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Chevy ramps up development of Bolt EV

The Bolt is on the move, and Chevy confirmed Wednesday it is testing more than 50 prototypes as it prepares to launch the electric vehicle in 2017. We've already seen the photographic evidence in these spy shots, but Chevy released its own images and the above video as further proof that the EV remains on track toward production. Chevy revealed the Bolt as a concept in January at the Detroit Auto Show, promising a range of 200 miles on electricity with a price tag of about $30,000 after possible incentives. The prototypes are being hand-built and tested at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford, MI, and other global locations. "Effectively these are the bones of the car that's going to be the production Chevy Bolt," said Josh Tavel, the car's chief engineer. Chevy is testing the Bolt in all areas of vehicle competence, including ride and handling dynamics, cabin comfort, quietness, charging capability, and energy efficiency. More than 1,000 engineers are working on the program. "We really wanted to convey the notion that this is running fast. It's happening," said Pam Fletcher, GM's executive chief engineer of electrified vehicles. The Bolt will be built at GM's Orion Assembly plant north of Detroit and sold in all 50 states. It's part of the automaker's electric car blitz that includes the plugin hybrid Volt, the traditional (non-plugin) Malibu hybrid, and confirmation of plans to expand sales of the Spark EV to Canada and Maryland. Related Video:

Nissan Leaf sales drop, new Chevy Volt climbs in November

This is probably just how things are going to be from now on. With the second-gen Chevy Volt available in some states and Nissan dragging its heels on getting a true new version of the Leaf onto dealer lots, it's no surprise that plug-in vehicle shoppers are turning to the Volt in a big way. Yes, we know that a pure EV and a PHEV are not the same and that the Volt and the Leaf are quite different cars, but after all of this time tracking the two plug-in sales champions, we feel obliged to continue our monthly look at who's selling how many of what. Here goes. We'll start with the mediocre news. That'd be the Leaf sales, which came in at just 1,054 units last month. That's the lowest monthly sales total for all of 2015 and, in fact, the lowest month of Leaf sales since February 2013. It's also a 60.8 percent drop from November 2014's sales of 2,687. This despite the fact that you can now get a new Leaf with a longer range of 107 miles (vs. 84) for a higher cost. The new Volt (along with the first-gen Volts that are still being sold out there), on the other hand, was up 49 percent, to 1,980 sales. That gave the Volt its best November ever, "on both a total and retail basis," GM says. The Volt beat the Leaf in October, too, and we suspect this is going to be the story until Nissan figures out how to get people excited about a five-year-old model or introduces the second edition. As always, we'll have a fuller wrap-up of US green car sales in our By The Numbers report soon. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales

General Motors CEO Provides Few Details In Appearance Before Congress

It was only two months ago that Mary Barra, freshly crowned as the new General Motors chief executive officer, visited Washington DC as an esteemed guest of First Lady Michelle Obama for the State of the Union address. On Tuesday, Barra returned to the Capitol under more strained circumstances. For more than two contentious hours, she took questions from members of a House of Representatives subcommittee investigating General Motors years-long delay in initiating a recall of millions of vehicles that contained a defect that has killed at least 13 people. Why did GM accept faulty ignition switches that were below the company's set specfications? Why did GM learn about the problem in 2001 yet take no action until 2014? Will GM compensate victims' families even though the company's bankruptcy may limit its liability? Those were a few of the questions members of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee asked. Few concrete answers were forthcoming. For her part, Barra sidestepped most of the questions, saying she wouldn't have information needed to answer them until an internal review is completed. David Friedman, the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, testified after Barra. The biggest news that emerged from the hearing was that General Motors has retained attorney Kenneth Feinberg to advise the company on its civil and legal responsibilities. He has made a career of resolving disputes and serving in a 'fixer' role, serving as the chief of the federal government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, as an administrator of compensation fund for victims of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and a similar fund for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Barra, who has been GM's CEO since January but been with the company since 1980, expects to meet with Feinberg on Friday, and have a concrete plan within the next 30-60 days. Yet Barra would not say for certain Tuesday that GM would compensate the victims at all. Despite repeated questions from Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Barra did not outline the company's intentions. "I assume GM is hiring (Feinberg) to help identify the size of claims and then compensate the victims? Is that right," DeGette asked. "Is GM willing to put together some kind of a compensation fund for these victims that Mr. Feinberg will then administer?" "We've hired him to help assess the situation," Barra replied. "So really, there's no money involved at this point," DeGette asked.