Chevy Volt

My wife just fell in love with the Chevy Volt

Un oh. My wife's new passion.

And she doesn’t give one crap about plug-in technologies

I can still remember the debut of the original Chevy Volt concept. The long front end, like the Camaro and the Corvette. I had mixed feelings about that design, but in terms of a concept that form worked well I think. It drove the right kind of buzz. Nevertheless, it was the powertrain that I was focused upon. The design was largely irrelevant.

That sporty Volt design; however, meant a lot to many early fans of the Volt, and when GM reshaped the Volt to its current self after wind tunnel testing proved a real drag, many howled. For me, it was still all about the powertrain.

In hindsight though, I think the current Volt is exactly right, because my wife just fell in love with the Chevy Volt. Read more…

Toyota Prius plug-in tops April plug-in sales

Prius is hybrid and plug-in king in April

Chevy Volt recedes a bit from last month’s big numbers

Sales of both GM and Nissan plug-in cars declined last month compared to the month before. However, the Toyota Prius plug-in achieved its best month of plug-in sales yet at 1,654 units.

GM claimed limited California supplies. Nissan stood by its 20,000 sale’s target. And Ford, well Ford just decided not to sell any plug-ins in April. Read more…

Hybrids, plug-ins dominate best cars for An American Terrorist

The best car for An American Terrorist

Fighting foreign oil dependence one car at a time

As I’ve argued numerous times, the only thing that is really going to change American energy policy and consumer purchasing is a revolution in consumer psychology, outside of either force, or an almost miracle technological breakthrough. That’s the idea behind An American Terrorist. To shake up the energy independence conversation.

Anyway, the Nissan Leaf took top honors amongst the 5 best cars for An American Terrorist. Read more…

Thoughts about Chevy Volt cost-effectiveness, or lack of

Under the right lense, the Volt makes cost-effective sense

At least based on Volt data according to Consumer Reports

Just going over some more data regarding hybrid and plug-in cost-effectiveness, and it just amazes me how no two studies ever find the same results. Why? Is it all just about advertising? Anyway, check out Hybrid and plug-in cars that make the least financial sense for more on that angle.

Anyway, according to Consumer Reports, the Chevy Volt is cost-ineffective, taking at least 6 years — after the federal tax credit is deducted — before the Volt makes up its plug-in premium compared to the Chevy Cruze. But that could be a worst case scenario. Read more…

Chevy Volt – A pioneering effort, minimally, according to Burns

The Volt was always worth the effort, but was it ever enough?

Volt versus self-driving cars

There are far more people in the automotive world that I haven’t met, compared to those I have met. And, whether good or bad, I’ve met far more experts from GM than any other automaker, and one of the coolest — by far — was Larry Burns, ex head of R&D at GM.

While discussing self-driving cars — the next great revolution in the auto industry — Burns called the Volt a worthy “pioneering” effort. Read more…

Leaf versus Volt: Why is GM’s plug-in the whipping car?

Volt versus Leaf? Or something bigger?

Volt is now incinerating Leaf sales

“I never hear anything about the Leaf” GM CEO Dan Akerson recently told the DetroitNews in response to a question regarding why the Volt always gets the short end of the stick when it comes to public ridicule over coming up short on plug-in sale’s projections.

Last month, for instance, GM sold more Volts than Nissan has sold Leafs all year. So, isn’t the Volt the plug-in prince, while the Leaf is the whipping car? Or, is this issue deeper than just sale’s misses? Read more…

GM updates Chevy Volt production, tempers hype

Time to let the Volt find its groove

Volt – Most hyped concept ever?

Thanks to a surge in Chevy Volt sales in March, and the anticipation of similar sales next month, GM will shave one week off the 5 week Volt production shut down currently under way.

However, GM was quick to keep Volt hype under control. Read more…

Chevy Volt sales climb, Toyota Prius hybrid sales soar

Prius family sales are starting to achieve impressive numbers

Volt posts huge percentage gain, Prius hits some big sales numbers

The Chevy Volt finally topped 2000 unit sales in one month, hitting 2,129 sales in March, which was a good step for the Volt. Still, in terms of pure numbers, the more interesting sale’s story was the Toyota Prius family. The Prius family reached 28,711 sales, while sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid cars, combined, topped 38,215.

The Prius isn’t yet ready to catch Toyota’s sales king, the Camry, but Toyota’s contention that the Prius will top Camry sales by the end of this decade is beginning to seem believable. And then there’s the Volt. Read more…

European Car of the Year? 7,000 EU Chevy Volt sales real story

Volt a bigger hit in Europe than in US?

Europe is an interesting metric for Volt sales

This morning I almost made a post regarding how the Chevy Volt won the European Car of the Year Award, almost. The Volt also took North American Car of the Year honors, but that didn’t really help drive Volt sales. Likewise, there wasn’t any real plug-in competition going up against the Volt, so I felt a little uninspired, especially since I don’t live in the EU.

However, and more interesting, Chevy Volt orders in Europe topped 7,000 even before the Volt picked up its new trophy according to GreenCarCongress. Read more…

Maybe the Chevy Volt was hyped a little too much too early

Too much hype too early, despite long term potential

OMG. Did you hear? A Chevy Volt burped!

It seems like the Chevy Volt has been around for years already, yet it’s only been on the market for a little over a year, and hasn’t even achieved 10,000 total sales. Still, the Volt is in the news almost daily.

GM and fans of the Volt might claim all the Volt hoopla — much of it negative — is mostly just political shaninagans, and that all this political spin has hurt Volt sales. Hence, today’s Volt production shutdown announcement has been treated like a major news story.

But I don’t blame politicians for the media circus that the Volt has become. If you’re going to blame someone, you have to blame GM because they set up the big tent for this circus years ago. Read more…