Green News

The Chevy Volt and other electric, hybrid, or alternative fuel vehicles need high gas prices.  Without the threat looming of $4 per gallon gasoline it makes it difficult to stomach a $40,000 investment, in some cases.  Obviously the higher the fuel prices the shorter time it takes to break even and to have the electric car start actually saving you money.

Looking at it this way makes me look like I hate the environment, but that's not the case.  I'm all for doing my part to keep the Earth green and blue, but not at the cost of being in debt up to my eye balls without any return.  There must be a breaking point, where investment shows return, even when talking about green technology.  So, I guess this idea only applies to those who aren't independently wealthy green freaks.

No doubt if fuel prices remain relatively low it will devastate the huge investment companies like Chevrolet have made with the Volt.  Everyone was able to jump on board the research and development when gas prices were high, but what will happen financially to the company now that sales will be directly effected by the fuel prices?  Surely there will be more financial incentive to buy a new all electric car or at least lower the expected price all across the board.

I hope that we will see falling vehicle prices on all cars, trucks, suv's, and not just the special niche green market.  The idea that a vehicle should cost 1/2 as much as most peoples homes is getting to be a little bit ridiculous.  Let's start by slashing that all electric Chevy Volt price.

There are lots of conflicting information about he upcoming Chevy Volt, that just doesn't seem to add up.  Past news has presented the Volt in a light that makes the electric car look like GM's savior.  But what can an expensive vehicle focused on a small niche market do for a failing monster like GM?

Furthermore GM has announced that the Volt will get 230 miles per gallon, which is true, if you don't understand basic math.  This issue has been discussed at length with GM's 100 mpg Hummer as well, electric cars and hybrids have limitations, which aren't taken into consideration when figuring gas mileage.

All of this aside, from a strictly economic perspective, do you know how much gas I can buy for $40,000?  At a price of $3 per gallon I can purchase over 13,000 gallons.  Assuming I drive an average of 20,000 miles per year in a vehicle that gets an abysmal 16 mpg, I can purchase 10 YEARS worth of gasoline.  So, with a cost analyst of buying a Volt, the only people interested will be the rich hippies.

As far as I'm concerned, we still don't have a viable option to the traditional internal combustion engine.  Count me out until the next big thing hits.

Fuel Efficient Sports Cars

Chevrolet is showing the world that big power can also translate into big fuel efficiency.  The 2010 Camaro comes in several different trim packages, each sporting it's own miles per gallon ratings and some of these numbers will really surprise you.  Let's start with the smallest of the engines, the 3.9 V6 which is available in the base model 2010 Camaro.

3.9 V6 2010 Camaro LS

According to Chevy the 2010 base model V6 Camaro is capable of a whopping 29 miles per gallon.  Impressive on it's own, but this motor is also producing over 300 horsepower.  This technological advancement is a far cry from the 67 Camaro outfitted with the inline 6 cylinder.

6.2 V8 2010 Camaro SS

The beefiest version of the 2010 Camaro sports a huge 6.2 liter V8, which produces over 420 horsepower.  It's a bulging muscle machine, that's also capable of producing some respectable miles per gallon.  Consider that the SS Camaro gets 24 mpg highway, an efficiency never conceived in this size engine package before.

What the fuel economy in the 2010 Camaro means?

The numbers don't lie and if the 2010 Camaro proves to be dependable, then we will have a true leap in efficiency for usable sport vehicles.  This type of fuel efficient technology will slowly find it's way into SUV's, Trucks, and hopefully even more sports cars.  Perhaps the fear of single digit gas mileage in sports cars will permanently be a thing of the past.  Of course, depending on how heavy your foot is, mileage may vary.

It's been a little while since we've reported on the Chevy Volt and what it means to the domestic auto market.  Unfortunately, we haven't heard a lot, because there have been some doubts about the battery.  Consider the impact on GM if this final push for innovation launches with a thud, plagued by it's biggest technological advancement in decades, the Volt's battery.

To meet expectations and guarantees, the Chevy Volt's battery must be capable of at least 4,000 recharges and a 10 year life span.  Seems like a pretty tall order, considering that no technology exists amongst the li-ion type battery market.  Basically, it's starting from scratch, and hoping that come 2010 we have a marketable product that everyone will want.  As of this posting it's reported that the battery development has completed and we are only waiting on testing.

