Poll: Should GM give in and call the Volt a hybrid?

Apart from the humorous articles and the plethora of eBay finds we come up with, Carscoop’s bread and butter is automotive news straight from the manufacturer. And as such, we read a lot of press releases. In all the ones I’ve read, General Motors refuses to call the Chevrolet Volt a hybrid. It’s a range extended electric vehicle.I speculate that it might have something to do with hybrids being

Proposed Bill to Increase Number of Plug-in Hybrid and EVs Eligible for Federal Tax Rebate

Michigan congressmen Sander Levin and Carl Levin proposed a new piece of legislation on Wednesday, which would potentially increase the number of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles eligible for the $7,500 tax credit from 200,000 to 500,000 per manufacturer.“Green vehicles represent the vanguard of automotive innovation, but they have to be economical for consumers and profitable for

EV Owners in California to Feel the Shock of Higher Electricity Rates

Woe betide the electric car. Outpaced by their petrol-powered cousins in the 1900s, saddled with heavy and potentially dangerous batteries in the 1970s and crushed in the name of the Almighty Dollar in the 1990s, it’s been a rough road from there to here.And now, on the dawn of a new age where electric cars seem poised to take their rightful place alongside gasoline cars, the electricity

VIDEO: Chevrolet Tries to Explain the Volt's MPG Equivalent and MPG Ratings

Once upon a drive, all we had to know about a car's fuel consumption was how many miles the vehicle could travel on a single gallon of gas in the city, on the highway and on a combined route, regardless of whether the engine was fed with petrol or diesel. Nowadays, the appearance of all-electric and extended range hybrid electric cars in showrooms has forced [ahem...] the U.S. Environmental

McDonald's Store in West Virginia gets EV Charging Station

Even though we can’t picture your average EV owner as being an avid fan of McDonalds, nevertheless, future Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt owners living in Huntington, West Virginia, will have a very good reason to visit the food chain's new store located near the corner of 1st Street and 5th Avenue, as it’s the first restaurant of its kind in the U.S. to have a Level 2 Electric Car Charging

GM Building Parts for Chevrolet Volt from BP Oil Spill Booms

The new Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car is doing its part in improving the environment by making the best use of the oil that was spilled into the Gulf of Mexico from the BP Deepwater Horizon rig. To explain, General Motors has began recycling oil-soaked plastic booms from the notorious spill into components for the Volt. The Detroit-based automaker said it has developed a method to

GM CEO Calls the Prius a Geek-Mobile, Wouldn’t be Caught Dead in One

In the grand scheme of things, General Motors is a little late in the purpose-built hybrid range extended electric vehicle game. Toyota has recently launched its third generation Prius and Honda its second generation Insight. At worst, the soon-to-be-released Chevy Volt is a logical move from a marketing perspective; if the consumer wants frumpily styled eco-cars then who are we, the automakers,

General Motors Begins Shipping 2011 Chevrolet Volt to Dealers

On Monday, the first shipments of the highly anticipated 2011 Chevrolet Volt left GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant and are on their way to select dealerships. According to the company, customers in California, Texas, Washington D.C. and New York could receive their vehicles in the next few days. Read more »

Video: Near Production Chevy Volt Shown on ABC News

In a video report on the forthcoming Chevrolet Volt for ABC News, GM’s exterior design executive director Michael Simcoe partially lifted the veil off the one of the most recent clay models of the production Volt. As you can see by comparing photos of the concept with the latest production prototype, while not dramatically different, the Volt’s front end has been tweaked as it features modified

Video: Near Production Chevy Volt Shown on ABC News

In a video report on the forthcoming Chevrolet Volt for ABC News, GM’s exterior design executive director Michael Simcoe partially lifted the veil off the one of the most recent clay models of the production Volt. As you can see by comparing photos of the concept with the latest production prototype, while not dramatically different, the Volt’s front end has been tweaked as it features modified

Opel to Launch Electric Model Derived Directly from the Volt in late 2011

GM Europe's President Carl Peter Forster has revealed details on what the company plans to do with the Chevrolet Volt in the European market. Assuming that all goes well during the development phase and the Volt is launched in the US in late 2010, GM's plan is to have the first electric-vehicles (EV) for sale in Europe about a year later, which is late in 2011. According to Forster, Opel and its

Opel to Launch Electric Model Derived Directly from the Volt in late 2011

GM Europe's President Carl Peter Forster has revealed details on what the company plans to do with the Chevrolet Volt in the European market. Assuming that all goes well during the development phase and the Volt is launched in the US in late 2010, GM's plan is to have the first electric-vehicles (EV) for sale in Europe about a year later, which is late in 2011. According to Forster, Opel and its

Opel’s Variant of the Chevy Volt will be Built in the U.S.

In a recent interview published on the German magazine Automobilwoche, GM Europe’s president Carl-Peter Forster revealed that Opel’s first electric car that will be based on the Chevy Volt will be manufactured in the U.S. Forster also told Automobilwoche that European customers should expect to pay a substantial surcharge of €10,000 ($15,800) or more over a comparable Opel model with a

Opel’s Variant of the Chevy Volt will be Built in the U.S.

In a recent interview published on the German magazine Automobilwoche, GM Europe’s president Carl-Peter Forster revealed that Opel’s first electric car that will be based on the Chevy Volt will be manufactured in the U.S. Forster also told Automobilwoche that European customers should expect to pay a substantial surcharge of €10,000 ($15,800) or more over a comparable Opel model with a

GM Plans on Selling 70,000 Volts in Two Years at $40,000

In an e-mail sent to the Free Press on Thursday, GM’s Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told the website that the automaker is planning to manufacture 10,000 examples of its plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt in 2011, the hybrid’s first full year of production, and another 60,000 units the following year. Lutz also told Freep that the Volt will go on sale by November 2010 at a price around $40,000, though

GM Plans on Selling 70,000 Volts in Two Years at $40,000

In an e-mail sent to the Free Press on Thursday, GM’s Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told the website that the automaker is planning to manufacture 10,000 examples of its plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt in 2011, the hybrid’s first full year of production, and another 60,000 units the following year. Lutz also told Freep that the Volt will go on sale by November 2010 at a price around $40,000, though

GM Plans on Selling 70,000 Volts in Two Years at $40,000

In an e-mail sent to the Free Press on Thursday, GM’s Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told the website that the automaker is planning to manufacture 10,000 examples of its plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt in 2011, the hybrid’s first full year of production, and another 60,000 units the following year. Lutz also told Freep that the Volt will go on sale by November 2010 at a price around $40,000, though

Chevy Volt: GM Releases Near Production Sketch

General Motors is moving ahead with the development of the Chevrolet Volt that’s scheduled to enter production in 2010 (see here). In order to maximize the electric range, GM is focusing on improving the aerodynamics of the vehicle. The image above that was released by GM illustrates one of the latest design themes undergoing a wind tunnel test at the American carmaker’s Aero Lab in Warren,