American Chevy 360

One of the most concerning issues with regards to hybrid or electric vehicles is that they operate in nearly complete silence. If you’ve been walking through a parking garage and became startled by a vehicle pulling out you’ll know what it’s like. The hybrid operates entirely on electric power making these vehicles dangerous to pedestrians.

Fortunately, the Chevy Volt has taken this matter seriously while companies such as Tesla, known for their $100,000 electric sports car, has treated the issue as less than a priority. Perhaps the fact that not many Tesla’s at $100k a pop will be silencing the nations roadways any time soon, but the fact is it needs to have some sort of sound that would symbolize it’s presence.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also behind this silent operation problem and expect to see some requirements soon that will mandate the use of an audible alert system for any vehicle that isn’t making people aware of it’s presence.

The Chevy Volt engineering team decided to host an event at the GM Milford Proving Grounds to demonstrate the alert system they’ve been working on. When a pedestrian approaches the vehicle within close proximity a pulsation sound from the horn system is emitted to alert of it’s presence.

GM has more work ahead of them since the horn sound doesn’t seem like it would be pleasing for the driver to hear ad nauseam. For some reason, the baseball card in the spokes of a bmx seems to come to mind here and it wouldn’t be surprising if something clever by the owner could be done to make this sound problem a fun one to solve.

How many times do you travel more than 40 miles round-trip in a given day?

Thats the range you have on a full charge driving the new Chevy Volt. If you were to drive the maximum distance on electric power each day of the work week you’d have driven 200 miles, slightly under the national average of 231 miles per vehicle in the US.*

With gas at about $3 a gallon, it would cost you about $35 for the week. Drive 40 miles in the Volt and you’re looking at $.85 to recharge it for another 40 miles of driving.

Gas: $1820 for 52 weeks @$35 per week.
Electricity: $44.20 for 52 weeks @$.85 per KWH

Certainly looks like there’s a trip to Hawaii in there or perhaps a family vacation at Disney World. The price of the Volt is also expected to come down from a previous estimate around $40,000 is now being heard of somewhere in the $32,000 range.

The US is producing 25% of the entire world’s carbon emissions, and we all know the impact it has yet we haven’t had much of a choice until now. This new GM vehicle is a major milestone and will likely sell out in short order.

If you’re considering a Chevy Volt it’s a good idea to inquire with your city on the permit required to install the 240V charging station. You can plug it into a standard outlet, although to get a faster charge the 240V is the way to go.

Chevy Aveo RS, Chevy Spark and Chevy Cruze
The majority of cars at this year’s North American International Auto Show were of the small car segment, delivering a dedication towards producing better fuel efficiency and sleek design.

The Chevy lineup consisting of the Chevy Aveo RS, the Chevy Cruze, Chevy Spark and the Chevy Volt were indicators of this new focus on small but sharp design.

Chevrolet has taken huge steps to produce a small car lineup, and the positive energy and sincere dedication to produce high quality and efficiency speaks through these cars.

The Chevy Volt, is in a class of it’s own since it’s able to operate completely on battery for a range of 40 miles. If the Volt were available now, it’s likely they’d sell every single one of them.

This focus on the small car segment is Chevrolet’s entrance in competing on a global scale with the best engineering technology for fuel efficiency.

Chevrolet offers a clean and coherent design both interior and exterior to captivate and encourage new drivers.

The line up is both economical and eco-friendly, a combination that would be a success in and of itself, but add elegant design and people get really excited.

The 1st of the Chevy trio of small cars is the Aveo RS, which was met with extreme excitement and enthusiasm by the press as well as the audience to see a global competitor in the small car segment. It’s an inspiration to the employees as well as the customers who plan to own one.
Chevrolet is after the younger generations given the features that were built into Chevy Aveo RS.

Chevy Cruze which has been on sale in other countries around the world, has strong acceptance, with a US release date sometime in 2011. The Cruze provides a strong mid size car presence. It offers technology improvements and amenities in fuel economy with an expected price that will meet the demands of the segment without being too costly.

Chevrolet Cruz is expected to get to produce about a 40 mile per gallon on the highway, with it’s turbocharged four cylinder engine.

The Chevy Spark, a 5-door and the smallest one of the entire Chevy Trio, which should go on sale in 2012.

The smallest cars seem to be making the biggest impact on the market, so it’s not surprising to see Chevy putting itself in the market with such clear intentions on it’s future focus.