The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is being questioned for its handling of the situation. Apparently, reports have stated NHTSA officials withheld information about the rechargeable batteries from investigators. This was done to “safeguard” Volt sales.

If safety information was withheld from the committee, both those at The NHTSA and General Motors could face fines, possibly even jail time.

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who is the subcommittee panel’s chairman, said, “This is a serious situation that our committee will look further into.”

General Motors and OnStar will launch a pilot program with regional utility companies. This will link Chevrolet Volts to a “smart grid.” This grid will monitor and manage battery charging. One goal of this program is to reduce charging costs to customers.

GM said hundreds of utility employees with Volts, will participate in the program. The automaker wants to see “how intelligent energy management can maximize EV charging efficiency and minimize the electric bill for EV drivers.” OnStar developed software that can help a utility company monitor and manage electricity used to charge the Volt’s battery pack when plugged into the grid.

GM said this data “will give the utility deep insight into where and when EVs are charged and demand response, which allows the utility to reduce peak demand by shifting EV charging to non-peak hours.”

Source: InsideLine

“Fuel” is, of course, the operative word, as these vehicles run on rechargeable and regenerative electric energy. But for now that’s the vernacular we have to go by. The Chevy Volt does have a “range extending” back up gasoline engine, to give drivers a little more distance.

For the month of May 2011, Inside Line hit a new top range 54.6 miles on electric alone. It’s average electric range rose from 37.5 to 38.8 miles. Average gas mpg went up from 32.7 mpg to 33.3 mpg.

The Volt’s lifetime electricity consumption improved as well, falling from 34.8 kWh/100 to 33.6 kWh/100.

Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing, adds, “Take the Volt on very many long trips and the average gasoline cost-per-mile and apparent mpg will reflect it for a long time thereafter. With only one out of town trip under its belt, our overall cost-per-mile dropped from 8.6 to just 8.3 cents even though this month’s cost was 7.0 cents on its own.”

Source: Inside Line

Both can be test driven at your local Chevrolet dealers, but you better get their quick. Dealers can’t seem to keep either vehicle around for long. Luckily both are made right here in the USA – so getting more inventory in takes no time at all.

Last month, Chevrolet reported gains for its combined new model line. A 54% increase in the new car category. “March sales demonstrated our newest models continue to win over customers,” said Don Johnson, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales operations. “Vehicles like the Chevrolet Cruze and Equinox put us in great position to benefit from consumer’s increasing desire for fuel-efficient vehicles.”

Chevrolet posted 148,197 vehicle sales in March, an 11% increase over the same month a year ago. 18,018 of those vehicles were Cruze sedans. This number includes an 18% gain in retail sales. Chevrolet has sold 416,505 vehicles, representing a 37% spike in retail sales, and 23% increase in total sales.

Via: Auto Guide

Chevrolet is planning two more plug-in hybrids based on the hybrid car. They won’t be released in 2011, but possibly as early as 2012. This according to Daniel F. Akerson, speaking on behalf of GM in an interview with the New York Times.

According to The Truth About Cars: “GM might add a hatchback and a crossover, all using the same plug-in technology as the Volt. A plug-in version of the Cadillac SRX is ‘likely.’” Akerson said this hatchback and also the crossover could indeed be ready for 2012 or 2013.

The New York Times remains confused: “It was unclear whether that was the crossover to which he was referring or whether there would be a fourth Volt-based model. G.M. executives said they could not elaborate on Mr. Akerson’s comments.”

Source: TTAC

The Volt’s 230-mpg city fuel economy estimate by Henderson is only an assumption right now, as the CEO states: “GM is not over-promising on the numbers.” The EPA’s new system weights vehicle ratings based on the expectation that they will travel more city miles than highway miles on electricity only. To define the electrical efficiency of plug-ins, the EPA calculates the kilowatt hours used per 100 miles traveled. General Motors 2011′s Volt, which travels up to 40 miles using only electricity stored in its 16-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, to use as little as 25 kilowatt hours per 100 miles in the city. Using a national average of about 11 cents per kWh, GM anticipates the average Volt customer would pay about $2.75 for electricity to travel up to 100 miles.

Basically, it’s all one big math problem and guessing game. Good Luck Chevy! Now you’ve got a lot to live up to.

Behold: The Volt and the job-secure Men who financed her