Plug-in Prius too rationale for electrification hype OPUD: Over-promising and under-delivering the battery-powered future I find it terribly unsettling how often fans of electrification ridicule Toyota. They don’t even use lithium in their conventional hybrid cars, they claim. As if all the lithium powered mild hybrids, full hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric cars on the…

The Volt is better than just 600 sales in January. Or was the Volt simply over-hyped Just hours after the debut of the Chevy Volt concept car at the Detroit Auto Show — almost a lifetime ago it seems already — Bob Lutz sat down with a small group of bloggers to discuss this revolutionary concept. I was one of those wide-eyed bloggers, and when Lutz suggested the Volt …

Using OnStar to plug into renewables Charge your Volt with renewable energy now says OnStar I’ve had the opportunity to visit GM’s OnStar facilities a few times over the years and have always been impressed with OnStar’s capabilities and its future potential. And in terms of plug-ins such as the Chevy Volt…

Volt reputation burned by a lack of honesty and transparency? Will NHTSA’s safety stamp change that? Is the Chevy Volt an Audi 5000? According to the AutomotiveNews , some Chevy dealers are not accepting their full allotment of Chevy Volts, citing limited demand. Of course, now that the NHTSA has given Volt safety a thumbs up, that sale’s story could…

The Tru 140s eAssist hybrid Is GM taking the cost-effective hybrid approach, or refusing to admit failure? In a weird way, I believe that mild hybrid technologies, such as GM’s eAssist could make a lot of sense. As battery costs decline, eAssist — at least it seems to me — could …

Even greater protection on the way. No need to depower the Volt after a crash? Following a severe crash in a Chevy Volt today, GM sends a team to depower the Volt involved in the crash to prevent the possibility of a fire days or even weeks after the crash, much like a gasoline car is emptied of gasoline after a severe …

The original Chevy Volt concept debut Should have been a more conventional hybrid? InsideLine is calling the Chevy Volt one of the two top sale’s flops of 2011, but is that a fair assessment? For years now I’ve panned the Volt as a ridiculous excuse not to build a real …

Tesla's EV range superstar A few thoughts about battery strategies Getting old sure is fun, and funny, especially in terms of technology. As a boy, renting a VCR for the weekend was one of the greatest technological highlights of my pre-teen years. Of course, eventually my family bought a VCR, with no regard…

So, with nations taking pledge of building a cleaner and greener world, this can be said that eco-friendly cars like Chevy Volt are our future. Since our planet is in desperate need of getting greener, your selection of green cars …

Why not add hybrid technology to the Civic CNG vehicle? Why not a natural gas Honda Civic hybrid? So, the Honda Civic that runs on natural gas is the Green Car of the Year. In the last few years the Chevy Volt and the Chevy Tahoe hybrid have also picked up this award. Yet, between the 3, total sales have only been in the thousands. Maybe this…

Fire worries no reason not to buy a Volt. According to multiple preliminary reports The Chevy Volt has been associated with several fires, but the evidence suggests more and more that the Volt is not the problem. Yes, lithium-ion batteries in vehicles like the Volt are combustible, but so too are gasoline engines. And, while the National Highway…

A Chevy Volt battery pack Is the Volt a $30,000 car with a $10,000 battery? Last I heard, GM is selling the Chevy Volt plug-in at cost. Likewise, GM has suggested that its battery pack costs about $8,000 per Volt, however, soon the Volt should be able to utilize new chemistries and materials to cut the cost of the Volt battery in half. So, …