Breaking: Chevy Volt Wins North American Car of the Year Award!

Breaking News: Chevy Volt Wins North American Car of the Year Award!

It was only a matter of time before the Chevy Volt would win another Award.

After sweeping 3 smaller awards including Motor Trend car of the year, the little car that could has taken the grand prize of them all.

Today at the Detroit Auto Show, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt was named 2011 North American Car of the Year.

The two other finalists were the Hyundai Sonata and the Nissan LEAF. Voted on by a feild of 49 automotive journalists, the Volt gathered the most votes and took the top prize.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized as the North American Car of the Year,” said GM CEO Dan Akerson. “Since development began, we believed the Volt had the potential to transform the automotive industry. Today, the Volt is the first electric vehicle to win the prestigious North American Car of the Year award, and the first vehicle ever to receive the industry’s highest automotive, technology, and environmental recognitions.”

Here are the other prizes the Volt has taken home:

• Motor Trend 2011 Car of the Year
• Green Car Journal 2011 Green Car of the Year
• Car and Driver 10Best for 2011
• Ward’s AutoWorld 10 Best Engines for 2011
• AUTOMOBILE Magazine 2011 Automobile of the Year
• 2010 Breakthrough Technology, by Popular Mechanic

“Such recognition provides customers with credible, expert endorsement of new models,” said Akerson. “This is particularly important for vehicles like the Volt that feature significant new technologies. Being named the North American Car of the Year will help convince customers that the Volt is truly a breakthrough vehicle, delivering the benefits of electric driving without the range anxiety associated with pure electric vehicles.”

Rogers Auto Group would like to offer our sincere congratulations to the entire GM Volt team who took a concept that inspired a nation from simple sketches to a masterpiece vehicle now sitting in the driveways of over 300 people in America, with many tens, if not hundreds of thousands more to come. Great Job!

www.RogersAutoGroup.net

Source (GM)

America is back in the Game

 

The future is here, and America is back in the game.

It’s just one of the many good things Motor Trend magazine had to say about the all-new Chevrolet Volt as it named the car the “2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year®.” The annual award is one of the most prestigious honors bestowed in the auto industry and further proof that it’s a new day for Chevrolet, not to mention the entire auto industry. Powered by electricity without being tethered to electrical outlets, the Volt does everything a great car does and, according to Motor Trend, better than any other. It’s further proof that today, tomorrow and on into the future, Chevy Runs Deep.

Volt Mobile App

   

OnStar MyLink mobile app:

Starting this fall, anywhere you get a signal on your smartphone, you can have total control of your Volt. Tap away and, with the OnStar MyLink, you’ll be able to check the battery charge level, available range, tire pressure, remote lock and unlock and even activate the remote start to heat or cool the interior to your preferred temperature. Navigate the interactive screens of the app, and you can change how and when you want your Volt to charge. You can even set up Alerts via text or email to remind you to plug in your Volt, when charging is complete or if charging has been interrupted. The app also provides a single button to access a Volt Customer Advisor who can answer vehicle specific questions. 

2011 Chevrolet Volt Electric Car | Chevrolet Commercial : Rogers Auto Group

The 2011 Chevy Volt, offering 25 – 50 miles of electric driving in moderate conditions. Gas-powered generator provides extended range.

2011 Chevy Volt Review: repost by Rogers Auto Group Chicago

2011 Chevy Volt: Repost by Rogers Auto Group

 

What Edmunds.com says

The 2011 Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid is arguably the most fuel-efficient car on the market, but it’s pricey for what you get.

Pros

Low monthly fuel cost in normal driving; useful 300-mile maximum range; appealing standard features; high-tech cabin.

What’s New for 2011

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt is Chevy’s much-anticipated new plug-in battery/gasoline hybrid, featuring an electric-only mode with a range of up to 40 miles.

2011 Chevrolet Volt Vehicle Overview

Introduction

So what exactly is the 2011 Chevrolet Volt? It’s a question we get all the time. A confusing array of claims and rumors have been swirling around this car since it debuted as a concept a few years back, so we’re not surprised that people aren’t clear on what the Volt is all about.Here’s the long and short of it: The Volt is a four-seat, four-door “series plug-in hybrid” hatchback with a lithium-ion battery pack that can power the car’s 149-horsepower (111-kilowatt) electric motor by itself for an estimated 40 miles in the city. After that, the gasoline- or E85-powered inline-4 engine is used to supply electricity to the motor for as many as 300 additional miles. All told, the Volt is quite possibly the most fuel-efficient car you will be able to buy.

We say “quite possibly” because you can’t measure the Volt’s fuel economy in any standard fashion. It all depends on how you drive. Suppose you have a 20-mile round-trip commute, and you plug in your Volt every night when you get home (a full charge requires as few as 3 hours). Congratulations! Your fuel economy is infinity, because you’ll never run the battery pack down all the way. But if you have a 100-mile commute, you’ll be driving at least 60 miles a day under gasoline power, so you’ll have to refuel on a regular basis.

