It was at that time that the Toyota eQ, a full electric version of the iQ minicar, was revealed to the world. This was supposed to start a much larger trend toward pure electrics, but “two years later, there are many difficulties,” according to Toyota vice-chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada. “The current capabilities of electric vehicles do not meet society’s needs, whether it may be the distance the cars can run, or the costs, or how it takes a long time to charge.”

Yes, we’ve seen the launch of such vehicles as the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf, but Toyota is going to spend more time working on what it already does best: hybrids. The Toyota Prius is the first car that comes to the mind of consumers when it comes to gas-electric hybrid cars and Toyota plans on furthering that established leadership. In fact, they are expecting to have 21 hybrid cars in the lineup by 2015, 14 of which will be all-new. They want to have a hybrid variant of every vehicle they sell.

The plug-in hybrid market hasn’t been very good for Toyota either. They wanted to sell between 35,000 and 40,000 Prius plug-in hybrids in 2012 in Japan, but they have only sold 8,400 to date. It’s no wonder that they really want to focus on their bread and butter of “conventional” gas-electric hybrids.

With the wider rollout of the eQ city car put on hold, Toyota is now left with just one pure electric in the form of the all-electric RAV4, an SUV that it co-developed with Tesla Motors. They’re looking to sell about 2,600 of those in the next three years.

[Source]

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CES appears to be becoming the first big auto event of the year where auto giants can shine with their latest in-car technologies to consumers. At the upcoming CES next month, GM’s OnStar will be showing off their new in-car system and they have just teased us with.

Beyond OnStar’s ability to track your every move, remotely shut down your vehicle and unlock its doors, they will be introducing a system that will bring video chat and content streaming via Verizon’s 4G LTE network to select GM vehicles.

As you might not have forgotten, OnStar previewed a system which was developed in conjunction with Verizon in the previous year. It was shown off in a Buick LaCrosse research vehicle.

At CES 2012, the latest on that system will be revealed in a Chevy Volt research vehicle. According to OnStar, the new system is coming with features such as cloud-based streaming of content, video chat and rear-seat infotainment management.

As you can see in the above picture, the system features 2 hardwired tablets situated on the rear of the front seat headrests. It seems to be a good way to keep the kids engaged.

OnStar hasn’t announced any details regarding specifications. From the looks of things, it appears like the car itself is coming equipped with a 4G modem for internet access.

The idea of video chat while driving is a bit scary. That’s why the company is also focussing on safety and has announced that front-seat access to video chat will be enabled only when the vehicle is in park. But rear seat passengers can chat, stream, and access content through the tablets whether the car is moving or not.

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As the market for electric cars grows, General Motors have announced the upcoming 2013 launch of a new electric urban car, cleverly named the Volt and the Malibu Eco with eAssist technology in Chevy’s growing range of electrified vehicles.

The Spark minicar will only be available in the United States and it is modeled after the feedback participants in Chevrolet’s electric vehicle demonstration fleets in Shanghai, Korea and India.

“Our global demo fleets continue to provide insight into the needs to electric vehicle customers living in urban environments,” said Jim Federico, global vehicle chief engineer for electric vehicles at Chevrolet.

Chevy Spark will differ from the volt, which is equipped with a gasoline engine that takes over when the electric motor depletes. The 2013 Spark will be an all-electric car, which is why the drivers have to travel short distances, or have, as they called it “predictable driving patterns”.

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The Chevrolet Volt represents quite the paradigm shift, offering a car to the masses that can be driven primarily on electricity, but can swap over to a petrol engine as needed. But maybe you want something a little more upscale and a little more sporty. Well, GM isn’t going to leave the Volt platform alone, because they’ve just announced the Cadillac ELR.

This Caddy uses the same underpinnings as the Volt, but they’ve made it distinctly more performance oriented and with more of a luxury spin. It’s apparently based on the Converj concept car and its powerplant combines a four cylinder engine and a T-shaped lithium ion battery pack, the latter of which is the primary source of power. The car will use electricity as its primary source of power, and will be able to switch to the combustion engine when the battery gets low.

GM isn’t forthcoming with any nitty gritty details like horsepower, expected range, expected price, or even an intended release window, so we’ll have to stay tuned to their press releases to learn more. I’m not personally a fan of the Cadillac styling, but I am a fan of them taking the Volt concept to other vehicles.

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It’s been almost a year since we learned about the American pricing for the Chevrolet Volt, but only now have they announced how much the electric car is going to cost when you buy in the Great White North. The Canadian MSRP on the Volt starts at $41,545.

Surprisingly enough, that’s almost on par with the American starting price of $41,000. However, the US Government is giving out a $7,500 credit on the greener vehicle, bringing the net price down to $33,500. Pricing on the Nissan Leaf is comparable. Do Canadians get the same kind of benefit? Well, it depends on where you live.

Chevy Volt Concept

Buyers in Quebec might be eligible for a $8,000 provincial rebate, while Ontario buyers can try to get their $8,500 rebate. There are no federal tax credits for EVs in Canada, so it’s being handled on a province-by-province basis.

Although I much preferred how the Volt looked in its concept stages versus how it looks today (the GM Prius) as a final production unit, I think it stands to make a statement for the industry… even if it doesn’t look all that special anymore. Find the Volt in Ottawa, Toronto, Oshawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver, and Victoria this fall (if you pre-order now).

