Fastest Cars: Chevrolet Volt

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Chevrolet Goes Big for Super Bowl with Five New Ads

GM's Chevrolet division will have a huge presence at this year's Super Bowl game as it plans to air no less than five commercials focusing on the Camaro, the Sonic and the Volt.

These include the "Needing Getting" music video for the Sonic from the band OK Go that will air during the pregame program, the "Aliens" spot showcasing the Volt, the "Chevy Happy Grand" with the Camaro Convertible, the "Sonic Anthem" that chronicles the sub-compact's stunts, and the "Joy", again with the Sonic.

The state of California has been at the forefront of the nation’s regulations when it comes to reducing emissions since the 1970s. And now it has taken another step in this direction by approving the Advanced Clean Car program.

It is a set of regulations that aims to reduce emissions and, among other things, requires 15.4 percent of all new vehicles that will be sold by 2025 to be all-electric, plug-in hybrids or powered by fuel cells.

By implementing this program, California regulators wish to reduce passenger vehicles emissions by 34 percent between 2014 and 2015, and overall smog-forming emissions by 75 percent. It’s a goal similar to the federal standards proposed by President Obama.

The issue of the Chevy Volt's fire risk and the following NHTSA investigation that ended last week after GM modified its hybrid and the federal agency cleared the car, seems to be spreading beyond the automotive realm.

According to Bloomberg News, a report released by the House Oversight and Government Committee Report led by California Republican Representative Darrell Issa poses the question whether the six-month delay in making the fire-risk issue public has anything to do with the government’s 32 percent stake in General Motors.

“This unnatural relationship has blurred the lines between the public and private sector as President Obama touts the survival of General Motors as one of the top accomplishments of his administration”, read the report. “On a political level, this relationship raises serious questions about whether or not the administration is too heavily invested in the success of GM to be an effective regulator.”

All ends well for General Motors as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced today that it is officially closing the safety defect probe into the post-crash fire risk of the Chevrolet Volt.

The federal safety agency stated that after an eight-week long investigation and following a fix announced by GM to reduce the potential for battery intrusion from side impacts, it concludes that "no discernible defect trend exists".

"Based on the available data, NHTSA does not believe that Chevy Volts or other electric vehicles pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles," the agency said in a statement.

NHTSA had opened the investigation on November 28, 2011, after some Volts either caught fire or started to emit smoke and/or sparks in the days or weeks following a crash test.

Bad news for Australian drivers interested in GM's Chevrolet Volt as the local version of the car that will be marketed under the Holden brand and which is expected to arrive later this year will reportedly cost well over AU$60,000 (equal to US$62,000).

While Holden has yet to publicly announce prices, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that GM's subsidiary told its dealers that the Volt will carry a retail price of AU$59,990 before on-road and dealer costs, which the newspaper says rises to as much as AU$66,000 (US$68,200) with the aforementioned fees.

As Toyota found out the hard way, when there's a safety issue on hand, no matter how small or unlikely the possibility of something going wrong on a customer's car is, in the long run, it's much better to address the problem before someone gets hurt…

In General Motors' case, the problem has to do with the Chevrolet Volt's battery package as severe-impact lab tests performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA] resulted in some cars catching fire days or weeks after the crash.

GM's own investigation found that the problem has to do with the protective casing around the battery coolant system as it could be pierced during impact allowing fluid to leak onto a circuit board thus causing an electrical short.

The Detroit-based automaker said it will address the problem by strengthening the structure around the batteries while also adding a sensor in the reservoir of the battery coolant system to monitor coolant levels and a tamper-resistant bracket to the top of the battery coolant reservoir to help prevent potential coolant overfill.

A report on the seven worst product flops in the U.S. from 24/7 Wall Street that was re-posted on Yahoo Finance includes two vehicle introductions, the Chevrolet Volt and the Fiat 500.

According to the author of the report, Chevrolet's extended range electric vehicle made it on the list because it underperformed in sales while the fact that it is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for fires related to the car's lithium-ion batteries is also mentioned.

