volts for retail deliveries this month.

The vehicles are to be priced at $79,000 (RMB 498,00) and as previously reported, are not eligible for incentives available to buyers of domestically made electric vehicles.

GM has at least for now resisted sharing key details of the Volt’s intellectual property with its joint venture partners that would have been required for its domestic production, and possible incentive eligibility.

The first Chevrolet Volts arrived in China at the HaiTong Port in Shanghai.

The company reported it has already received an initial shipment of 10 Volts at the HaiTong port in Shanghai for a demonstration fleet to be deployed in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.

“This fleet of extended-range electric vehicles will provide consumers as well as ministry leaders, university professors and the media with a chance to experience an industry leading electric vehicle in daily use,” the company said in a statement. “GM will use feedback from the test drives and charging experience to better understand the application of electric vehicles in China and provide consumers with hands on exposure to the extended-range vehicle concept. This is critical, as GM and its joint ventures prepare to expand the offerings of vehicles powered by electricity.”

The company said it will also work closely with government and industry officials to help develop public electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

“China is one of the first global markets where the award-winning Volt will be sold through 13 specially selected dealerships in eight major cities,” GM said.

Specifically, the Volt will be made available in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Foshan.

Source: GM-Volt.com

Say what? Rep. Dingell claims Chevy Volt is "selling like hotcakes"

There isn't a much bigger Congressional champion than Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), but if a recent story in the Detroit News is correct, then we'd like to know where he's getting his information.

Following Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's claim that the Chevrolet Volt is an "idea whose time has not come," Dingell apparently issued a press release that said, in part:

Romney is the only fellow in the United States who appears to think that the Volt is an idea whose time has not come. Clearly it has not come to him. The Volt is selling like hotcakes.

Defend the Volt if you want – and it is worth defending on many fronts – but it's hard to compare its sales numbers to piping hot flapjacks. Writer Dan Calabrese lashes out at Dingell for being either ignorant of the Volt's true sales numbers or for putting out propaganda (this is kind of ironic, since Calabrese himself "under reports" the true Volt sales numbers by a few hundred).

We asked Dingell's office for a copy of the statement to see if it's actually true or not, but have not heard back yet. (We will update this post if they respond.) But, for now, we'll
have to assume that it's true, and point out that Dingell also attacked Romney for wanting to "surrender the advanced vehicle market to foreign manufacturers."

As we said when the Volt was listed as one of the big flops of 2011, it's simply too early to tell what the status is for the Volt. It's not selling 100,000 a year and it's not a disaster. Give the technology time, and it'll suss itself out.



Source: Autoblog Green

Chevy Volt is paid for and fueled by solar power

This story should be enough to – at the very least – give Chevrolet Volt detractors pause: a solar-powered home that pays its owner delicious double dividends.

An Orlando, FL man used the cash from selling solar-panel-generated electricity back to the grid as a down payment for his Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in vehicle and he's using the power from the panels to fuel the sedan, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Bob Stonerock used the $5,600 he made during the past two years selling power generated from his roof and backyard solar panels back to the Orlando Utilities Commission as a down payment for his $46,000 Volt. Stonerock, a retired doctor, estimates that he will be able to fuel the car almost exclusively from the electricity from the solar panels that power his vehicle-recharging station.

Stonerock is one of the more than 15,000 Americans who will attempt to replace at least most of their gasoline use with electricity by purchasing vehicles such as either the Volt or battery-electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i. Through the first eleven months of the year, General Motors sold just over 6,100 Volts – compared to about 8,700 Nissan Leafs – though both vehicles were constrained by limited supply for at least some of the year.

The Chevy Volt can go about 35 miles on electric power alone before a gas-powered on-board generator kicks in to provide an additional 340 miles or so on a full tank. In November, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy named the Volt the fourth-most fuel-efficient vehicle sold in the United States. The federal agencies' latest edition of their Fuel Economy Guide rates the Volt at 60 miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent, which trailed only the Mitsubishi i, Nissan Leaf and Ford Transit Connect Electric battery-electric vehicles.


Source: Autoblog Green