Good, but any noise, however beautiful, may become a bother if you hear it all the damn time. So Chevy has stated that its noise, “a series of low horn audio signals,” will be driver-controlled. I have to say, I’m glad of that, because “a series of low horn audio signals” sounds like it’d really bug me. You’ll be able to turn it on and off like any other safety features, like high beams and hazard lights.

I wonder if in the future of car marketing there will be major competition between brand noises — if they’re all quiet, there’s no distinctive engine note, but they still have control over how the sucker sounds. I can just picture it now: “Yeah, the Toyota gets 50 more miles per charge, but have you heard the sweet woom-woom noise the new Fords make?” Or maybe you’ll be able to buy “roll tones.” Okay, I’m a genius. I’m patenting that.

You know that strange viral marketing campaign popping up around the Interwebs as of late? Well, we know what it means now thanks to GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson and it’s somewhat impressive – and a tad dubious. GM is claiming that under the new EPA guidelines, the Chevy Volt will hit 230 MPG. The Volt would be the first car to ever earn a triple digit number.

Take a look at the current high-mileage kings and that 230 MPG rating really sinks in. The EPA handed the Prius a 51 MPG city ranking and the Insight a 41 MPG. The EPA says that the Ford Fusion hybrid can get 41 in the city and the Camary Hybrid 40 MPG in the city. With hyper-mileage tactics like killing the engine to coast down hills and fancy pedal work, a few obsessed drivers have pushed a few of these cars into triple digit territory.

None of these cars of course benefit from a battery pack that can power the car exclusively for 40 miles, though. The only real competitor to the Chevy Volt is the Fisker Karma as it’s fundamentally the same powertrain design but the EPA hasn’t had a go with that EV yet.  There is the Tesla Model S too, but that vehicle is limited by the range of a battery pack and doesn’t have an on-board gasoline generator like the Volt and the Karma and therefore will not be ranked under the same guidelines.

The methodology behind the 230 MPG rating haven’t been released. There is no telling how the Volt’s 40 mile electric-only mode factored into this ranking. The EPA revised its formulas in order to generate a more accurate real-world representation of what EVs can achieve and the Volt’s the first car to benefit from this revision.

Frank Weber, the Volt’s chief engineer and the tour guide during my Volt test drive, indicated that the 230 MPG rating is based on combined electric-only mode and charge sustaining mode with the 1.4 L electric generator running. We’re still curious about the actual mileage to be driven during the EPA’s testing and how the car will rank in highway mileage ratings.

But despite my bit of skepticism, you can’t deny that GM has something special in the Volt. However it’s measured, 230 MPG is a gigantic improvement for a lot of people that can take advantage of the Volt’s 40 mile electric-only range. Now here’s hoping that the Volt makes its way into showrooms sometime in 2010 despite issues with GM securing government loans.

[image via Autoblog]

Ready for more hybrid vehicles? Sure, why not, right? Honda is set to release two new hybrid vehicles next year: the CR-Z and Fit/Jazz. Both should come equipped with Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system and further demonstrates that hybrid technology will soon be a standard option on most vehicles.

There isn’t anything real exciting about either of these two new cars besides the hybrid option. The CR-Z will be a standard fastback coupe while the Fit is a wannabe mini-minivan. (ask Biggs, he has one) But both small cars should get a boost in MPG with the hybrid system.

Honda, just like every other major manufacturer, has been developing hybrid technology in personal vehicles since the 90’s. The IMA system has probably progressed enough that it can finally be fitted onto more and more platforms meaning that soon it might become a standard option.

Fundamentally hybrids aren’t that difficult. They just employ a battery-powered electric motor to assist the gasoline engine under certain loads. The electronic acceleration assistance can make for speedy launches and improved fuel economy. Many of the previous issues like battery size and jerky transitions between the motor and engine have been worked out by manufacturers so be prepared to see a lot more hybrid vehicles.

Now, I’m not saying all of these new hybrids, including the two new models released from Honda, will put up Prius-type numbers. Oh no, Honda previously installed an older IMA system in the Accord but Consumer Reports only found it to help by 1 or 2 MPG. But having the hybrid systems installed is a great short-term solution to reach the high CAFE standards.

