Motor Trend Car of the Year

[Dr Mordrid]

announced at the LA Auto Show today -

Chevy Volt

Also: the bid price for GM's IPO is skyrocketing to the point where the govt. stake in the company will come close to being paid off.

Link....

GM's Volt named 2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year

Warren— Motor Trend Magazine has named the Chevrolet Volt its 2011 Car of the Year. General Motors Co. received the prestigious industry award this morning during a ceremony from inside a wind tunnel at the automaker's tech center in Warren.

Motor Trend Editor-in-Chief Angus MacKenzie said the Volt — GM's $41,000 battery-powered car with a backup gas engine — is one of the most significant vehicles to receive the award in its 61-year history.

The accolades come just weeks before the much-anticipated Volt is scheduled to arrive in dealer showrooms. The first Volts began rolling off the line at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck plant this month.

"The Volt has some of the most advanced engineering ever seen on an American production car," McKenzie said in a video posted on the magazine's website.

GM officials lauded the effort put into the Volt and thanked employees for their work and dedication.

"It doesn't get any better than this," said Tom Stephens, vice president of global product operations, as he addressed a crowd of workers and media.

The Volt is powered by electricity for a range of about 25 to 50 miles, and a backup gas engine turns on once the battery is about 70 percent depleted.

"We expected a science experiment, but this is a moon shot," the magazine's editors described the Volt in a January 2011 issue of Motor Trend.

"The Volt delivers on the promise of the vehicle concept as originally outlined by GM, combining the smooth, silent, efficient, low-emissions capability of an electric motor with the range and flexibility of an internal combustion engine," the editors wrote.

[Elie]

Remember when the Volts initial run time on battery was like 200miles +?

25 to 50 miles won't cut it if you are driving to and from work stuck in city traffic for hours. In other words you'll be on gas most of the time anyway.

Good for GM though, we'll see what happens.

[Dr Mordrid]

Volt's EV range has always centered at 40 miles. It was Tesla that quoted 200. Even so, as an EV Volt uses little power when stuck in traffic and if the battery runs low the generator keeps you going. Tesla, Leaf etc. need a tow truck.

25 miles is when running the hell out of it in performance mode or climbing hills/mountains. Testers are actually reporting as many as 70 miles on level ground and with a light foot on the electron pedal.

[Dr Mordrid]

Automobile Magazine has also named the Volt as its Car Of The Year.

And it's also the Green Car Journal Car Of The Year....

Presented at the LA Auto Show. Beat out the Nissan Leaf, Ford Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and the gas powered Ford Fiesta.

GCOTY board members included Sierra Club Chairman Carl Pope, Natural Resources Defence Council President Frances Beinecke, Jay Leno and Carroll Shelby.

Motor Trend's conrenders were -

Audi A8 4.2 Quattro - finalist
BMW 550I
Buick Regal CXL Turbo
Chevy Cruze LTZ
Chevy Volt - finalist/winner
Ford Fiesta SES
Honda CR-Z EX
Honda Odyssey EX-L
Hyundai Equus Ultimate
Hyundai Sonata 2.0T
Infinity M56X
Jaguar XJL S/C
KIA Optima SX/LX
Lincoln MKZ Hybrid
Mazda 2 Touring
SAAB 9-5 Aero XWD
Scion tC - finalist
Toyota Avalon
Toyota Sienna
Volkwagen Jetta TDI - finalist
Volvo S-60

[Mehen]

I really think the Volt got this award because it was the first out of the gate with a widely available pure* electric, not because it is that good of a car. The Jetti TDi is a better car, for example, but a more "important" car in the grand scheme of things? Probably not.

[Dr Mordrid]

Car & Driver 2011 10-Best list

BMW 3-series/M3
Cadillac CTS-V
Chevrolet Volt
Ford Mustang GT
Honda Accord
Honda Fit
Hyundai Sonata
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Porsche Boxster/Cayman
Volkswagen Golf/GTI

To put it simply, the Chevy Volt was far and away the biggest surprise to every editor at this year’s 10Best event. None of us imagined that nestling into the glass cockpit would bring the words “automotive bliss” and “electric vehicle” together in the same sentence.
>

[Brian Ellis]

From another thread:
Crappy Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Running On Lacking Electric Traction

[Elie]

Car & Driver 2011 10-Best list

BMW 3-series/M3
Cadillac CTS-V
Chevrolet Volt
Ford Mustang GT
Honda Accord
Honda Fit
Hyundai Sonata
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Porsche Boxster/Cayman
Volkswagen Golf/GTI

Wow I would like to know why the Mustang GT is better in design than the Porsche or even Honda... That's why Top Gear and fifth gear are my favorite two car shows.

Car & Driver and Motor trend are sooo biased lol, I would like to know their criteria for assessing cars.

The BMW, I can agree...but Audi's RS5 beats the M3 hands down in performance and handling.

[Dr Mordrid]

You are aware that, depending on the controller settings, that an electric car can smoke an IC car? Volt can do 0-60 in <9 seconds, perfectly adequate for its commuter role, but could go much faster with a mod. It's also reported to be rather nimble because of the battery lowering it's CG.

I'll have some personal experiences to report in a week or so - I get to drive one.

[Elie]

I'll have some personal experiences to report in a week or so - I get to drive one.

You go Doc!

Do let us know your experiences

Thanks

[Brian Ellis]

Yhey said on the news last night it has a nominal mpg rating of 60. How on earth do they get this figure? Maybe they just wanted one that was a bit better than the Prius and said this was it! Or is that the real figure when running on the engine, ignoring battery operation???

[VJ]

IIRC correctly, it was a weighted average between battery powered, hybrid and fuel engine powered.

[Brian Ellis]

IIRC correctly, it was a weighted average between battery powered, hybrid and fuel engine powered.

The mind boggles. Talk about fiddle factors. Can't even give a CO2/km figure. In France (~80% nuclear, ~12% hydro), it will be very low, whereas here (100% oil) it will be very high (and even worse where 100% coal or NG).

[Dr Mordrid]

EPA changed the mileage formulation this year, and it mainly hurts hybrids with all vehicles being "adjusted" downwards. Don't bother trying to figure the "logic" as none of the auto engineers have yet - they seem to have just pulled them out of their ass, applying a standard reduction of ~20% to what the old spec result was for hybrids and about 18% for normal cars.

Volts new numbers are lower than what real world road testers & magazine testers have achieved, and word is Prius was affected even more. Volts "new" nunbers are;

EV: 93 MPGe (mixed sport, mountain & eco EV modes)
EV range: 35 miles
Range extender: 37 MPG (35 city/40 highway)
Combined cycle: 60 MPG (MPGe & MPG calculated)
Total range. 379 miles

Of course most people aren't going to mix EV modes much past initial experimentation, and most people won't drive much in range extender mode either - most local testers seem to be driving 70-80% in EV mode.

Volt testers have achieved up to 70 miles EV in eco mode and >150 MPG using the previous MPGe formula.

So far most automakers are holding their fire, but IMO that won't last long.

[Brian Ellis]

Do you know what the Prius and Civic Hybrid guestimates are> My current fig for the latter is, on mixed highway and urban, varies from 4.8 to 5.1 l/100 km (49-46 mpg), depending on state of charge of battery at start, Best highway-only is 4,3 l/100 km (56 mpg).