As for the 500, the article says that while the Italians expected to sell some 50,000 cars during its first year in the States, Fiat sold fewer than 12,000 from January through July, and that the company ousted its chief Laura Soave this past November. For the record, Fiat sold 15,826 examples of the coupe and the 500C through October.

Despite handling the Chevrolet Volt fire-risk issue brightly going to great lengths to dispel current owners’ fears and satisfy them, media headlines seem to have taken their toll on the extended range EV's sales after all.

According to CNW Marketing president Art Spinella, a new survey conducted by his research company reveals “a decline in the consideration of the GM vehicle”.

The study shows that the number of early adopters “Likely” or “Very Likely” to buy a Volt between July and December decreased by 20.5% after the fire reports, a percentage that was double among the general public. Electric vehicle enthusiasts are the only ones not affected by the reports, yet analysts expect the Volt to will miss its 2011 sales target by around 20%.

For a second year in a row, the Friends of the National Automotive History Collection (NAHC), which is billed as the world's largest public archive of automotive literature, have selected a Chevrolet model as the most collectible car of the future among 23 all-new cars and trucks launched in the States in 2011.

Last year, the winner was the Camaro sports coupe while for 2011, the award goes to the Volt extended range electric vehicle. NAHC did not name the other competitors for this year's award.

Providing a free loaner to Volt owners concerned about their car’s safety is all good and well – even better for some if the loaner is a Camaro or a Corvette.

However, General Motors, which is currently cooperating with the NHTSA to address the fire issues that ensued after the agency’s crash tests, may even go as far as redesigning its extended-range hybrid’s battery which is manufactured by South Korea's LG Chem.

You’ve got to hand it to General Motors: even though the Chevrolet Volt is currently in the middle of a formal fire investigation by the NHTSA, it looks like it can still generate good publicity out of it.

Cooperating with the safety agency to look into the lithium-ion battery issue was to be expected, but providing free loaners to Volt owners who have “fire anxiety” (even though all incidents involved crashed test cars), isn't something you take for granted.

General Motors is reaching out to Volt customers concerned that their vehicle's batteries might catch fire under certain circumstances after a crash, by offering them a free loaner car until the company resolves the issue.

The problem first arose in May when a Chevy Volt's lithium-ion batteries caught fire while the car was parked at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's [NHTSA] Winsconsin facilities, three weeks after it had been subjected to a side-impact crash test.

Earlier this year, a Chevrolet Volt caught fire while stationary at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Winsconsin facility car park, three weeks after it had been subjected to a side-impact crash test on May 12.

Alerted by the incident, General Motors and NHTSA repeated the test in June, but failed to replicate the fire. GM spokesman Greg Martin had said at the time that the fire was most likely caused because the agency staff had not followed the proper safety procedures mandated by the company for handling the Volt and its battery after an accident

Nevertheless, NHTSA joined forces with the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense, as well as General Motors, to determine the safety levels of the Volt’s lithium-ion batteries.

General Motors has lead the sales front in China, which is the world’s single biggest car market, for the past six years, with the automaker expecting to break the 2 million sales mark for the second year in a row in 2011.

Therefore, it makes perfect sense for China to be one of the first overseas markets to receive the Chevrolet Volt. GM’s extended-range hybrid will be available in eight cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Foshan, through 13 Shanghai GM Chevrolet dealerships.

The state of California has more than 1,400 miles of High Occupancy Vehicle, or HOV, lanes. Initially, only vehicles with two or more occupants could use them, in order to minimize congestion. However, as low-emission vehicles became more common, the Golden State recently changed the regulations, allowing them to use the HOV lanes in order to widen their appeal to buyers.

"HOV lane access is a coveted perk in California,” said Chris Perry, vice president of Global Chevrolet Marketing. Despite being an extended-range hybrid, the Volt didn’t qualify for one of the 40,000 HOV stickers that are only available California Enhanced, Advanced Technology – Partial Zero Emissions Vehicles."