Congress put the bar high with the new MPG guidelines. By 2011 the majority of new cars will have to reach 30.2 MPG verses today’s standard of 27.5. That 2.7 MPG jump is a big hurdle and hybrid technology is one of the least expensive ways to reach it. Most automakers already have a developed hybrid platform, so now the task is to build it into more vehicles to bump up the average.

We’re finally reaching a plateau in next-gen vehicle purpalson systems; at least for a while. Hybrid is here to stay while extended range plug-ins like the Volt and Fisker Karma test the market. Soon, a hybrid system will be just another box to check on the new car buying sheet just like AC and satellite radio.

This is in the very preliminary rounds and a specific sound hasn’t been chosen, nor how to make it pedestrian-friendly while not a nuisances to everyone else. The panel is expected to wrap up everything by the end of the year.

GM has tackled this issue already in the upcoming Chevy Volt. We found out about it when we test drove an engineering mule a few months back. The driver activates the sound which is a lot more friendly than blowing the horn. This is a larger issue for the Volt than traditional hybrids who generally run on the combustion engine a lot sooner than the Volt’s generator kicks in. The Volt is totally silent for about 40 miles of travel.

One lucky Californian dude is cruising in style after he took delivery of the very first production electric Mini. The Mini-E is available for lease on a very limited basis reminiscent of the GM EV-1 from the ’90s. Except this time around, the plug-in electric car will only be in customers hands for one short year instead of three. Presumably, the 500 cars will be sent back to Mini for testing and evaluation after the one year is up.

Anyway, Peter Trepp has a blog up about the car and his experiences. He seems totally satisfied despite driving the car in bad LA traffic his first time out. Interestingly, he notes that the Mini-E drivers will not have to touch the brake pedal at all thanks to the strong brake regeneration system, which makes me think this vehicle has a similar system as the Chevy Volt that I didn’t like.

If it is the same, it’s really a one pedal driving system where when you decrease pressure on the accelerator, the breaks engage. This means no coasting, but also better energy recovery to extend the range.

Hopefully the Mini-E doesn’t meet the same crushing fate as the EV-1 after the leases are up. BMW hopefully has plans to produce these little guys, but a test like this is critical to the development process. Maybe by the time the Mini-E hits dealers the next time around, the batteries will have shrunk, allowing for a backseat and a bit more practicality.

[via Autoblog]

Just fill in the sheet metal mentally and you have it. The plug-in hybrid is official going to debut next month at the Geneva Motor Show, but these renderings were found on the European Registry. Basically, it’s a Chevy Volt including the same 40 mile rang on battery done up Opel-style. More to come next month.

Bose claims its improvements in weight and energy use allow the Volt to add 40 miles to its electric-only range. Damn! What did they have in there before, a Marshall stack?

The new premium sound system will probably cost a bundle, but the Volt isn’t exactly planning on being economical either, at least in that sense. They’ve reduced the size by 30%, the weight by 40%, and the energy consumption by half. Well, I’m actually impressed!

Here’s the press release:

New Bose® Energy Efficient Series Sound System

Premium Sound for the Chevy Volt

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, Bose has announced it will debut its Energy Efficient Series sound system in the 2011 Chevy Volt. Using a proprietary design, the new Bose system is 30% smaller, 40% lighter, and uses 50% less energy than conventional Bose sound systems, while delivering premium, high-quality audio.

The Energy Efficient Series sound system is the result of a Bose research project to address how sound system performance is compromised by the power, weight, and space constraints of today’s more efficient, environmentally responsible vehicles. This engineering achievement maintains Bose standards for clarity, dynamic range and accuracy, and helps the Volt to achieve up to 40 miles of electric-only range.

Bose engineers focused on three areas of technology to design the Energy Efficient Series sound system: switching amplifiers, high motor force speakers and digital signal processing circuitry. Bose switching amplifiers use less energy and generate less heat than conventional linear amplifiers. Small and lightweight, they drive the new, highly efficient high motor force speakers to deliver the acoustic output of heavier conventional speakers. These components combine with Bose proprietary control circuitry to deliver sound reproduction at concert hall volumes, while reducing the system’s total power consumption by half.

