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Recharge Wrap-up: Chevy Impala bi-fuel sales; VW e-Up fire

Chevrolet has delivered about 200 units of its bi-fuel Impala so far. The automaker originally planned to begin sales in summer of 2014, but was delayed over a year due to quality concerns. Now, the bi-fuel Impala, which runs on both gasoline and CNG, has begun delivery, mostly to commercial and fleet customers. The car begins at $38,210 (including destination charges), and will be available at 3,200 US dealerships. Production of a 2016 model is underway. Read more at Green Car Reports. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $35 million in funding for hydrogen and fuel cell technology projects. The money will support research and development, manufacturing, and early deployment of the technologies. The DOE also wants to bring together consortia to work together on fuel cell cost, performance, and durability, as well as hydrogen storage research. "As FCEVs become increasingly commercially available, the Energy Department is focused on advancements to enable hydrogen infrastructure including production, delivery, storage, and manufacturing, as well as continuing to reduce fuel cell cost and improve durability," the DOE said in a statement. Read more from the DOE. A Volkswagen e-Up! caught fire after a collision with a train in Norway. The driver, Christopher Traasdahl Saether, was able to jump from the electric Volkswagen before the train hit, and was physically unharmed. It also appears that there were no injuries among the passengers on the train. "It was quite a way to start the day," says Saether. A photographer at the scene reported that the car burst into flames when a salvage crew attempted to remove the wreckage from the railway crossing. See the video and read more (in Norwegian) from Fredriksstad Blad. Featured Gallery 2015 Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel View 14 Photos Related Gallery 2014 Volkswagen e-Up!: Quick Spin View 20 Photos News Source: Green Car Reports, DOE, Fredrikstad BladImage Credit: Chevrolet Government/Legal Green Chevrolet Volkswagen Alternative Fuels Safety Electric Natural Gas Vehicles recharge wrapup

Next Chevy Volt will be 2016 model and ride on new chassis

What do we know about the 2016 Chevy Volt? Well, for now, all we can do is try to put the puzzle together without the box. Thankfully, a new batch of pieces has arrived from a new report in Edmunds, which says that the 2016 model year will introduce the second generation of a car that hasn't been dramatically updated since it went on sale in 2010. The new Volt is getting an "evolutionary styling change" and will ride on a new front-drive platform that has been developed by General Motors. GM's Kevin Kelly told AutoblogGreen that he has "no comment on future products," but he did acknowledge that Chevrolet is working on a second-generation Volt, "but I can't say anything about timing." Everybody already knew that a next-gen Volt is coming, so that's not a surprise. What we don't know is any real concrete information on the car itself. The few tidbits of information we do have help define the outlines of the next version of Chevy's halo car, but they're not confirmed yet. For the record, they range from the eye-raising (a $10,000 price drop) to the logical (20 percent more electric range). We can't see the whole picture yet, but the pieces do point to the 2016 Volt, which would be released next year sometime, being a much bigger deal than the last update, when the Volt's range was increased by three electric miles thanks to a battery capacity increase of 16 kWh to 16.5.

Former Fisker CEO has some advice for Tesla Motors

Former Fisker Automotive CEO and ex-Chevrolet Volt vehicle-line director Tony Posawatz has some words of caution for Tesla Motors. The long-time automaker executive questions the California automaker's long-term viability – and gives some praise – in a talk with Benzinga, which you can listen to below. While the all-wheel-drive D that Tesla unveiled earlier this month in Southern California wowed a packed crowd, Posawatz (starting at around minute 4:45 in the interview) says Tesla would've been better off taking the resources it expended toward that Model S upgrade and directed them towards speeding up the development of a more affordable plug-in. Perhaps a number of investors agreed, since the company's stock fell the day after the D was announced. Posawatz says Tesla has been over-reliant on the sale of ZEV credits. Posawatz also says that Tesla has been over-reliant on the sale of zero-emissions vehicle credits in California for its earnings and questions whether the automaker will ever work at a large enough scale to sufficiently drive down costs and make consistent profits. Tesla CEO Elon Musk would take issue with this characterization. Posawatz first made his mark in the plug-in vehicle world when he was the vehicle-line director at General Motors for the Volt extended-range plug-in from 2006 to 2012. Later that year, he joined extended-range plug-in maker Fisker Automotive as its CEO, though quit that job during the summer of 2013 as the company was descending into insolvency. He joined the Electrification Coalition this past March. News Source: Benzinga Green Chevrolet Fisker Tesla Electric PHEV Tony Posawatz