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Recharge Wrap-up: Lexus CT 200h is NWAPA's favorite hybrid, 'No Charge to Charge' in LA

The Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA) has given the Lexus CT 200h its Favorite Hybrid title. It named the compact luxury hybrid its favorite of 2014 at its Drive Revolution in Portland (where it also named the new Volkswagen Golf TDI the Northwest Green Car of the Year). According to NWAPA president Nik Miles, the CT 200h earned the honor for "impressive combination of state-of-the-art small car luxury and hybrid technology." For 2014, the Lexus CT200h got an updated front end, including the spindle grille we've been seeing on new Lexus vehicles, plus a redesigned steering wheel and sliding sun visors. Read more in the press release below. Chevrolet credits the Malibu for helping make stop-start mainstream. Chevrolet started including stop-start technology standard in Malibus equipped with the four-cylinder engine. Chevy has sold about 83,000 of that model, so 97 percent of 2014 and 2015 Malibu sales include stop-start. Now, that technology has made its way into the 2015 Impala. With drivers idling an average of 16 minutes a day, stop-start can significantly reduce harmful emissions and save fuel. According to Navigant Research, we can expect annual sales of cars equipped with stop-start technology to surpass 55 million by 2022. Read more in the press release below. Nissan Leaf customers in Los Angeles will get access to free charging beginning August 15. Nissan is extending its "No Charge to Charge" promotion to LA, which will allow customers to charge at public charging stations at no cost. Leaf customers - including those who bought or leased their car from the participating dealerships on or after July 1 - will get an EZ-Charge card, allowing them to use ChargePoint, Blink, CarCharging, AeroVironment and NRG eVgo chargers for free. Rapid chargers can charge the Leaf's battery to 80 percent in 30 minutes. Nissan plans to offer the "No Charge to Charge" in at least 14 more markets in the US, bringing the total to 25, within the next year. See the press release below for more details. California will get six all-electric school buses for three school districts as part of a demonstration program. The California Energy Commission awarded a grant of $1.4 million for the program to National Strategies LLC; this is in addition to a $2.2-million grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The EV buses use vehicle-to-grid technology, allowing them to sell energy back to the grid when it is needed.

GM opens official investigation into C8 Corvette transmission leaks

In March 2020, a month after Chevrolet began customer deliveries of the 2020 C8 Corvette, a GM dealer technician created a Reddit thread about a leaking gearbox in a Corvette with 32 miles. That car hadn't even been sold yet. Since then, as a search of "C8 Corvette transmission leak" shows, it's been tales of woe for some owners. Something in the Tremec TR-9080 transaxle in the back of the mid-engined Corvette doesn't work as it should, the fault able to cause codes that the transmission needs service, or that the driver needs to shift to park. In some cases, the battery would die because of follow-on issues after the initial transmission code, that code preventing the car from powering down. As Autoevolution reports, GM filed paperwork with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in August to look into what's going on. Between forum threads and GM's investigation document, there are several issues mentioned. The most common appears to be the dual-clutch transmission leaking fluid due to gasket failures like the one suffered by one owner at 858 miles, and another for an owner currently enduring a second leaking transmission. The Midengined Corvette Forum reported that Chevy engineers redesigned the TR-9080 pan, fitting Corvettes with the new unit at some point in the 2021 model year. The original pan was stamped steel unit affixed to the engine with two studs and 13 bolts, plus "reinforcement plates." The updated pan is said to be a cast aluminum unit affixed with two studs and 17 bolts, omits the reinforcement plates, and gets a new machined new groove around its edge to seat the gasket seal. The GM paperwork now at the NHTSA mentions a P1789 code, and says one reason for it could be "debris on the park position sensor magnet causing an incorrect position reading to the TCM." This might be caused by another issue mentioned in forums, which is clogged transmission filters. GM gives instructions for returning transmission filters to the company, and a poster on one forum said the Corvette tech at the dealer where he bought his Corvette told him the automaker "requires every used transmission filter to be returned to GM."  Whatever's going on, the problems haven't stopped, and they go beyond the P1789 code. Over the weekend, a 2022 Corvette owner posted on Corvette Forums that he got a check engine light on his car after just 850 miles.

With only 246 Volts sold in Australia, Holden not getting next-gen model

The Chevrolet Volt has not been the resounding success General Motors hoped for here in the United States. But it's fortunes in Chevy's home country are nothing compared to how poorly it's done down under. Only 246 Volts have been sold in Australia, where the car is branded as a Holden, since its debut in 2012. That's not just a bad showing – it's an absolute disaster. According to Motoring.com.au, it was the Volt's astonishing $60,000 price tag, combined with a lack of interest from Aussie drivers, that killed the car's chances. What's fascinating about this development, though, is that it doesn't necessarily seem to be Holden that's pulling the plug. Instead, it's the Volt's Hamtramck, MI factory, which is preparing to shift into production of the second-generation model that seems to be taking the blame. According to Motoring, the plant confirmed that it will only build the Gen 2 plug-in in left-hand-drive form, basically ruling out a model for Australia. "Electric and hybrid vehicles haven't taken off in Australia," Holden's director of communications, Sean Poppitt, told Motoring. "Considering the lack of infrastructure, the lack of government incentives, the large distances between cities, it's a tough sell." The death of the right-hand drive Volt won't be the only loss of business in Hamtramck. Opel has already confirmed that it will drop the plug-in's European fraternal twin, the Ampera, while the next-gen Chevy won't make the trip across the pond either. Related Video: