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.
Even if General Motors all new gas electric hybrid the Chevrolet Volt has not made an official debut, the automaker has started to reveal more and more details about the future electric car. GM said that the future Volt will be able to achieve a city fuel economy of at least 230 miles per gallon, and that it will be able to travel up to 40 miles in pure electric mode from a full charge.
The actual as mileage of the Chevrolet Volt will depend on how far the owner travels amongst other factors such as how much cargo or how many bodies they bring along with them and even how much accessories like the air conditioning is used. Chevrolet has already verified the Volt’s 40 mile electric range through vigorous developmental testing which results in a petroleum-free driving experience in both city and highway cycles.
Based on the EPA’s new train of thought, plug-in electric vehicles will be traveling many more city miles than highway ones in electricity only mode. So the government agency has decided to use kilowatt hours per 100 miles traveled in order to categorize the efficiency of a plug-in electric vehicle. Using this methodology, 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.
Toyota Motors Corp., one of the foremost authorities on hybrid technology is planning on producing about 20,000 to 30,000 plug-in hybrid in 2012.
We all know that if there’s a manufacturer that can make this claim and back it up, it’s Toyota. After all, their very own hybrid car, the Prius, was the first hybrid vehicle to appeal to the mainstream audience.
Plug-in cars are different from the standard hybrids because they can be charged at home through an electric socket, although by running on electricity, these cars come with batteries that can be heavy on the wallets, and that’s not even counting the electric consumption bills you’ll have to come face-to-face with every month.
Nevertheless, the future for these cars remains promising, especially considering that the world’s supply of oil won’t last forever.
We mentioned a while back about the growing number of cars making its way into China. But apparently, cars aren’t the only ones infiltrating the world’s most populated country.
So are car factories.
We recently got word that General Motors, in an effort to build their brand on overseas markets – especially in China and Asia – will begin making the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car in China starting in 2011.
Now it seems that tapping into the largest market in the world is a sound strategy for GM, especially after going through its worst crisis in company history. The Detroit-based manufacturer is expected to use its China facility to continue building on its revolutionary technology in a wide variety of vehicles, which includes the Volt and a host of other cars the company is trying to introduce to the vast Asian market. Unlike their dismal showing in the US, GM is hopeful that the Chinese market – the biggest in the world by a mile – will take a liking to the Volt and the slew of other vehicles they’re planning to produce in the country. As it stands, all Volts built in China are to be sold there but the company is expected to open its doors to other Asian markets as well.
Chevrolet revealed the Volt Electric Vehicle as a concept back at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The first pre-production Volts have already rolled off the assembly line. Most of these vehicles will be used for the testing purposes and in order to validate the vehicle’s production quality and design efficiency. These pre-production models will also be used to develop the final software and controls for the new vehicle, including the way that the driver interacts with the new EV. Like all test vehicles, some will have short lives, as they’ll be crash tested after the GM engineers have run every test possible on them. Everything from endurance testing, to battery and drive train interface examinations, the design team will even go so far as to test the windshield wipers and the doors ability to be opened and slammed over and over again.
Approximately 80 of the extended-range electric vehicles will be produced over the next year or so, putting General Motors ahead of their pre-production deadlines for the electrifying automobile. The American automaker hopes to start producing road going Chevrolet Volts for retail sales by the end of Fall 2010.
After seeing the American version, and also the European version of the Volt electric car, today is time for the Australian one. Production version is expected on the Australian market in 2012.
Like the Chevy Volt, its Australian brother has the ability to travel up to 64 kilometres on electricity before using petrol or producing exhaust pipe emissions.
For trips of up to 64 kilometres, Volt is powered solely by the electricity stored in its battery without using petrol or producing exhaust pipe emissions.
When the battery’s energy is depleted, a small petrol-powered engine generates electric power for the vehicle to travel hundreds of additional kilometres .
Advanced technology enables the vehicle’s battery to be charged in less than three hours on a standard 240v power outlet. Charge times are reduced if the battery has not been fully depleted.
The unveiling of the Chevrolet Volt was one of the most highly anticipated events in the auto industry this year. The car is a gasoline-electric hybrid, meaning it has two sources of power – an electric motor, and a standard internal combustion engine. In electric mode, the vehicle’s design is such that it can be driven for a maximum range of around 40 miles. When power is nearly depleted, the gasoline engine kicks in to drive a generator which recharges the car’s batteries.
Crucial to the success of the Chevy Volt is its batteries. General Motors’ first concept electric vehicle, the EV1, used lead-acid and nickel metal hydride battery packs. The Volt employs lithium-ion packs which are considerably lighter.
GM is currently working with Applied Sciences, Inc. and, its affiliate, Pyrograf Products towards improving the Volt’s electric mode range. The two Ohio-based companies are looking into the use of carbon nanofibers in battery production. Their initial studies indicate that this space-age material greatly improves electrical conductivity and could be used as fillers in the electrodes of lithium-ion batteries.
Reducing weight is vital in improving a vehicle’s performance; and the balance between a battery pack’s weight and power capacity is a key factor in the successful design and production of hybrid cars. The EV1’s battery pack tipped the scales at 800 pounds; using lithium-ion for the Chevrolet Volt successfully cut that in half. According to John Mackay of Applied Sciences, Inc., “By making the carbon perform better, you can reduce the weight of that component in the battery. GM researchers say they have not seen any carbon materials that have performed as well as ours."
The $1.5 million research and development of carbon nanofibers for this application could effectively extend the electric driving range of the Volt to 80 miles, maybe more. The question is: Would this greatly affect the final pricing of the car when it hits the market in 2010?
Turns out you don’t have to give out mortgages like candy and then blow all the proceeds on drugs and strippers to get your hands on part of the government’s $700 billion bailout package. Instead, put down the hooker and pick up a Chevy Volt.
As part of the Wall Street bailout package, $1 billion is set aside for discounts for hybrid cars with batteries rated at 4 kWh (kilowatt hours) or more. While the current Prius’ 1.3 kWh battery pack does not qualify, the 6 kWh Chevrolet Volt should qualify for the maximum $7,500 tax credit. See, sometimes the good people win (or at least get some of their own money back to buy a car.)
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