“The Energy Efficient Series sound system represents another ‘first’ in the long-standing relationship between Bose and GM,” said Brandon Westley, President of Bose Automotive Systems. “Together, we introduced the industry’s first premium, factory-installed automotive sound system. Today, we’re proud to be selected as the sound system supplier for the Chevy Volt. We believe the Energy Efficient Series offers a combination of efficiency and performance previously unattainable from an automotive sound system.”

Information about Bose automotive sound systems and patented technologies can be found at www.Bose.com/energy.

Quote:
Originally Posted by llamatron
Sounds like my home made movies.

Looking forward to it, Bob!

Oh and was the Chevy Volt TF kind of shoved into the film by GM and not really in the script? I understand that you might not be able to answer this.

Yes. Had to figure it out last minute.

TFW2005 via Jalopnik

GM, and millions of jobs, might be counting on the Chevy Volt to save the company, but a Chinese car company is a couple steps ahead of Generous Motors. The BYD F3DM is now for sale at a cost of $21,900 USD…in China. It features a plug-in Li-ion battery pack along with a 1.0 liter aluminum engine. Exact details aren’t available but it seems that this knock-off might have the $40k Volt beat in the technology department with its has three modes operation.

It can run like a traditional plug-in on battery only, hybrid gas/battery as the Prius, or even in a mode similar to the Volt where the engine drives a generator to recharge the battery. By the time GM gets the Volt on the market, this BYD should already have worked out all the kinks. Do you hear that? It’s the changing of the guard and American’s loosing their jobs ’cause other companies know how to innovate.

Let’s say that Congress refuses to give some of that bailout money to Detroit—does that effectively kill off electric cars like the Chevy Volt? That depends on who you’re talking to.

It’s like this (yes, that phrase is a new crutch of mine): The big three auto makers are screwed. People have no money, nor can they borrow, to buy cars, and Detroit hasn’t been a decent car, much to the delight of the Japanese, since [insert your last favorite American-made car here—the Model T, maybe?]. They focused on making gas guzzling SUVs and trucks, what with their higher profit margins, because, at the time, gas was cheap. And while gas prices have dropped dramiatically in recent weeks, it’s seen as a temporary drop; if you think demand is going to drop in the years to come, especially with the emerging markets of China and India finally getting bitten by the car bug, you’re mistaken.

Combine the cars-ain’t-selling situation with the broader “we’ll all be on bread lines soon” economy and you can see what a perilous position Detroit is in. The question then becomes, do you bail them out or not? If you don’t you risk putting the millions of employees out on the street, and millions of angry, unemployed workers roaming around Michigan (and everywhere Detroit has a presence) doesn’t do anybody any good. If you do you’re seen as “rewarding” Detroit for its bad habits, that is, producing piece-of-garbage cars that nobody wants to buy.

Which brings us to the main topic, the fate of electric cars. By many accounts, Chevy has essentially gambled its future on the Volt being a success. But, if the company doesn’t get any of that sweet, sweet bailout money—it’s not like Detroit is asking for more money, but merely a percentage of the already set aside $700 billion—the Volt may have to go, or at the very least be delayed. Chevy (and co.) can’t continue to develop new automotive technologies if there’s no money to pay the bills.

Now, some “green” activists are suggesting that, sure, give them the money, but force them to do away with SUVs and other gas guzzlers and invest a good deal of that money into hybrids, batteries, electricity and other alternative energies. Make Detroit change its behavior, the behavior that got it into this mess in the first place.

Test Drive is a new series that we’re starting at CrunchGear wherein we get a hands-on look at new or interesting modes of transportation. It’s not limited to just cars, either. We’ll take a look at just about anything from scooters to rockets and everything in between.

Last night in Manhattan at Terminal 5 we were privy to an intimate gathering to check out Chevy’s extended-range electric vehicle, the Volt. We’ve mentioned it here and there on the site, but this was the first opportunity for anyone on staff to get up close and personal. I came away impressed and I’m rarely wowed by anything domestic. It certainly helps that the Volt will be in the upcoming Transformers movie, too.

The Volt represents a shift in the automobile industry, but we won’t know for sure what sort of impact it will have because the Volt won’t hit full production until 2010. I won’t even begin to try and breakdown all the different facets of the Volt as if I’m an automotive pundit, so I thought I’d share the presentation that was given to me by Bob Boniface, lead designer for Volt, and Frank Weber (he sounds like the Governator), Vehicle Line Executive.

