Hybrid Car - More Fun with Less Gas

More than a year after the dramatic unveiling of Chevy Volt last January here is what GM brings to Philadelphia Auto Show 2008 - a carcass. Sure, people were stopping to look at the slowly turning display with a somewhat puzzled look and then (usually in less that 10 seconds) moved right onto exploring other Chevy and neighboring Saturn vehicles, those that you cannot see through. Noone bothered to read the PowerPoint on the flat screens inside the carcass. Another missed PR opportunity… Continue Reading »

Honestly: I do not have a Chevy Volt-sinking agenda. I truly want an American manufacturer to succeed in building a car that is capable of keeping up with the rest of the traffic in all-electric mode albeit for the first 40 miles only. It does, however, look like GM is so much further away from the goal than anyone involved cares to admit to … Continue Reading »

I came by this Saturn ad today and could not resist to click. The ad said: “Most affordable hybrids in America”. Wow, wouldn’t that be interesting to look at? I clicked off to the Saturn website expecting to see the specs of their hybrid vehicles. Nothing really jumped at me and so I looked around trying to find those hybrids. Found precisely two - VUE Green Line and Aura Green Line - that looked like they might be hybrid vehicles. Well, that’s fair - two is plural. Let’s take a look at this Aura ad I’ve found. Read on, it will be fun! Continue Reading »

When I first saw news about Chevy Volt, it was in Green Car Journal where the author of the advertorial (Kellen Schefter) had proclaimed that GM is “back in the electric car business”. Never mind strange remarks from the advertorial like “truly wonderful but now infamously defunct GM EV1” (why defunct if truly wonderful?) and “GM admits that it’s still waiting (my emphasis) for technological breakthroughs to produce a large Li-ion battery pack”. I went on GM’s website and watched the car roll on stage and Bob Lutz, GM Vice Chairman give a speech about “electrically powered vehicle by GM”.

Wow, I though to myself, they mean business this time around. Well, not so fast. Read on for some bucket loads of pure fun ahead:
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Electrical car and General Motors are in the same sentence again and not because of EV1.

Earlier this year GM has unveiled its new electrical car concept - Chevy Volt (pictured). One of the first features that come to mind is the looks - an important detail in successfully getting the vehicle on the market. I think it was a great idea to use a brand new design so that the vehicle stands apart on the road and the owner is recognized as an environmentally conscious person. Many companies use regular car bodies for their hybrids (Toyota Prius is a notable exception) and they unnecessarily blend in the rest of the crowd without giving the owners the due recognition.

Anyways, let’s look inside the Chevy Volt concept:

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