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Chevy Volt has worst sales month since August 2011, Nissan Leaf also down

January is traditionally a time when new car shoppers take a break. For the last few years, if we isolate our focus to just the first two major plug-in cars in the US market, we see that the first month of the year was lower – often dramatically lower – than the 11 that followed. So, when you see the Chevy Volt dropped and Nissan Leaf sales figures for January 2015, don't be too surprised. The Volt sold only 542 units last month, that model's lowest since August 2011. That also represents a 41 percent drop from January 2014, and it reinforces the thought that if anyone out there is interested in a new Volt, they're going to be waiting for the new model to drop later this year. While we do expect sales to climb in February and into spring, we won't be surprised if the general Volt trend remains quiet until the second-generation arrives. On the Leaf side of the ledger, January's low sales numbers were still about twice as high as the Volt's – the Leaf sold 1,070 units last month, the lowest since February 2013 – but it did break a streak for the Japanese automaker. Usually, each month represents at least an increase over the same month a year ago, but that wasn't the case this time. In January 2014, Nissan sold 1,252 Leafs. Still, Brendan Jones, Nissan's director of electric vehicle sales and infrastructure, issued an upbeat statement: "We saw a significant increase in demand in December from Nissan Leaf customers looking to take advantage of federal and state incentives at the end of the tax year, which pulled some sales ahead. We're confident that EV sales will continue to rise over time due to increasing emission regulations and other reasons for purchase of EVs such as lower operating costs, reducing dependence on foreign energy sources, environmental concerns and a great driving experience." The numbers will tell us soon enough. News Source: General Motors, Nissan Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales brendan jones

Fernando Alonso just misses qualifying for Indy 500 on first day

Former Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso will need a clutch run on Sunday to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 on May 26 after he failed to seal a guaranteed spot on Saturday. The Spaniard tried fives times to put his McLaren Racing Chevrolet in the top 30, but wound up one spot short. He can make the 33-car field only through a six-car shootout on Sunday that will determine the race's final three drivers. "We have another chance to be in the race," Alonso, who is seeking to make his second Indy 500 field, told IndyCar TV. The Spaniard twice got inside the top 30 but both times was bumped outside the mark, with JR Hildebrand and Graham Rahal the final two drivers to seal qualifying spots. Britain's Pippa Mann will be the only woman in the race, qualifying 30th in 227.244 mph. Race positions 10-30 were determined during the day-long qualifying with Saturday's nine fastest drivers set to return on Sunday to decide pole. Spencer Pigot, driving the Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, led qualifying with a four-lap average of 230.083 mph. He was followed by 2018 winner Will Power of Australia (230.081) and Simon Pagenaud of France (229.854). The troubles for Alonso, whose top four-lap average was 227.224 mph, were exacerbated by a punctured tire in his first qualifying run. "That didn't help," Alonso told reporters. "But, obviously, our performance has been quite bad all week. Quite poor." The Spaniard crashed his Chevrolet in practice on Wednesday and missed nearly two full days of practice while a backup car was prepared. He returned on Friday. Alonso said he was worried the McLaren team was "not ready for the challenge." "We've been slow. You see Juncos Racing crashing yesterday and being ready at 6 o'clock. That's impressive," he said. "For us, we've been a little bit slow on everything." Alonso is bidding to join Graham Hill as the only drivers to achieve the 'Triple Crown of Motorsport' with an Indy 500 victory. He previously won the Monaco Grand Prix and Le Mans 24 Hours race. He also won two Formula One drivers' titles. (Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)Related Video: Motorsports Chevrolet McLaren IndyCar

2016 Chevy Volt arrives with 50-mile EV range, 41 mpg [w/ video]

Let's start with the numbers. The 2016 Chevy Volt will have an all-electric range of 50 miles from a new, 18.4-kWh lithium battery. It will get 41 miles per gallon (combined) once the battery runs dry and have 102 MPGe. Oh, and it has five seats, sort of. To compare, today's four-seat 2015 Volt has a 38-mile range from a 17.1-kWh battery in a powertrain that offers 37 mpg and 98 MPGe. So, across the board, there are notable improvements. Now that that's out of the way, let's talk story. General Motors will unveil the new Volt at the Detroit Auto Show later today, but it's been talking about how this new version – the first major plug-in hybrid vehicle to get a serious redo in the modern era – was crafted with reams and reams of data from first-gen Volt customers. At a preview event for journalists last week, GM executive chief engineer Pam Fletcher told Autoblog that these owners "gave us the recipe" to make the second-gen model. At the top of the request list was more range (check), more "fun-to-drive" behavior (check?) and a smoother and quieter experience (we'll assume a check here, given that the new 1.5-liter four-cylinder – the first North American application of this new engine family – should offer more power with less noise than the previous 1.4-liter, four-cylinder powerplant). Other customer-driven changes in the new Volt include a different place to store the charging cable (in the side of the trunk instead of under the load floor) and a new brake system with improved blended regenerative braking feel as well as driver-selectable regen levels. The requested 50-mile range comes from a new, lighter battery that has increased capacity from fewer cells (192 vs. 288) and a simplified control architecture. Along with the new battery, the electric drive unit is a two-motor deal that is up to 12 percent more efficient and 100 pounds lighter, while also being "tremendously smaller," notes Fletcher. It offers 294 pound-feet of torque and a maximum 149 horsepower of "motoring power" delivered to the wheels. GM says it has worked hard to reduced the amount of rare earth materials in these motors, and one of them doesn't use any at all. The new powertrain offers improved acceleration times, as well. The 2016 Volt can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 8.4 seconds, a seven-percent improvement, while the 0-30 mph time has been improved by 19 percent, down to 2.6 seconds. The new Volt is more conventional looking, but certainly not completely ordinary.