You will need to have Quicktime installed to stream the video and you might have to turn up the volume on your speakers or throw some ‘phones on. It’s about 45 minutes, but they explain quite a bit about the Volt and some heated debates ensue a few minutes in.

Click to play

This is a great clip. I’ll let the guys do the talking, but although I’m sure GM’s point man Bob Lutz is in full spin mode here, it’s fun that he’s playing the game. Its off-the-line performance is “adequate,” a term well-known by carmakers as meaning “god-awful,” but like he says, that’s not the point. If you’re looking to lay rubber in this day and age (Top Gear hosts excepted), you’re more of a fossil than the fuel you’re burning. [via Jalopnik]

Battery pack on the left belongs to the Chevy Volt and the one on the right, to the ‘97 Chevy EV1. The Volt’s battery utilized lithium-ion cells to produce the same 16kWhrs as the older, and 800 lbs heavy, EV1 lead acid unit. Next up: glovebox-sized units that you can swap out like a power drill pack. Okay, I just made that up, but that be sweet.

Flickr via OhGizmo

There it is, folks. Isn’t she a beautiful? We’ve known for some time what the exterior of the Volt looks like but not much has been seen of the interior. The chaps at Autoblog compare it to something that Apple may have designed. Chevy has thrown out the traditional cluster gauge in favor of a 7-inch LCD with another one located in the middle of the dash. Both displays can be figured whichever way you choose and an additional driver can configure it the way he/she likes. 2011 can’t come soon enough.

Hit the jump for a video tour of the interior and gallery.

I promised myself that the next car I bought would be a real electric production car. Is this my next car? More importantly, can I afford it? Likely not, but that’s not the issue here. Pictures and info after the bump.

Wait for it. It shows up right in the middle. ^

The Volt is being used in Transformers 2, and after the lengthy (and slow) car scene above, you see them unwrapping it like a gift and driving it in such a way that you get to see it from all angles. Hmm, very convenient. Now I’m sure there will be plenty of disagreement about this, but I think it looks pretty nice. The "full moonroof" top is bold and although the profile is essentially a chubby Accord Coupe, it could have been a lot worse — the mutant Insight, for example, or the terminally bland Prius. Of course, the proof of the pudding is in the driving. I don’t think we’ll get a review unit, but if I come into some money and buy one, I’ll let you know how it is.

If a list compiled by a Chevy Volt enthusiast is accurate, GM is going to sell a eco-friendly boat load of Chevy Volts. Lyle Dennis, a New York neurologist with way to much time, gathered the 34,776 (at last count) on his website GM-Volt.com over the last year. The one glaring issue though, is that the average price they were willing to pay for the GM wunderkind worked out to $31k. Rumor is, GM is hoping to sell the vehicle for $40k — easy math.

So maybe not all of those signatures will buy a Volt, but chances are, a lot of tree-hugging, deep-pocketed motor heads are going to have one plugged into their garage real soon.

How are those gas prices treating you? Thought so. Good news, though, as plug-in hybrid cars aren’t too far away. In fact, if you’re keen to wait only 18 months, you could soon be driving out of your local dealership while thumbing your nose at Big Oil. Big Oil is Evil, remember.

Cars like the Chevrolet Volt, which is due for release in 2010, run on both electricity and gasoline. They’ll get something like 40 miles per charge, and then a gasoline engine takes over at 80-100 mpg. That’s to get you to the next charge station.

Such cars are expected to hit “critical mass” at around 2015. That’s when car manufacturers are expected to be cranking them out full bore.

Or, you can wait till the new, affordable Tesla comes out. At the very least, Tesla has a proven track record, and its cars don’t look like toys.

Reuters is reporting that General Motors may be unveiling a “showroom-ready model” of its electric car, the Volt, in September. It was previously thought that the Volt wouldn’t be released until 2010, but “a deepening slump in sales” has apparently pushed GM to get the Volt on the market ahead of schedule. September’s a good time for GM to unveil the new car, too, as it’ll mark the company’s 100-year anniversary.

The Chevy Volt will be powered by conventional lithium ion batteries and can be recharged using a standard 110-volt household electrical socket. The car can only go 40 miles on battery power alone but uses regenerative braking and other “range-extending onboard power sources” like gasoline or ethanol for longer trips, according to Chevrolet’s web site.