I just hope GM doesn't blow it's wad on a car that only delivers half of what was promised.  Already buyers remorse is setting in on the new car market, let's not make it worse with an overhyped product.  Chevy hopes to release the Volt on November 2010.

P.S. European markets will be getting a much nicer and sportier Chevy Volt.

Believe it or not the Opel Ampera is a Chevy Volt for the European market.  Not just simply rebranded like the Australian version Holden Volt, the Opel simply looks like a car I would want to buy.  So why does the European version of the Volt look so much riskier than the American version?

Opel Ampera

Of course we are still probably 2 years away from it's actual release and concept cars have been known for their extreme styling, but the idea is grand.  The lowered look, performance design, its possible out of an electric car...right?

The Chevrolet Beat has been getting a little bit of attention from the spy photo catchers and the latest photos have cropped up over at Autoblog.com.  The teeny, tiny, efficient Beat was caught being tested in New York, adorned by the typical zebra stripes.  It kind of reminds me of a clown car, perhaps an upscale Geo Metro?

One thing is for sure, it's going to be hard to push these tiny vehicles, once released, while gas prices are so low.  Although it won't take too many weeks of 3$ plus gas prices to make people flock to these things again.  Perhaps Chevy is just setting this project on the back burner and buying their time until another gas spike forces consumers to buy small again.

Last week, once again, the big three automakers went to Washington to beg for money.  Actually, that's not exactly true.  GM and Chrysler both went to Washington to beg for money, while Ford went to secure loan guarantees, which is a bit different.  You see Ford is a company that has realized in the last few years that they're in trouble.  That is a stark difference from GM and Chrysler, which once the economy tanked, they realized that they were completely hosed.  Up until then, they thought everything was fine.

Ford has been in a restructuring cycle for the past two years.  They hired a new CEO from Boeing, who has a very simple goal.  Instead of overproducing to make the numbers look good, but being stuck with the financial mess later, he's going to take Ford and make them a leaner, meaner, and more intelligent company.  He is going to do this by reducing their output to meet actual market demand.  It sounds almost too simple, but for various reasons, the old strategy in the automotive world is to overproduce to make your quarterly numbers look good.  Even if people aren't actually buying your cars.  Then, tie up all the money in your financing operations and make it look like you're making money.  When in fact, you're really not.

It's too bad that Ford is getting lumped in with the other two car companies as "one of the big three". while they are one of the big three, they are two years into their restructuring.  And if it wasn't for this recession, they would've hit profitability next year.  As it stands now, they are likely to make money in 2010.  That's a big difference from General Motors and Chrysler threatening bankruptcy if they don't get money yesterday.

The real sad thing is that even though Ford is the best, even if General Motors or Chrysler were to go out of business it would hurt Ford tremendously.  Ford relies on the same parts manufacturers that everyone else does.  If Chrysler or GM were to go under, that would take down the whole auto parts industry potentially as well.  The unintended consequences would be that Ford and other companies would have to find a way to rescue the auto parts companies.

It's a pretty ugly time for American automakers, but one thing is clear: Ford has a plan.  You can't say that about General Motors and Chrysler.  Sure, GM has their Chevy Volt that they're preparing, but that won't save Chevy.  At this point, I'm not sure if anything will.  They have too much junk on their books and need to be willing to cut.  Companies like Pontiac, Saturn, and maybe even Buick.  These are tough times, and if these automakers don't act, they'll go under and take all the jobs with them.

Chevy is developing a new cross over in their Brazil plant labeled the GPiX.  It's claim to fame is reportedly dynamic and daring design, but it looks like all the others too me.  And although they may use the term 'rugged' in their description it just looks like another soccer mom jacked up mini-van.

The name itself, GPiX, means Global Image, and supposedly personifies it versatility and technology.  Again, I'm just not impressed, but perhaps those in Brazil will find something new and uniqe in the Chevy GPiX.  I'm thinking it won't make it to the US or other major markets.  Chevrolet will have to at least tag a 'hybrid' sticker on the side of it to add any appeal.

Chevy GPiX

Chevy GPiX

Chevy GPiX

By now you know that Chevy is bringing back the Camaro and preliminary pictures and stats look phenomenal.  This got me thinking of Camaro's in the past, where the car has came from and where it may be going.  Below are a few years that I thought really defined the Chevrolet Camaro.

