#ChevroletVolt

Chevrolet Volt sales in America haven’t been what GM had hoped with the American automaker even stopping production to let inventory numbers subside a bit.

It sure beats having your Chevrolet Volt up in flames, but having your charger cord overheat and melt isn’t so great either.

It’s a Colorado thing, so you probably wouldn’t understand but four-wheel drives and Subarus seems to sell better than most cars in that state. Subaru aside, another car is trying to woo buyers with a lot of help by the State government: the  Chevrolet Volt.

Earlier today we reported that the Chevrolet Volt sales nearly doubled in February, but doesn’t seem to have made a difference.

The Chevrolet Volt finally has some good news to share. The HOV decal that helped Toyota Prius sales get off the ground in California has now made its way onto the 2012 Chevrolet Volt with the Low Emissions Package.

A Chevrolet Volt owner made Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich look pretty silly by posting a video response to the senator’s comment today that you can’t have a gun rack in a Chevrolet Volt.

It turns out that a little bit of PVC pipe, some string string and American ingenuity make darn good rifle toting material in the back of a Volt, or really any sedan. Before getting to deeply into what goes on in the citizen rebulttle, let’s go over what Gingrich said to stir this stuff up.

“You know the Volt is an interesting experimental car. The average family that buys it earns $170,000 a year. This is Obama’s idea of populism and in this new budget he wants to increase the amount given to every Volt buyer to $10,000.” Gingrich said. “Which is an amount which a lot of people would by a decent second-hand car, but it wouldn’t be an ‘Obama’ car.”

“But here’s my point folks: You can’t put a gun rack in a Volt,” he said to much laughter and applause.

Well, it looks like there’s going to be a lot more laughter, though probably not on the Gingrich campaign trail. Perhaps politicians in general should avoid using absolutes, of only to avoid looking silly after saying words like “can’t” or “never.”

Maybe the world should be thanking Gingrich. His rant spurred someone to build a new Volt accessory that Chevrolet certainly wouldn’t hav e thought to market.

You can watch videos of both Gingrich and the gun rack after the jump.

Things might get a lot sweeter in 2013 for folks considering a “new technology car,” as they’re being called at the White House.

Despite the hype and sometimes controversy surrounding the Chevrolet Volt, one aspect that’s been decidedly overlooked, is the fact that from the outset it was designed to incorporate future upgrades.

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.

GM has a long road ahead of them to rebuild consumer confidence in the Chevrolet Volt after months of negative press surrounding the fire risk of their extended-range electric vehicle.

The advertising campaign will focus on just how safe the Volt is and will include full-page ads in 19 different US newspapers including The New York Times, along with television ads. The launch of the ad campaign coincides with GM CEO Alan Akerson testifying to Congress that a recent Volt fire that took place after a NHTSA crash test would never occur in real-world situations.

NHTSA said late last week after its two-month investigation that the Volt does not pose any more of a fire risk than any other conventional vehicle. Unfortunately, damage clearly has been done as GM North America President Mark Reuss admitted that Volt sales took a huge hit in January. GM will be restarting production on the Volt in February at its Detroit Hamtramck assembly plant and expects to build it with “very reasonable” volume. Their immediate focus however, is to rebuild the reputation surrounding the Chevy Volt as quickly as possible.

Check out GM’s first ad “Morning in Hamtramck” after the break.

Driving a Chevrolet Volt could get even more guilt-free in the future as the company plays with ways to coax consumers into charging with renewable energy.

Everything is big news in a small town, especially the chance at being featured in a Super Bowl commercial. For one small town, that possibility may become a reality if General Motors decides to run an ad they shot featuring Hamtramck, Michigan.

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.

Men in the U.S. went big, brawny and sporty in 2011 – that is, when it came to the kind of vehicles they bought this past year.

Making its way on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick for 2012 is the all-new Buick Verano. This raises General Motors IIHS Top Safety Pick award count to 14 in 2012 – not too shabby.