Wow, not what I was expecting. Looks like a Malibu refresh. How could it go from so cool to so blah?

I guess my Mom might trade her Prius for it. Not.

 

What a plastic piece of garbage...........just when you thought GM might turn the corner with the concept Volt, it looks like this when they release it. I just threw-up a little!

 

Keep in mind, that's probably just a fiberglass or even a clay model of the body. It looks like a Chevy version of the Prius, which is pretty much what the target market of the car wants. Greenies who are plunking down the 40 large for this car want people to focus on the green, not the flash.

True, the muscular flanks, 20 inch rims, and chopped roofline of the concept would have been nice, but impractical for this kind of vehicle in production. You can't put DUBs on a car that's supposed to get 100 MPG.

BTW, I just clicked on the picture to go to Edmund's site. There are a lot more pictures that were taken at a higher resolution that show the finer details of the car. It's a sharp car.

 

Yes, I forgot to mention to click the pic for more views of it. It's supposed to be a working production model, so I'm assuming it won't change much when finally released?

After a little more research on it, I think I like it. It doesn't look too bad (maybe a bit "average", but that's what people buy), and it's got a 400 mile range. The technology could be a winner. It only burns fuel to recharge the batteries after 40 miles, if you aren't able to plug it in. If you drive less than 40 between plug-ins, you never burn fuel.

 

Go easy on the General. Unfortunatly the wind tunnels are not kind to shapes like the concept volt...lol or solstice/sky. They cut through the air like bricks, unlike our HHR's. The theme here is conservation....mileage....etc. That is hard to do and have striking body lines and practicality.

 

I think it's going to be a "gas generator" and not a "gas engine".

I wonder what your job will think about you supplementing your vehicle engery cost to them while you charge it up at work? I guess when you get home you can plug it into the neighbors outlet, then it's all free. All kidding aside I wonder how many kw it will take to charge the batteries.


It's not as ugly as a Prius, so it's got some potential.

 

I doubt many places will be installing charging outlets in parking garages outside of CA for a while. When I was living in Kansas City, my commute was only about 30 miles a day roundtrip, so I'd probably use the generator very rarely. That's the advantage of this kind of "true" hybrid gas-electric vehicle. Emissions and fuel mileage will be flat across the board at almost any speed. Electricity costs will probably be $6 a week versus $30 a week for 200 miles of driving.

 

I like it, but not for more than 25 thousand dollars would i buy one.

 

I have as few facts on this vehicle as the next person, but I have been told the charging will be as simple as plugging in an extension cord. The charger is part of the vehicle, it just needs an electrical outlet to plug into, so it seems you would be able to charge it up anywhere that there is an outlet available.

And if the $6.00 range per week is a close number then this should be a really great coup for GM.

 

I guarantee you Chevrolet will f_ck up the execution of the production version. I remain surprised that they were able to pull off the HHR as well as they did-- oh wait, they hired the guy who designed the PT Cruiser, since no one in-house @ Chevrolet possessed the creative ability.