To help consumers understand the energy costs of complicated vehicles like the Volt as they compare to traditional vehicles, Edmunds has created a Monthly Fuel Cost Calculator, or MFC, which is based on a standard monthly accumulation of 1,250 miles. In the Volt’s case, both electricity and gasoline prices must be taken into account, as well as the estimated 40 mpg returned by its gasoline generator when the battery pack is depleted. After all the numbers have been crunched, the Volt ends up with the equivalent of 230 mpg, which translates into an industry-leading $54 MFC. By comparison, the next-best MFC belongs to the Toyota Prius, which comes in at $67.

So the Volt will almost certainly save you some money at the pump. What’s not clear is whether those savings are worth what you’ll have to pay at the dealership. Even with a $7,500 federal tax credit, a base Volt will still cost $33,500 — all for a four-seat hatchback that’s smaller than a Prius. There’s also a strong likelihood that dealers will try to gouge early customers with sky-high markups. Still, there is no denying the Volt’s technological promise. Most importantly, it has the ability to keep on going when its battery runs down (say, on a road trip), whereas an all-electric vehicle like Nissan’s Leaf does not. If you want an intriguing yet practical taste of a greener automotive future, the 2011 Chevy Volt might be just what the General ordered.

For Pricing information, see our Pricing page.

Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt is a midsize five-door hatchback sedan with seating for four.Standard features include 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights, heated mirrors, keyless ignition, remote ignition, automatic climate control, cruise control, auto-dimming rearview mirror, six-way manual front seats, tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, cloth upholstery, Bluetooth, OnStar, a navigation system with touchscreen, voice controls and real-time traffic, and a six-speaker Bose stereo with CD/DVD player, auxiliary audio jack, iPod/USB interface and 30GB of digital music storage.

The Premium Trim package adds leather upholstery, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and heated front seats. The Rear Camera and Park Assist package adds a rearview camera and front and rear parking sensors.

For more Style information, see our Compare Styles page.

Powertrains and Performance

The front-wheel-drive 2011 Volt is powered by an electric motor rated at 149 hp (111 kilowatts) and 273 pound-feet of torque. This motor draws power from a lithium-ion battery pack until the battery charge is 70 percent depleted. At that point, the Volt’s 1.4-liter four-cylinder internal combustion engine, which runs on either gasoline or E85, comes to life as a replacement power source for the electric motor.The battery can only be completely recharged through either a 120-volt or 240-volt outlet, but regenerative braking and the engine generator can replenish it slightly.

There is no transmission in the traditional sense; rather, the Volt employs a single reduction gear to send the electric motor’s power to the front wheels. GM projects a sprint to 60 mph in 8.5-9 seconds with full battery power.

For more Performance Data, see our Specifications page.

Safety

Safety features on the 2011 Chevy Volt include antilock brakes, stability control, front side airbags, front knee airbags and full-length side curtain airbags.

For more Safety information, see our Safety page.

Interior Design and Special Features

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt’s distinctive center stack appears to have been modeled after various personal electronic devices with touch-sensitive buttons. It looks less like an automotive control panel than an oversized iPod, which we applaud; after all, people spending this much money on a vehicle will likely expect a little something special inside.There’s plenty of technology involved, too, including a standard color display with a built-in hard drive. In terms of functionality, the Volt’s main controls are fairly intuitive, and the futuristic gauge readout is easy enough to read at a glance. There’s also a nice little ball — sort of like the bubble in a water level — that helps you stay in the most fuel-efficient driving range. It’s big and green when you are conserving fuel or battery energy and smaller and angry orange-yellow when you’re not. Unfortunately, there are some standard features we’d expect to see on a car with a $41,000 price tag that are missing on the Volt, such as a power driver seat and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

Rear passenger space is adequate for two adults, though some families may miss the middle seat. The Volt’s hatchback design is convenient for loading cargo, but maximum capacity (10.6 cubic feet) is limited by the swooping rear roof line and the 396-pound T-shaped battery pack that resides in the trunk and between the rear seats. A Prius is indeed far more functional. We have yet to experience a final production Volt interior, so its materials quality and construction will have to be critiqued at a later date.

For more Interior Features information, see our Specifications page.

Driving Impressions

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt has good acceleration from a standstill and proves very responsive at moderate speeds as well, the kind of performance that’s typical of electric vehicles. Its 273 lb-ft of torque is available any old time you plant the throttle.It is a competitive electric vehicle when driving in all-electric mode — it’s as quiet and smooth as any EV we’ve driven — and it seems a competent vehicle when the engine-generator kicks in. The change-over from battery charge to generator power can be difficult to notice, though the pre-production Volts we’ve driven do have a disconcerting generator noise level; the engine revs regardless of engine speed. But GM promises production models will be less noticeable in this regard.

The Chevy Volt feels slightly nose-heavy when you bend it around a corner, but it makes its moves with little body roll. The brake pedal operates seamlessly as it modulates regenerative and conventional braking, which is a real accomplishment. Indeed, from the compliance of its ride quality to the weight and response of the steering, this Chevy Volt drives more naturally and feels more substantial than hybrids like the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius.

For more Driving Impressions, Recent Articles and Car Awards from our Editors, see our Road Tests page.

Research the 2011 Chevrolet Volt

• 2011 Chevrolet Volt Prices

 

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