Happy 100th Birthday GM: The 2011 Chevy Volt

Here it is, right on schedule. GM's saviour the Chevy Volt. I'm not going to say much except YAY! Finally! Here's a bunch of pictures and videos for you to look at but there are more over at Autoblog. I'd love to see it in another colour (black!) but I do like the view from above rear, the black roof looks great. Note the funky LED fog lamps and cool (although quite plasticy) touch-based interior controls. In the video you see the driver's console reporting on all sorts of things including the current tyre pressure!



Autoblog on location at the Reveal. (video below)
Intererior walkthrough. (video below)
Photos from Autoblog Shanghai.

Reveal:


Interior Walkthrough:

Yanks Love Aussie V8s

While I think a 6.2 litre V8 isn’t exactly the thing we should be driving these days it is still heartwarming to see the local (Aussie) car manufacturers getting some love from the USA.

Autoblog often waxes eloquent about the local grown produce and comes across as having a warm fuzzy place in their car-loving hearts for the Pontiac G8 (AKA Holden VE Commodore) not too suprising through after considering it will eat up the road using all 415 horses (309 kw).

Reading up on the G8 on Wikipedia I found this interesting tidbit. "...Some G8 buyers are removing all traces of the Pontiac brand from their vehicles by installing Commodore front bumpers and other parts.". I've noticed the opposite here with Aussie hoons choosing to replace their Holden markings with Chevy logos and whatnot. Weird.

For comparison here's a photo of a similar Holden, the VE SS V-Series.

Production Chevy Volt Photos Leaked!

The moment we've all been waiting for has arrived. After months of spy shots and teaser photos we finally get to see shots of the production version of GM's wunderkind, the Chevy Volt.

Props to gm-volt.com for bringing us these leaked studio photos but I must say I am totally underwhelmed. I knew the Volt was going to look different to the out-there concept but they've managed to make it look boring. Then again, it could just be the weird angles most of the photos are taken from.

Understandably the production Volt is a lot more rounded than the concept which was just a tad un-aerodynamic and I have to admit it is a lot more attractive than the whale-like Prius. I don't mind the rear and the black (glass?) roof is a nice touch but the best thing about it is that this thing is real. Real full electric propulsion, real E-Flex system, real plug-in charging. W000T! I'd buy one.

By the way, if you're wondering who the guys in the suits are they're GM senior execs.

More photos and original story available here.

Edit: More (and higher res) photos available at Autoblog.