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Chevy TV commercial uses paper SUV to convince children hybrid SUVs are green

Chevy has two new TV ads for its Tahoe hybrid. First a little background. The Chevy Tahoe hybrid won Green Car Journal's Green Car of the Year award last year. A full-size SUV winning a green car award supplied much comedic fodder for Top Gear (see first video below the fold). Okay, the first new Tahoe hybrid ad (see second video below the fold) begins with a riddle: Which is heaver, a hundred pounds of bricks or a hundred pounds of feathers? If you figured out they are the same weight, then according the ad, you are just as smart as the Chevy Tahoe hybrid, winner of Green Car of the Year award.The second ad (see third video below the fold) begins with children wearing paper car costumes. The small paper cars are uncomfortable and have no room for their "stuff." Just around the corner, however, is a giant paper SUV and when the children see it, they are ecstatic. They throw off their small paper cars and run to the paper SUV. The teacher character in the commercial explains the paper SUV has the same fuel economy of small cars (like the Camry), room for your friends and most importantly, room for all that "stuff" the children are carrying around for some reason. "I guess they like it" the commercial's teacher character concludes.I have to admit, I really like these ads. I think they're the best hybrid ads out there. I might not agree with the message that hybrid SUVs are green but at least these ads have a message. Recent hybrid ads from GM and Lexus are too vague for my taste. These Chevy actually persuade with facts about the Tahoe's fuel efficiency or the CotY award. Besides, SUVs are the only vehicles large enough to carry all my "stuff."

Chevy Volt batteries won't be in production in 2009, 2010 still the target

A few days a potentially big story broke as a result of an interview that BusinessWeek did with Continental North America CEO Bill Kozyra. In that interview, Kozyra is quoted as saying that the battery packs for the Chevy Volt would be production by late 2009. He is also quoted as saying the batteries would be in the Chevy Volt in late 2009. This of course got Volt fan's hearts all aflutter with the thought that they might be able to buy a Volt at least a year sooner than previously thought. Well Volt fanatics, it's time to take a valium and sit yourself down. You'll have a whole extra year to save your pennies for that new E-REV. I talked to Rob Peterson at GM shortly after seeing the interview and he knew nothing about any change in the schedule for the Volt program. This morning I finally got in touch with Jim Gill, the director of communications at Continental Automotive. Jim explained that there was a miscommunication between Kozyra and the reporter. The lithium ion batteries that Continental will have in production in 2009 are the smaller units that they are building for Mercedes-Benz mild hybrid system. If Continental/A123 Systems does get the production contract for the Volt battery packs they will not be in production until at least the second half of 2010. That production contract has not been awarded at this point. On a side note, Conti has delivered a second prototype Volt battery pack to GM this week. That pack arrived at the Warren Tech Center on Monday.

Continental CEO claims Volt batteries will in production late 2009

Recently Bill Kozyra, the CEO of Continental Automotive Systems - North America, had a chat with BusinessWeek where he revealed some interesting information about the Chevy Volt. Continental has gotten into the battery business recently and will be supplying lithium ion batteries to Mercedes-Benz for their mild hybrid system beginning in 2009. The company is also partnered with A123 Systems as the pack integrator for A123 cells for the Chevy Volt. The first prototype Conti/A123 pack for the Volt program that was delivered to GM at the end of January has been undergoing testing since then. Kozyra told BusinessWeek that Continental would have Volt lithium ion batteries in production at the end of 2009. Asked if the batteries were going into production vehicles, Kozyra replied " Yeah. Specifically in the Chevrolet Volt in late 2009." Considering that GM has stated a target of late 2010 for Volt production, this seems highly optimistic. I checked with GM spokesman Rob Peterson, and according to him the target for the Volt is still late 2010. We're still waiting for a follow up comment from Continental on this one.

Virgin Atlantic to use Chevrolet Equinox hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at LAX

Virgin Atlantic announced that it has joined forces with Chevy's "Project Driveway" program. Richard Branson's airline is going to use three Chevrolet Equinox hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for its "complimentary ground transfer service for upper class passengers" for planes landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The program will last for 30 months. Virgin and Chevrolet are studying the possibility to expand this service to New York. Branson stated that this program was one of Virgin's initiatives to reduce the airline's carbon footprint. GM's Larry Burns said that it was a perfect endorsement of GM's fuel cell technology and "an important new avenue for demonstrating the new DNA of the automobile."The Chevy Equinox looks like a conventional production car but the ICE has been with a fuel cell system plus a nickel-metal hydride battery pack under the floor of the vehicle. It's got three compressed hydrogen storage tanks made of carbon fiber and pressurized to 10,000 pounds per square inch (psi). The tanks contain roughly nine pounds (4.2 kg) of hydrogen good for a range of approximately 150 miles (220 km). Full press release after the jump.

