SubscribeElsewhere on Autolust: Prius | GMC | Chevrolet | Honda Insight | Tesla Motors | Chevrolet Malibu | Toyota Camry | Ford Escape |
Blogger
Hybrid Cars
Hybrid Cars (hybridcarblog.com) has great Chevrolet Volt news, photos, videos and more
Friday, Oct 30
Higher gas prices good for Volt, but what about GM?
At a plug-in conference hosted by GM in Detroit last week, news of rising gas prices was seen as a good thing. Today, GM's profits are not driven by fuel efficiency. Can the Chevy Cruze and a limited production Volt change the troubles GM felt during the gas spike of 2008?
Monday, Oct 26
Gassy: Making sense of Fisker plug-in hype
The Model T of the plug-in hybrid? Or, perhaps these luxury plug-in automakers are simply using luxury plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles to bridge to $50,000 'economic' versions that can compete with a Chevy Volt, a plug-in Toyota Prius, or a Nissan Leaf, etc in 2015?
Wednesday, Oct 21
Bailout shock: "stunningly poor management"
Over the years, I've been a pretty big GM critic. Sure, the Chevy Volt gave me some hope - and it still does - but GM's overall efforts towards fuel efficient products has been disappointing. Even after 9/11, GM didn't embrace hybrid cars or small, more fuel efficient vehicles. Instead, they l...
Monday, Oct 19
The perfect hybrid
Is the Toyota Prius the perfect hybrid? What if you added some extra batteries and a plug, would that make the Prius the perfect hybrid? How much electric range should it have, as much as possible? Is 40 miles of electric range the key to plug-in hybrids, such as GM's Chevy Volt is expected to...
Friday, Oct 16
Plug-in Prius: The end of Toyota?
The Chevy Volt will offer 40 miles of electric range. The plug-in Prius, on the other hand, will only offer 15 or 20 miles of electric range. So, is the Volt twice as good as a plug-in Prius? Is Toyota being too conservative with its plug-in hybrid technology?
Will the Chevy Volt change GM?
On the other hand, for the next 10 years, minimally, Toyota Prius sales will dwarf Volt sales. Likewise, with Prius-derivatives and other upcoming hybrid cars, Toyota might be selling 1 million hybrids per year as GM sells 50,000 Volts per year.
Thursday, Oct 15
GM's shock and awe campaign
Several years ago, Bob Lutz claimed it would have been smart for GM to utilize just a fraction of one year's multi-billion dollar marketing budget to fund the production of a Toyota Prius-contender. Eventually, Lutz's realization evolved into the Chevy Volt, however, the Volt won't com...
Wednesday, Oct 7
The irreconcilable EV dichotomy?
Sure, the Toyota FT-EV II electric car is odd, but is it practical? Is it cost-effective compared to other electric vehicles or even gasoline vehicles? One the other hand, one week luxury vehicle maker Audi is slamming the Chevy Volt, the next week they are announcing plans for the Audi E-...
Wednesday, Sep 9
Toyota won't rush into plug-in Prius rollout
Toyota is on track to lease 500 plug-in Prius hybrids before the end of this year. According to Toyota, these plug-in hybrids will offer an electric range of 12 miles, afterwhich the Prius functions pretty much like a standard 3rd generation Prius.
Tuesday, Sep 8
Poll: Most Americans won't buy PHEVs
A Prius before plug-in conversion Just build plug-in hybrids and they will come? I guess Bob Lutz knows exactly what he's talking about when he claims that only 5 percent of US auto consumers are willing to buy plug-in hybrids such as the Chevy Volt.
Wednesday, Aug 12
Lutz on Fast Money: Dodging questions on Volt viability?
Lee then followed up by asking when consumers can expect to reap the benefits of the Volt. After a $7500 tax credit, Lutz claimed at $32,500 the Volt wasn't too much more expensive than Toyota Prius. Still, he never explained how long it would take the Volt to recover its additional expense co...
Is the Volt a Leaf over the Toyota Prius?
Leaf to get 367 mpg!? So, which vehicle is better: the Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf or the Toyota Prius? Is the Volt a Leaf over the Prius? Not yet, but we'll review again once either Nissan or GM starts producing 100,000 of their plug-ins per year.
Monday, Aug 10
Chevy Volt's mileage numbers to be released tomorrow
Tomorrow, GM will release the Volt's EPA mileage results, which I'm sure will be well over 100 mpg. Still, real world mileage of the Chevy Volt will be heavily dependent upon driving conditions, frequency of charging etc. Thus, the range of real world fuel economy of the Volt will be far grea...
Tuesday, Apr 14
Fortune rips Big 3 and "foolhardy" Volt
A few weeks ago Fortune's Alex Taylor III slammed GM's Chevy Volt calling it "misguided, even foolhardy". Sure GM has a vehicle like the Volt, but Volt profitability is probably 3 generations away. How will GM make money in the interim? With gas-guzzlers? Without ever directly challengin...
