Chevrolet

Last year, GM unveiled its EN-V (Electric Networked-Vehicle) concept in three flavors conceived by design teams around the world. In an effort to ascertain the real-world practicality of the two-seat, electric urban mobility concept, GM has begun work on the next-generation EN-V concept vehicle that the company plans to test in pilot demonstration programs in megacities around the world. Read More

After announcing this week that the Spark mini car that is already sold in markets around the world will be available in the U.S. and Canada from next year, Chevrolet has revealed that an all-electric Spark will hit showrooms from 2013. Modeled after the Chevrolet Beat concept that appeared at the 2007 New York Auto Show, the Spark is a five-door, four-passenger hatch designed for urban environments that Chevrolet claims will offer more interior room than other mini cars. It will also be the smallest Chevrolet available in the U.S. and Canada. Read More

Chevrolet's lightweight, all-carbon-fiber roofless Miray concept is propelled by two front-mounted 15-kW electric motors for quick acceleration and zero emissions in urban driving. It can switch from the electric motors to the 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbo-charged gas engine mounted behind the cockpit, and it can employ all of the above for maximum sporting performance. Read More

With General Motors last year announcing its intention to roll out Chevrolet across Korea, this year’s Seoul Motor Show has seen the unveiling of a slick hybrid roadster concept developed by the GM Advanced Design Studio in Seoul to celebrate Chevrolet’s 100-year heritage and showcase future design possibilities for the brand. The Mi-ray, which is apparently Korean for ‘future’, is a small open top vehicle that boasts an aerodynamic body that GM says is reminiscent of modern jet fighters. Read More

During the course of this year’s Gulf Oil Spill, a lot of media attention was paid to the oil booms used to contain and/or absorb the surface slick. While a small percentage of the sausage-shaped tubes of netting were stuffed with unusual materials such as hair, most of them contained oil-absorbent polypropylene. Now that the Deep Horizon well has been capped, the question of what to do with all that oily plastic arises. It turns out that some of it will find its way into Chevrolet Volts. Read More

It’s been a big week in the world of mass-produced electric vehicles. Hot on the heels of Nissan delivering the first of its LEAF all-electric vehicles to a customer in California last Saturday, a retired airline pilot by the name of Jeffrey Kaffee has become the first customer in the U.S. to take delivery of a Chevrolet Volt. Although the Volt he received wasn’t actually the first available for sale, with that particular vehicle going to the winner of an online charity auction, which closed on Tuesday with a winning bid of US$225,000. Read More

After a build-up that's lasted for almost four years, you now finally have the chance to buy the first-ever Chevrolet Volt “extended range electric vehicle” available for retail sale. The catch: General Motors has decided to auction the car off to the highest bidder. Proceeds will go to the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics initiatives. Online bidding started at US$50,000, and at the time of publication is already up to $180,000. The car’s MSRP is $41,000. Read More

The Honda Civic hybrid gets approximately 45 mpg on the highway, while the similarly-sized 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco gets 40 mpg. That's pretty decent on the Chevy’s part, considering it isn’t even a hybrid. Of course, because it isn’t a hybrid, that means it doesn’t sport a hybrid’s price tag - the Cruze Eco will start at $US18,895, as opposed to the Honda’s $23,800. So, how is it possible for a combustion-engined car to almost match a hybrid’s fuel efficiency? Well, lowering the weight and the ride height help a bit, but according to Chevrolet, the real reason lies in the car’s unique front air shutter system. Read More

It looks like orders for the Chevrolet Volt have been flowing in since GM announced it was taking orders just last week. The auto-maker has now announced it will increase U.S. production capacity of its “extended range electric vehicle” by 50 percent, from 30,000 units to 45,000 units, in 2012. The announcement came as U.S. President Barack Obama toured the Detroit-Hamtramck facility, where the Volt is being produced for sale later this year. Read More