1969 Camaro

1969 Camaro

1969 was the last year for the first generation Camaro to be built and was cluttered with different engine configurations to help compete against the wildly successful Ford Mustang.  The 1969 Camaro was available in an in-line 6 cylinder, 4.9, 5.0, 5.4, 5.7, and 6.5 litre V8.  When lining up next to a Camaro of the First Generation you never really know what they are sporting under the hood, but chances are it's mean.

Chevrolet Camaro 1969 camaro project car 69    US $1,027.45

1970-1981 Camaro

The Camaro was still being built on the F-Body platform, but lost it's bulging roots in terms of looks and feel.  Through the 2nd Generation Camaro production years it began to start feeling dated as the suspension and body was all from the previous generation and only minor tweaks to the exterior were being performed.

Chevrolet Camaro Camaro 1980 Carmaro Z28 T Top for parts or restoration    US $31.00

1992 25th Anniversary Special Edition Camaro

25th Anniversary Camaro

Chevy fans started seeing some big improvements and upgrades to the Camaro beginning in 1982 and this third generation Camaro continued until 1992.  In 1992 fans were rewarded with a 25th Anniversary Heritage Special Edition Camaro and marked the last year the original F-Body platform would be used, later years would use a modified version.

Amongst the updates in the Third generation Camaro and in the 20th and 25th Anniversary editions were the utilization of throttle bodies on the engine and an upgrade 4 speed transmission.  Furthermore, the introduction of the IROC-Z was hailed in with upgrades to the Camaro's suspension, and larger 16" rims.

Chevrolet Camaro Z 28 86 CAMARO Z28 COUPE CLEAN 92 91 90 89 88 87 IROC Z V8    US $4,000.00

2002 Camaro

2002 Camaro

In 2002 Chevrolet pulled the plug on the 35 year production running Camaro.  The Fourth Generation Camaro was the first since 1967 to have an updated F-Body platform.  The last of the Camaro's was produced in part due to slowing sports car sales and generally slow sales of the Camaro specifically, Chevy felt it was time to exit that market.

The Fourth Generation Camaro offered plenty of options for potential buyers in terms of cosmetics and engine treatments.  There was a souped up SS version that offered the LT1 Corvette engine, paired with a 6-speed Manual transmission, along with smaller V6 RS versions.  In addition, there were T-Top models available and convertible edition Camaro's, but all the options failed to please the market and production haulted in 2002.

Chevrolet Camaro Z28 02 Z28 Salvage Wrecked Rebuildable 17K LS1 engine 35th    US $6,995.00

2010 Camaro

2010 Camaro

In 2009 the World will be introduced again to the Camaro with a 2010 model year becoming available.  We've already seen concept photos from as early as 2006 and in 2007 were treated to a Convertible Camaro Concept.  It's expected that the engine configurations available will be a 300 horsepower V6 and a 422 horsepower V8, with both manual and automatic transmissions.  Furthermore there will be an RS appearance package available on the LT and SS models.  300 horsepower just sounds a bit high on any V6, but time will tell and there will still be time for Chevrolet to change specs and availability.

With so much buzz surrounding the new Camaro, such as parts in movies like Transformers, lots of concept shots, and a huge fan base, will we see another 35 year production run?  The success of the retro styled Mustang seems to say yes and hopefully Camaro will catch up with Ford again.

Chevrolet Camaro 2SS RS 2010 CHEVROLET CAMARO 2SS RS MSRP $37990    US $36,990.00

Chevrolet Camaro 2SS RS 2010 CHEVROLET CAMARO 2SS RS MSRP $3716500    US $36,165.00

Chevrolet Camaro SS 2010 Camaro 2SS RS Moonroof 6spd Auto Leather Loaded    US $38,999.00

Chevrolet has released 2 teaser pictures for their upcoming green vehicle the 2010 Volt.  This will be the first electric vehicle for the domestic manufacturer and this is NOT a hybrid.  Furthermore, if you can't get away with charging this green machine you can always put tried and true gasoline in the tank to get by.  It's a win/win/win.

Here are the released photos from Chevy on the 2010 Volt.

2010 Volt