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Chevy Bolt wins 2017 Green Car of the Year

We knew that a plug-in vehicle was going to win the 2017 Green Car of the Year award this year, given that all five finalists have a way to charge up. And when Ron Cogan, the editor and publisher of Green Car Journal, announced the winner – the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV – he said that the car itself represents one of those times in the auto industry when everything is about to change. Similar to the invention of the starter motor, things are about to get different. For now, though, the fact that the Bolt EV won an award sounds like the same old thing all over again. Just this week, it was named Motor Trends Car of the Year and to the Car And Driver Top 10 list. The other four finalists for Green Car of the Year included the Toyota Prius Prime, the Chrysler Pacifica, the Kia Optima (including hybrid and plug-in hybrid models) and the BMW 330e iPerformance. Last year, the winner was the 2016 Chevy Volt. Did Green Car Journal make the right selection this year? See the award ceremony below.

2022 Chevy Silverado HD gains Multi-Flex tailgate as an option

GM is spreading the Multi-Pro Tailgate love around its truck lineup, and the Silverado HD is the latest pickup to gain the option. Just like the 2021 Silverado 1500, Chevy uses the “Multi-Flex” name for it in the HD, eschewing GMCÂ’s “Multi-Pro” branding for the bowtie vehicles. YouÂ’ll be able to option the tailgate on 2022 model year Silverado 2500HD and 3500HD models. ItÂ’ll be available optionally in every trim, so thereÂ’s no need to grab a more expensive trim to gain access to the trick tailgate — youÂ’re also not required to take it in higher trims. Functionality is the same as the standard Silverado and Sierra.  The primary gate opens and closes like any other tailgate out there. ThereÂ’s a primary gate load stopper that allows you to put the gate down and still keep things from flying out the back (it can also be arranged such that the load stopper is at a higher height by using the inner gateÂ’s stopper). The inner gate folds down perpendicular to the ground to allow closer access to the bed. A full-width step is available if you fold both “gates” down and pop out the inner panel. And lastly, the inner gate can be lowered to use it as a small work space. You can watch the short video above to get a quick run through of all the positions, or scroll through the gallery at the top of this post. Besides the tailgate, Chevy says the 2022 Silverado HD is gaining a new Greenstone Metallic exterior paint color. Other changes for 2022 were not detailed at this time, but Chevy says the trucks with this tailgate should be available sometime this summer. Related video:

Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt have best sales month of 2015

Things are trending upwards for the two best-selling plug-in vehicles in the US. Both the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf had their best sales month of 2015 in May, with the Volt selling 1,618 units and the Leaf moving 2,104. The upward swings come at an interesting time, with lots of excess first-gen Volts waiting for buyers and some buyers already ordering their second-gen Volts. So far in 2015, the Leaf has outsold the Volt 7,742 to 4,397. While 7,700 Leafs is respectable, it's nowhere near the numbers that Nissan will have to hit to reach the 50,000 annual sales that CEO Carlos Ghosn says is possible in the US. Still, the Leaf had its best sales month since December 2014 (when it sold 3,102 units) in May, but last month was still down 32.5 percent compared to May 2014. Despite the smaller overall number, May represents a big positive for Chevy, which has seen sluggish sales for the Volt for a long while now. The 1,618 Volts sold last month are only 3.9 percent lower than the 1,684 sold in May 2014 and May 2015 was the best month for Volt sales since August 2014. Perhaps salesmen are ready to make deals, what with thousands sitting around on dealer lots right now. The next-gen Volt is due this fall, and the order books (in California, at least) opened up this week. Like every month, our full wrap-up of green car sales in the US is coming soon (the VW e-Golf, for example, hit a best-ever high of 410 sales). Until then, feel free to discuss the Volt and Leaf sales figures in the Comments. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales hybrid sales