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Couple the price cut with federal tax incentives and GM’s flagship electric car will cost less than $30,000 — ready to compete with not only the $32,780 Nissan Leaf EV, but conventional mid- and high-end cars too.

“As with any new technology — from plasma TVs to cell phones — the production costs lower with learnings gained with each generation,” said GM spokesman Robert Peterson. “We expect to see similar cost savings, either through the development or improvement of technologies, or reduced production costs.”

GM sold 647 Volts in the first two months of the car’s release, but hopes to triple the rate of sales between 2012 and 2015 to at least 135,000 units per year. This, they say, will cut electric-drive costs by diluting research and development investments in a larger production volume.

Plans so far are to build 25,000 Volts this year, rising to 120,000 in 2012, but the numbers fall short of the 250,000 names GM collected from those interested in the Volt.

By comparison, Nissan sold only 87 Leafs in the U.S. in January, showing GM has garnered a strong interest for the next era of electric vehicles. I think it’s safe to say we can expect more of this good news in the future.

[Edmunds]

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Not only has the expected production of Chevy Volts gone up from 10,000 to 25,000 for the year. Akerson says two more plug-in hybrids based on the Volt – a hatchback and a crossover vehicle – will be released in the next couple years, as well as at least one model of electric or hybrid cars for each of GMs four brands.

“The Volt is not the ultimate solution,” said Akerson during the Automotive News World Congress. “It’s a glimpse at what is possible.”

GM has already confirmed its plans to sell the Opel Ampera plug-in hatchback in Europe, and showed a plug-in crossover called the Volt MPV5 as a concept vehicle at last year’s Beijing auto show, but also confirmed a second-generation design is already under development at Monday’s conference.

The company expects electric cars to make up at least 10 per cent of sales within the next 10 to 15 years, which seems like a low estimate to those expecting to see the internal combustion engine near-obsolete by that time. Then again, optimistic environmentalists have had their strongest of hopes crushed before.

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The Volt brags 35 miles (56 kms) on a single charge before a gas-powered generator kicks in. For those first 56 kilometres, the car gets the astonishing equivalent of 93 mpg. But that drops to 37 mpg as soon as you’re using the generator – less than a regular old VW Jetta.

What ever happened to the maximum range of 80–100 miles (130-160 kms) per charge on GM’s EV1 in the mid 90s? I mean, that was the 90s. There’s no way technology has gotten 65 per cent worse over the last 15 years. Come to think of it, wasn’t that right about the same time Microsoft decided they should add internet capabilities to their products?

OK, what about the Nissan Leaf, the other new electric car that shipped to its first customer this week? 160 kms per charge, 145 km/h top speed; that’s about on par with what GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Chrysler were shipping in the 90s.

A bit better, but still assumes scientists have been doing nothing for a decade and a half.

But I seem to remember hearing something about some still-mass-produced electric car getting 501 kms on a single charge about a year ago. An electric car that averages 320 kms between battery top-ups – and doesn’t need a gas generator. As a matter of fact, all it needs is an antifreeze change once every five to seven years.

Yeah, I’m thinking the Tesla Roadster.

Why, if this car has been in production for the last four years, and has been sold in 28 countries, is this not the measuring stick? The standard for new cars to beat?

Could it all have something to do with the fact that in electric cars, there’s no oil to change, no exhaust or muffler to wear out, and no spark plugs, hoses, pistons or belts to replace? Where’s the long-term income for automakers if they’re all as functional as the Roadster proves they can be? How will Chevy keep making money if its hippie-car is a more attractive option than the ones full of tiny pieces that move and break?

But you know what? In spite of everything I’ve just said, if you live in California, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan or Washington D.C., go out and buy yourself a Volt. The last time car companies put all-electric vehicles on the market, it seems they got the impression that there’s no demand to meet their supply; no reason to look for better batteries.

[Inside Line via Chevy, GM]

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Chevy Volt Electric Car

GM has announced the price of the Chevy Volt electric car, the first mass-produced EV to hit the streets of America (since the EV1, but that wasn’t mass-produced, just mass-acred) will cost $41,000.  The US Government is giving a $7,500 credit, so this would take the EV’s price down to $33,500.  This price is just about in the middle of the range that was expected; although at the pre-rebate, not post-rebate price.

The price of this vehicle will unfortunately be out of reach for many more Americans.  Its almost a luxury to be able to save the environment from catastrophe by selecting green and alternative solutions, only deep pockets need apply.  Either way, it’s the first of its kind and the prices should come down once other manufacturers create some heat with their own EV offerings.  You can pre-order a Chevy Volt today from participating GM dealers and GetMyVolt.com.

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GM Chevy Volt Electric car to be first mass-produced EV

Industry estimates peg the Volt in the $30-$35k range, simply to make it as mainstream as possible. There’s also a $7,500 tax credit going around, so if GM lists the Volt at $34k, the net price to the end consumer is just $26,500. Not too bad for getting off oil. The Chevrolet Volt, although not nearly as extreme and exciting as the early concepts, is indeed to be the first mass-produced Extended Range Electric Vehicle to hit the streets of America. That’s a milestone in itself.

[Crunchgear, Chevy Volt]

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