You would think with all the damage control Chevrolet has to do after their share of bad press on the Volt that they would be able to come up with a better, more creative ad for this year’s Super Bowl.

Nonetheless, Chevy will be presenting your run-of-the-mill commercial featuring aliens from another planet, or galaxy far, far away that are interested in the technology behind the Chevy Volt. Unfortunately it doesn’t really say too much about what makes the Volt a great, but more importantly safe, vehicle – other than the fact that “it’s electric, and when I need to go farther it runs on gas.”

We have to admit that Chevy is going to have to really step up their game if they hope to change the general public’s perception of their Volt. Aliens just won’t cut it these days.

Check out the odd commercial after the break.

Continue Reading…

Earlier this month a new reports noted that Chevrolet Volt sales were more successful in its first year than the sales numbers of the Toyota Prius hybrid on its first year back in 2000. What little optimism Chevrolet might have had on the Volt’s sales performance were quickly silenced when data revealed that Toyota dealt a quick knockout as its new Prius v wagon (also in its first year) out sold the Volt. And it did so with just 10 weeks on sale.

Official numbers for Chevrolet Volt’s 2011 sales are 7,671 units delivered. Toyota managed to sell 8,399 hybrid wagons, which did not arrive to U.S. dealerships and showrooms until the last week of October.

President of Toyota U.S. Sales Jim Lentz says, “Prius v is off to a great start.” For 2012, Toyota aims to deliver 220,000 Prii to U.S. customers, a 60 percent increase from 2011. Toyota’s offensive includes offerings of the original Prius, the Pruis v wagon, and the Prius c subcompact that arrives in March.

GALLERY: Toyota Prius v wagon

[Source: Bloomberg]

Read AutoGuide’s 2012 Toyota Prius v Review here and watch the video review below:

Continue Reading…

The Chevrolet Volt ended the last month of 2011 with its best month of sales to date. Having sold 1,529 Volts in December, GM ended its full year of Volt sales at a total of 7,671 units for 2011.

While this figure is significantly lower than its 10,000 sales goal, Fox News noted that the Volt’s sales performance for its first year easily trump the sales performance of the Toyota Prius on its first year, which only managed to sell 5,600 units all the way back in the year 2000. Today, the Prius is the best-selling hybrid in America and Toyota has sold 136,463 units of Prius models in 2011.

Going forward, Chevrolet aims to sell 45,000 Volts for 2012 and reach a round 60,000 total units worldwide. An ambitious goal, Chevrolet will have to sell a lot more Volts for every quarter of 2012 than the total number of Volts it sold for all of 2011.

[Source: Fox News]

Efficiency is the new black for automakers and consumers alike. Even Porsche customers can get their gas guzzling Cayenne fix in a more efficient hybrid now or diesel soon, which is why it might come as a surprise that two new fuel-efficient guppies in the veritable ocean that is the U.S. car market seem to be floundering.

The Fiat 500 and Chevrolet Volt are both reaching the end of their first fiscal year with disappointing numbers compared to their manufacturer’s forecasts. That outcome could be a bit of a puzzler, given that the 500 starts at $15,500, offers two more seats and, what some would say, stylish alternative to the Smart FourTwo for about $3000 more.

The same fate befell the Volt, which takes a practical approach to the burgeoning plug-in market. Rather than relying totally on a battery charge. Chevy’s iteration on the new trend borrows power from a teensy 1.4-liter gasoline engine and achieves a sky-scraping 94 mpg average with a starting price of just over $39,000 before tax incentives. Those incentives bring the car closer to $30,000, though other government subsidies for things like home charging stations disappear this year.

It doesn’t take a particularly good periscope to see above the water and realize why both these cars were slow sellers, consumers are often risk averse and both cars proved to be sketchy choices by year’s end.

The Volt will fall short of GM’s projected 10,000 unit forecast by at least 25 percent thanks in part to an NHTSA investigation surrounding spontaneous combustion of the lithium ion battery after severe crashes. The car was supposed to be Chevrolet’s poster boy for the future, but instead the crucial first year will be marred by shaky consumer confidence and questions about safety.

The Fiat 500 might have escaped that fate, given its quirky styling and heavy re-engineering for the North American palate, but poor sales proved otherwise.

