General Motors wants to ship more Volt EV cars to dealerships, but the dealers are saying no, and with good reason. Sales of the hybrid electric sedan are lower than originally anticipated. Higher pricing (Volt is, on average, $5000 more than foreign hybrids) and stories of EV batteries causing vehicle fires turn customers away from this green Chevy.

In the New York City market, GM allocated 104 Volts to 14 dealerships last month. Dealers took 31 of them, while snatching over 90% of the other vehicles they were eligible for.

Brett Hedrick, an employee at Hedrick’s Chevrolet, said he sold only 10 Volts last year. GM’s “thinking we need six more Volts is just crazy,” Hedrick adds. “We’ve never sold more than two in a month.”

GM recently announced a “voluntary repair” to protect the battery pack. NHTSA officials stated in its now closed investigation of the battery pack, saying it “poses no significant fire risk.”

Although, at the Detroit Auto Show, GM said they wouldn’t follow with their production target set for 60,000 units in 2012. GM sold 7,671 Volt EVs in 2011, short of the 10,000 goal.

Source: Auto Week

CR also figures the cost of recharging the Volt to about 5.7 cents a mile for electric, and 10 cents a mile for gas. Yet a Toyota Prius, which receives 50 miles a gallon, costs 6.8 cents a mile to operate. Prius costs half as much as a Volt. Looks like Chevy needs to get back to the drawing board for the next generation Volt.

Source: USA Today

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

Volt’s website gives you a very clean looking, easy to read rundown of pretty much every bit-o-tech Volt has to offer. From diagrams of the recharge device (like posting your secret sauce recipe online, careful GM!) to how you can go mobile anywhere in Volt are all there to read. Chevy even threw in some graphs to help you understand just how much you’ll save on a yearly commute when driving a rechargeable Volt – and don’t forget about those tax cuts when you purchase an eco-friendly automobile.

Go have a look yourself at the EV Volt for 2011, view the interior and exterior galleries and gawk at the sexy charts that help an average Joe understand how frugal a Volt can be.

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.