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2016 Chevy Volt ads strike frustrating, yet familiar, chord

Sometimes, it's hard to let go. In the six years that GM has been advertising and selling the Chevy Volt, one dominant message is that the car is an EV without any range anxiety. On the one hand, this is a positive thing: our car does something that other electric vehicles don't. Of course, there's another, more reasonable take on the message that EVs only equal limited range: don't promote this viewpoint if you ever plan on selling a pure EV. But, of course, this is exactly what GM is doing with a new ad for the 2016 Chevy Volt. Called Elevator, the spot (watch it above) compares driving an all-electric car with riding in an elevator getting stuck. Your Nissan Leaf might run out of electricity, the ad says, and that would be as uncomfortable as being trapped between floors. The main problem, of course, is that Chevy also offers the Spark EV and is getting ready to sell the Bolt EV. Does the company think that everyone will forget these anti-EV commercials when it come time to shop for a Bolt? Even worse, does GM think we've forgotten the Anthem ad for the Volt back in 2010? Apparently, so. Elevator isn't the only ad for the 2016 Volt that GM debuted today. The other, called Time Capsule (below), takes a swipe at the Toyota Prius. Trouble is, there are two easy ways to dismiss this ad as well. First, and most obviously, if GM is against using old technology, then why does it continue to shove a 100-year-old fossil fuel engine into almost every car it builds? Second, attacking the Prius for using 15-year-old tech – when said tech is still able to mop the floor with any hybrid from GM in the fuel economy race - is more like an admission of defeat than anything to be proud of. "Hey look, the Prius uses technology from the '90s," GM says. To which the observant viewer will ask, "Well, then why can't you build a 50-mile-per-gallon hybrid, GM?" It's also worth noting that Chevy has been on a misguided advertising streak as of late. We bashed their ads that suggested its Silverado is better than the F-150 because it uses steel instead of aluminum, too, especially since those commercials used shark cages and stupid superhero costumes in an attempt to make a point. Chevy, stop assuming we're all idiots. Please. Now, the 2016 Volt is a great car and I know that GM can make a darn good Volt ad (like this one), so seeing the company shoot solid fuel-efficient technologies in the back (again and again) is just frustrating.

CES 2022 was huge for EVs | Autoblog Podcast #711

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder. CES took place this week, and there were some nice electric surprises from automakers, especially General Motors. John has been driving the Ram 1500 Power Wagon, as well as what seems to be its polar opposite, the electric Mini Cooper SE. Greg talks about the differences between the Acura TLX A-Spec long-termer (which is back in the shop) and the Type S loaner that's filling in for it. John's also got some interesting thoughts on leather interiors. Finally, the editors reach into the mailbag and help a repeat customer decide on a suitable replacement for a 2008 Lexus GX 470 in this week's Spend My Money segment. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #711 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown CES 2022 2024 Chevy Silverado EV revealed: 664 hp — and Midgate's back 2024 Chevy Silverado EV vs. 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning | How do they compare? Chevy Equinox EV and Blazer EV confirmed for production in 2023 Chrysler Airflow concept previews the brand's all-electric future Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX shoots for 620-mile range Cadillac InnerSpace reimagines the personal luxury coupe What we're driving: 2022 Ram 1500 Power Wagon 2021 Acura TLX A-Spec and Type S long-termers 2022 Mini Cooper SE John's unpopular opinion: Let's do away with leather for good Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video:

Nissan Leaf is now the best-selling plug-in vehicle of all time in US

Numbers don't lie. And in some instances, you can see their truth from miles away. As everyone expected, the Nissan Leaf is now officially the best-selling plug-in vehicle in the US. While the two vehicles aren't direct competitors (one's a pure EV and the other is a plug-in hybrid), they certainly dominate the plug-in vehicle sales charts. When we do a little math on those charts, we see that since the two vehicles went on sale at the end of 2010, the Volt has sold 75,231 units while the Leaf is now at 76,407, giving the Leaf a 1,176-vehicle lead. The Leaf trailed the Volt by just two units at the end of February. This is the first time the EV had held the overall lead since the end of February 2012, when it was ahead 10,847 to 9,623 and for a while there at the end of 2013, the Volt was up by around 12,000 units. Times have changed, though, and we don't expect the lead to switch back until the next-gen Volt goes on sale later this year, and even then nothing is certain. The Leaf sold 1,817 copies last month, a drop of 27.5 percent from last year. Year-to-date, the Leaf has sold 4,085 units, down 21.2 percent from the same time period in 2014. There were 639 Volts sold last month, a 56.8-percent sales decrease compared to March 2014. So far this year, Volt sales are down 48 percent. Green Chevrolet Nissan ev sales hybrid sales