Hannah Montana, High School Musical stars talk green cars *cringe*

There's a fine line that often gets crossed when kids take up political causes. Sometimes, kids make great spokespeople (I suggest checking out 8-year-old Carrick's interview with Darth Vader and the Biodiesel Ambassadors for two examples of this). Other times, watching kids talk about the environment can be slightly painful. You can see what I'm talking about - and see if you agree - in the videos after the break. The clips were shot at the Chevy Rocks the Future / Jonas Brothers event earlier this month and include stars from "Hannah Montana," "Desperate Housewives," "High School Musical" and a lot of other media properties. I'll admit right now that I wouldn't recognize and of these tykes if they were performing right in front of me, so I'm certainly not the target audience here. If the kids aren't enough for you, you can also see Wayne Brady, Kathy Ireland, and Luke Perry interviewed about their green hopes. Watch 'em all after the break.

Challenge X teams swing by Jay Leno's garage

Last spring we provided a bunch of coverage of Year Three of GM's Challenge X program. Challenge X is a GM-sponsored student competition where teams from universities all around North America use the company's global development process to convert a Chevrolet Equinox into a vehicle with some sort of alternative powertrain. The goal is for the teams to produce the most efficient vehicle while still meeting customer expectations for performance and refinement. Teams are currently gearing up for the final phase of the competition. One of this year's events was a road rally out in California that included an afternoon stop at Jay Leno's super garage. Leno has all manner of machinery in his garage including a 1906 Baker electric car and a biodiesel 2007 Corvette. In a post on the GMnext blog Mickey Bly talks about the competition, and the upcoming final event that will conclude with the championship announcement in Washington, DC in May. Micky is the director of hybrid vehicle integration at GM.

Chevy Volt volumes will ramp up, probably starting at about 10,000 units

While we all wait with baited breath to find out if the reality of the Chevy Volt meets up with the promise, many other non-performance related questions remain as well. Cost is obviously a big one. The goal is for the Volt to be a high-volume mainstream car and for that to happen it has to be affordable. Affordability affects both General Motors and end consumers. The price has to be low enough that lots of people can buy it. At the same time, GM has to be able to get economies of scale to bring the piece costs down enough that they can afford to sell the car. Unfortunately, it looks like the initial volumes will be lower than some people had hoped for. In a report in the Globe and Mail, Bob Lutz has said the initial year volume will be about 10,000 units. Because of the new technology in this car, GM is clearly reticent about pushing out too many cars too quickly until they see how they work in the real world. Once GM gets cars in the field and sees that they are working reliably, the company will ramp up production. If everything works as planned and the cost of the batteries falls - as hoped - the volumes will climb quickly with a range of models being built from the E-Flex architecture.

eTec builds a hydrogen-fueled Chevy Silverado

General Motors has been doing research and development, in earnest, on hydrogen-fueled vehicles for well over a decade. Unlike Ford and BMW, who have both built hydrogen-fueled internal combustion vehicles, almost all of GM's work has been done on fuel cell vehicles. The ECOtality subsidiary Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec) has built a Chevrolet Silverado fueled by compressed hydrogen. Roush Industries of Livonia, Michigan and PowerTech Labs helped eTec do the conversion. The Silverado is powered by a 6.0L V-8 that has been modified with the addition of a supercharger, intercooler and new fuel injectors. The electronic control unit has been replaced with a new unit that is calibrated for the hydrogen fuel system. The truck is equipped with three tanks holding a total of 10.5kg of hydrogen at 5,000 psi. All of this provides a range of up to 210 miles. This 2007 Silverado was ordered by the Center for Hydrogen Research (CHR) in Aiken, South Carolina. This truck is the first hydrogen-fueled vehicle purchased and registered in South Carolina although a number of them are already in service in Canada. CHR wants to publicly demonstrate the viability of the technology. eTec is currently working on adapting the hydrogen setup to the newer generation GMT900 trucks.