Sales of the Volt have been picking up lately with GM’s extended-range EV outselling one of its main rivals, the Nissan Leaf, for the very first time in October. Famous car nut Jay Leno, though, is an early adopter and he got his own Volt in December of 2010.

The host of “The Tonight Show” says he has covered more than 10,000 miles without ever visiting a gas station. Yes, you read that correctly: Leno is still driving on the same tank of fuel his Volt had 11 months ago.

Federal safety regulators are looking into the safety of lithium-ion batteries after a Chevrolet Volt went up in flames at a parking lot at the National Highway Traffic Administration testing center in Wisconsin.

An agency official said that the incident took place three weeks after the Chevrolet Volt went through a side-impact crash test on May 12.

The Volt incident has forced authorities to ask automakers that sell cars equipped with lithium-ion batteries in the U.S., including GM, Nissan and Ford, about the potential fire risks, according to agency officials familiar with the matter.

Lithium-ion batteries, such as the ones powering the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf, are considered more efficient than nickel-metal units used in other vehicles like Toyota’s Prius hybrid.

So far, Nissan’s all-electric Leaf has been the winner in the battle with the Volt extended-range hybrid, clearly outselling Chevy’s offering for the first half of 2011.

But not anymore: for the first time since the two models went on sale, GM announced that it sold 1,108 units in October, an increase of almost 50% over September’s 723 sales.

This is the first time Chevy’s hybrid outsold its main rival in the U.S. market, the Nissan Leaf, which last month sold 849 units compared to September’s figure of 1,031 deliveries.

Earlier this week, General Motors released its US sales results for September. And the numbers are looking good as deliveries are up 20% compared to September 2010 while the Cruze remains the best-selling compact car in the country.

Yet, despite all the euphoria, GM is actually facing a small problem: even though it had initially set a target of delivering 10,000 units of its Volt hybrid by the end of the year, it is very unlikely that it will achieve this goal.

While travelling through Death Valley in Eastern California, Carscoop reader Perry D. stumbled upon a convoy of Land Rover prototypes including the compact five-door Range Rover Evoque and the full-size 2013 Range Rover luxury SUV.

We're not sure what the camo'ed up Evoque test cars with the swirly-whirly disguise were doing in Death Valley as the five-door model was unwrapped at last year's Los Angeles Auto Show and is bound to go on sale in the States in October.

Chevrolet Goes Big for Super Bowl with Five New Ads

California wants 1.4 Million Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2025; Manufacturers Agree, Dealers Object

Volt Probe Fuels Republican Fire, GM CEO Says Company has Become a "Political Punching Bag"

Case Closed: NHTSA Clears Chevrolet Volt on Fire Risk, Says Everything's Okay Now

Holden's Version of the Volt to Cost Over $60,000 in Australia!

GM Announces Fix for Chevrolet Volt to Address Safety Concerns Over Fires

Chevy Volt and Fiat 500 Amongst Worst Product Flops of 2011, Says Report

Media Headlines Reduce Demand for Volt, Coolant May be the Cause of Battery Fires

Chevrolet Volt Deemed as 2011's Top Collectible Car of the Future by NAHC

GM May Redesign Volt's Battery, Puts Opel Ampera Sales on Hold

GM Says Anxious Volt Owners May get Any Loaner they Wish - Even a Corvette!

GM to Provide Concerned Volt Owners with a Free Loaner after Fire Probe

NHTSA Opens Formal Investigation on Chevy Volt and Li-ion Batteries after New Crash Tests Result in Fire

Chevy Volt to go on Sale in China for the Low, Low Price of…$75,533!

Chevy’s Low Emissions Package Gives 2012 Volt Access to California’s HOV Lanes

Jay Leno and Other Volt Owners Drive 10,000 Miles without Using a Drop of Gas

NHTSA Probes Chevrolet Volt after Battery Catches Fire

Chevy Volt Sales Close to 50% up in October, Outsells Nissan Leaf for the First Time

GM Insists it Will Sell 10,000 Volts this Year but the Numbers Don’t Seem to Add Up

U Spy: Land Rover Prototypes Snapped Running Around Death Valley

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