It also suffered from a sales-scaring three out of five star safety rating by the NHTSA this month. Even without that damning verdict, the hatchback wouldn’t have met the projected 50,000 sales figure— as of November Chrysler’s parent company had managed to squeak out a dismal 17,444 units, with little promise of breaking the 20,000 mark by December 31.

[Source: Edmunds Inside Line]

In a very ironic story, battery maker A123 Systems Inc. has admitted to a potential safety issue in batteries it supplies to Fisker Automotive. What’s the irony in that? Well, General Motors, which is currently dealing with a fire safety issue of their own with their Chevy Volt, will be turning to A123 Systems’ batteries for their upcoming plug-in electric Spark rather than continuing to use their current Volt supplier, South Korea’s LG Chem.

A123 is reporting that the batteries supplied to Fisker had misaligned hose clamps, part of the internal cooling system, that can cause coolant to leak. The coolant leak could lead to a potential electrical short circuit. A123 also did express that only about 50 vehicles are impacted by this and fixes are already underway.

Though not as bad as a potential fire hazard, GM’s Volt issue is also being centralized around a coolant leak that causes the fires after the battery has been severely damaged.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Last month, GM and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the Chevy Volt’s fire hazards after the electric vehicle suffered collision. As investigations continue, GM’s Opel react by announcing the delay of Ampera deliveries throughout Europe until a solution to the defect is found.

An Opel spokesman explains that Opel is, “not currently delivering the cars to customers while we set up the process to deal with these highly charged batteries to make sure they are safe.” The Opel Ampera and the Chevrolet Volt are built alongside one another in the Hamtramck, Michigan assembly plant and share the same electric and battery technology.

However, there has been no word yet as to how long the delay will last or whether the number of Ampera deliveries in France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland will be eligible for vehicle buy back.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman of Vauxhall confirmed that there will be no delays for its version of the Volt and the first examples of Vauxhall’s electric car will be delivered to customers by May.

[Source: AutoNews]

In the 1960′s there was the muscle-car wars, and in the 1980′s it was all about who can sell the most minivans. Now its time for the green-car wars, to see who can sell the most plug-in hybrid or fully electric cars.

The two biggest rivals at the moment are the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt. While the Leaf is a fully electric vehicle, the Volt in a plug-in hybrid, so when the battery dies, you can still keep moving, provided you have some gasoline in its tank.

These two vehicles have been going head to head all year, and in America, it is the Leaf that is winning by quite a margin. Nissan has moved 8,720 Leafs thus far, while Chevy had moved just 6,142 Volts in the U.S.

North of the border, there is a different story developing. The Volt is actually outselling the Leaf. Chevy has moved 243 Volts thus far, while only 111 Leafs have found homes in Canada.

Part of the reason the Leaf is having a harder time selling in Canada is because there are only 27 Leaf Certified Dealers in the country, and even they will only sell a car to someone who lives within 42-miles from one of those dealers. The Volt on the other hand is sold through all Chevrolet dealers.

Chevrolet has been dealing with a lot of negative publicity regarding the Volt in recent weeks due to its battery issue, which could result in a fire. This little sales victory in Canada might give the bow-tie boys something to cheer about.

[Source: Auto North]

In light of the Volt post-crash fire disaster, GM announced that they are seeking out batteries that are less volatile for their upcoming 2013 Chevy Spark electric car. GM will be switching to a phosphate-based lithium ion battery from A123 Systems Inc. that are less likely to burn than other lithium chemistry, according to the companies.

It’s a testament to how quickly the battery technology is evolving for hybrid and electric cars, with just a two year gap since the Volt was first introduced. Currently GM and other companies are developing future vehicles with lithium phosphate technology because they’re safer and last longer. And why didn’t they do this sooner? Battery manufacturers weren’t ready to mass-produce them until recently.

It’ll be interesting to see if GM will ever get over this hump with the Volt and if sales of future electric cars will be impacted. Some could even argue that GM “jumped the gun” on electric vehicles when they knew better technology was around the corner. More interestingly however is that Jay Whitacre, assistant professor in materials science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh declared, “Safety isn’t the first reason carmakers are selecting it,” Whitacre said. “The batteries have a longer life. A123′s battery will outlast LG Chem’s battery.”