Chevy, Jonas Brothers rock out for a green future

Finally, a chance to blog about the Jonas Brothers! Today (Feb. 19), at Walt Disney Studios, Chevy is "rolling out the green carpet" (aka sponsoring) a concert that will ask the more than 150 L.A area students that attend to "promise to live better," save the environment ... and also check out GM's collection of green cars. Jonas Brothers Kevin, Joe and Nick actually own a Chevrolet Tahoe 2 Mode Hybrid SUV (are they old enough to drive?) and the "young influencers" will also enjoy a car that pops popcorn using biofuel and a "hybrid" lab that mixes chocolate and peanut butter. The band was enamored with Chevy's cars after driving the Equinox Fuel Cell recently. Nick Jonas said "Being eco-friendly is important to us." ... that's it. I can't continue writing. I have been blinded by the unbounded, advertising synergy of this event. Enjoy the Kids of the Future music video below the fold.

Should the Corvette never again offer a six-cylinder?

Americans have a long-established love affair with the V8 engine, and with good reason: almost all of the coolest cars that Detroit has produced have had huge V8 engines. Those engines were able to propel the large muscle cars that they were encased in to very high speeds very quickly, all the time burbling away a deep, throaty exhaust note that was music to the driver's ears. We have no problem at all with V8 engines, which will likely still be installed in vehicles for quite some time. What we do have a problem with is the guzzling of gasoline and the accompanying exhaust which pollutes our roadways. A well-designed V8 engine, especially when equipped with technology such as cylinder deactivation and direct injection can provide an abundance of power and reasonable fuel mileage. The same can be said of a well-designed six cylinder with forced injection. Ford has announced that we'll be seeing plenty of such engines from the blue-oval-brand in the coming years, and other manufacturers are sure to follow. The question that is on some writers' minds, though, is whether those high-tech engines should be used in performance cars like the Corvette. We can understand that purists want to see nothing but V8 engines in their favorite sports cars, just as Harley riders want their air-cooled V-Twin. But the notion that there is no other power plant which can provide the necessary power is just plain wrong. Tell the Evolution driver that his four-cylinder engine is holding back performance.

Chevy Volt price watch: $35,000

It seems like GM is finding the middle ground. When the Chevy Volt was first announced, a price tag of $30,000 was bandied about. Then, more recently, we heard that $40,000 was a possibility. Now, according to Canada.com and confirmed by WIRED, GM is saying that the likely target is $35,000 (yes, that's U.S. dollars, not Canadian, even though the two are pretty even these days). Even though this is more than initially proposed, GM doesn't see it as a hurdle to bring out the first-gen models. GM spokesman Dee Allen told WIRED that, "We had set a target of $30,000, but if it comes in closer to $35,000 and it means meeting the 2010 deadline, that's the direction we're going to go."According to GM, it's the power drain caused by things like the windshield wipers and audio system that's posing a problem. Without an alternator, the electricity needed by the stereo takes away power that could be going to turn the wheels. Allen said: "You really start taking away from the range when you're using 10-speaker audio systems, wipers. These systems need to be redone, and they are being redone." But not in time for 2010. First-gen Volts, GM says, will need to have "redundant systems," something that later models will probably not have.

Geneva 2008 Preview: Chevy Aveo loses two doors, still has the same face

While power-hungry American drivers who choose the Chevrolet Aveo are limited to only one engine choice, a 1.6L four cylinder and hatchback and sedan bodies with four lateral doors, overseas buyers get other options. In Europe and elsewhere, a three-door hatchback variant is offered and, unfortunately, at next month's Geneva Motor Show it will inherit the new face that the Aveo 5 got last fall at the Frankfurt Show. This is the "bold" new Chevy grille that just seems terribly over-wrought on this little car. On the plus side, Euro drivers who opt for the Aveo will be able to select from a pair gasoline engines displacing either 1.2 or 1.4L with 84hp and 101hp respectively.

TV ad for Chevy Volt: environmentalists, let dogs lick you instead of bathing

Ladies and gentleman, GM has a competitor for the worst ad is the history of ads (I've embedded it below the fold). First, some background, the video background in the ad is apparently taken from a web video someone took of a dog licking a bare foot (also below the fold). You think that would be bad enough but it just gets worse. The following text appears over the dog's actions: If you care about the environment, you could save water and let your dog give you a bath. Chevy cares about the environment. That's why we're working on an extended range electric car expected to go up to 40 miles without a drop of gas. The Chevy Volt concept.Okay, I think I can almost see what they were trying to achieve. The ad recently aired on Adult Swim's Robot Chicken, which is aimed at a young, hip, ironic, etc. demographic. But this is probably a text book example of how not to sell a car. There were criticisms that GM's advertising for the EV1 was designed to prevent sales. Is GM doing the same thing for the Volt? Or is GM just horrible at advertising? The ad has been airing since November.