If you recall some time ago, Chevrolet came out with a paint color contest to name the official color of the Chevrolet Volt. And now, after what has seemed like an inordinate amount of time, the winning color has finally been announced.
Viridian Joule.
Yes, apparently, that is a legitimate color, or to be more specific, a legitimate hue. It turns out that ‘Viridian’ is a real word, which means ‘a long-lasting bluish-green pigment made from hydrated oxide of chromium. As far as ‘Joule’ is concerned, we do remember from our Home-Ec classes that it’s a unit meant to describe some sort of electric energy.
The contest was one by David Thomas from Sanford, Florida, whose ‘Viridian Joule’ name beat out notable contenders the ‘EV-ergreen’ and the ‘environMINT’. In hindsight, ‘Viridian Joule’ isn’t all that bad of a name, especially since ‘EV-ergreen’ and ‘environMINT’ didn’t really get any overwhelming thumbs up from us. But we did wonder for the life of us why Chevy had to have such a contest. Couldn’t they have come up with something themselves?
We’re guessing that it’s their way to keep the public involved in whatever they do, which, at the end of the day, isn’t bad idea to drum up interest for the Volt.
The final version of the Chevrolet Volt electric car was presented today at the Los Angeles Auto Show. At the even GM announced that the electric sedan will be available late next year in California with other lead markets to be named later. Production will begin in 2010 and will cost $41,000 before federal and state tax incentives. While the sticker price is rather high, the lease deal seems to be the best choice. Buyers can lease their very own electric Volt for $350 per month for 36 months. That is the exact same payment that Nissan is asking for with the Leaf EV.
The Chevrolet Volt is designed to drive up to 40 miles on electricity without using gasoline or producing tailpipe emissions. When the Volt’s lithium-ion battery runs low, an engine/generator seamlessly operates to extend the total driving range to more than 300 miles before refueling or stopping to recharge the battery. One thing to remember while you are at the pump; this little baby has to be filled with premium gasoline.
Also, the Volt’s exterior color has an official name: Viridian Joule, a name suggested by David Thomas, 40, of Sanford, Fla.
UPDATE 07/22/2010: Chevrolet has taken the Volt on its first cross country trip! Check out the video above!
UPDATE 07/27/2010: This article has been updated to show the price that has just been released for the Volt.
UPDATE 07/28/2010: Chevrolet is highlighting the value of the Volt in the video above. Check it out!
UPDATE 10/16/2010: Motortrend has tested the Chevrolet Volt and has gotten some tremendous results! On their first trip, the hybrid got them 127mpg while traveling along the street and highways of Los Angeles. On their second trip, the guys over at Motortrend drove the heck out of the Volt at its top speed and were able to get 75mpg proving that the Volt is one efficient vehicle!
In one of the strangest contests we’ve come across recently, Chevrolet has narrowed down the list of its ‘Volt Color Naming Contest’ to three finalists.
That’s right - a color-naming contest.
What’s even more surprising was the fact that over 13,000 people submitted their ‘entries’ for the contest, which, as we’ve said, has been narrowed down to three colors. These three colors are “EV-ergreen", which was submitted by Devin McQuarrie of San Jose, CA, “Viridian Joule”, which was submitted by Dave Thomas of Sanford, FL, and “environMINT”, which was submitted by Matthew Valbuena of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA.
Voters can now cast their votes over at the Chevy Volt website with only one vote per IP address will be counted over the next two weeks. The contest will conclude on December 1 in Los Angeles where a winner will be officially announced. The three finalists will also be brought to LA for the official announcement and as a prize; the winner will get to take the Volt in its winning color out for a test drive, becoming the first outsider to be given the opportunity.
It’s not much for a prize, to be honest. We were kind of expecting Chevy to give the winner a Volt model of his own. After all, he was the one who thought of the color of the car.
Electric cars like the Chevy Volt may not have to worry about the mounting fuel prices all over the world, but is it presumptuous to believe that they should worry about the weather, especially when it rains?
It is after all general knowledge that water and electricity don’t exactly go hand-in-hand. So if you’re one of those people that won’t buy an electric car because of this ‘fear’, you can now rest easy.
The guys at GM-Volt, together with the Volt’s lead engineer Lance Turner – the same man who was one of the key figures behind Mitsubishi’s EV1 project - took the Volt out for a quick test to ensure that the car’s battery pack won’t short-circuit when it gets doused with water.
What they did was they placed the Volt inside a container and filled it up with seawater up until the water touched the batteries. The batteries, it turned out, were wrapped in a specially-constructed seal, which paid close attention to the high voltage lines between the battery pack and the inverter.
It’s a must-see video, especially for those who are looking to purchase a Chevy Volt down the road. At the very least, it should alleviate some of your fears.
Fresh off the announcement that the Chevrolet Volt will have EPA estimated 230 MPH, General Motors has released this video of the future plug-in electric vehicle make its way down the assembly line. From body panel attachment to a fully systems diagnostic run, the American gives us a glimpse of what is to come with these preproduction Volts.
About the whole 230 MPG thing, the EPA’s new train of thought it that a plug-in electric vehicle will be traveling many more city miles than highway ones in electricity only mode. So General Motors expects the Chevrolet Volt to consume as little as 25 kilowatt hours per 100 miles when driving around town. Considering that the average cost of electricity in the U.S. is approximately 11 cents per kWh, a typical Volt driver will pay somewhere around $2.75 to travel every 100 miles. That equates to less than 3 cents per mile.