It is worth mentioning that the Volt investigation right now centers around the battery’s pack design and not its chemistry. They believe that any fix will involve the pack.

GALLERY: 2013 Chevrolet Spark

[Source: Automotive News]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is flatly denying any wrongdoing around the time it took to release data suggesting the Chevrolet Volt might catch fire.

Earlier this week reports surfaced that Volts suffering severe crashes might be at risk of catching fire. GM hasn’t released an official statement explaining the phenomenon, but information leaked from unnamed sources suggesting it might be the liquid cooling system for the car’s lithium ion battery. The fires weren’t even the most disturbing part of the story. It seems the NHTSA actually knew of the defect last May.

By Wednesday U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican congressman from California along with two other U.S. house members aimed accusations at the NHTSA, saying in a letter that they “deliberately suppressed public knowledge of the safety risk posed by the Chevrolet Volt’s lithium-ion battery system.”

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood responded today saying the accusations were “absolutely not true.”

“We have opened an investigation into battery-related fires that may occur some time after a severe crash,” LaHood said. “Chevy Volt owners can be confident that their cars are safe to drive.”

For now, Chevrolet is doing damage control with the car they otherwise used as a PR poster child. So far they have offered to buy back Volts from any owners who feel unsafe and offered loaner cars to those who simply want the defect fixed.

It won’t be clear what that fix will include until later in the week when GM expects its engineers to arrive at a solution, but speculation thus far suggests it may include a strengthened housing around the battery as well as laminating the battery itself and measures to protect against coolant leaking after a crash.

Other cars like the Nissan Leaf use air in place of liquid cooling systems, meaning they aren’t subject to the same potential hazard.

“As soon as we have additional information on our testing and on our investigation, we’ll disclose it,” LaHood said.

[Source: Automotive News]

General Motors is moving closer to a solution for the fires that occurred in Volts after crash testing earlier this year.

Fox News reported yesterday that, according to an unnamed source, fires sparking inside Chevrolet‘s lauded green car might be caused by coolant crystallizing on the car’s battery after a crash, leading to a short circuit.

Since then, Reuters reported that GM is moving towards a set of dealership-implemented fixes to ensure post-crash safety in the cars, though the solution isn’t finalized.

“To the best of my knowledge, we’re not discussing exact solutions at this point,” GM spokesman Rob Peterson said.

Despite that, rumored solutions continue to surface by unnamed sources. Among those unofficial fixes, it seems that GM might laminate the 400-pound battery pack as well as strengthen the casing around it. They may also take steps to better protect against coolant leakage after a crash.

While those possibilities aren’t certain, GM senior management expects a solution by the end of the week. Barring demand by U.S. safety regulators for a deeper-reaching solution, the fix is expected to cost less than $1 million, or roughly $1000 per car.

GM is also offering current Volt owners loaner cars to drive until their vehicle is bolstered against the potential disaster. The aggressive repair policy signals how serious GM is about making the Volt their symbol of future progress.

As far as the EV market is concerned, others are on the way, but for now the Volt’s sole competitor is the Nissan Leaf. The key difference between the two is that the Leaf runs solely on battery power, whereas the Volt has a 1.4-liter gasoline engine that extends driving range. The Leaf didn’t experience the same problems after crash tests, possibly because it doesn’t a use liquid-cooled battery.

Last week GM CEO, Dan Akerson told the Associated Press that GM plans to buy back Volts from any customers concerned about the cars catching fire. He also maintained that they are safe to drive and that owners shouldn’t worry about the issue.

“I think it behooves everyone including General Motors and all of our competition, but more importantly our customers, that we get it right,” Akerson said.

Getting it right definitely involves fixing hazardous issues, but how right is it that GM knew about the problem as early as May without making the public aware? In an earlier story, we reported that it’s possible both GM and the NHTSA knew about the problem but failed to disclose it until last November.

For now, Akerson seems confident in GM’s solution, citing that Lexus had quality issues when they started, but that Toyota dealt swiftly with the issues and pushed the brand on to be a success.

[Sources:  Reuters]