Sing Along to "Chevy Volt and Me"

At long last, it's the Chevy Volt theme song.

Tesla Chooses Downey

Cars are still a source of recovery for some towns. Downey, a suburb of Los Angeles, hopes Tesla Motors can help revive its fortunes after the collapse of the aerospace industry.

AP's Daisey Nguyen writes:

This blue-collar suburb on the edge of Los Angeles once helped send men to space. After the collapse of its aerospace industry, its ambitions are now more down-to-earth but still looking toward the future.

The City Council last week unanimously approved an agreement intended to lure Tesla Motors' electric car manufacturing plant to the former site of a NASA plant that helped develop the Apollo program and the space shuttle fleet.

The city hopes that the car factory will bring $21 million in city revenues over 15 years, create about 1,200 jobs and help revitalize its reputation as Southern California's high-tech hub.

"Not only will it bring money to the city, it will establish us as a leader in electric car and green technology production," Mayor Mario Guerra said.

China Gets Electric

The news just gets better and better for domestic automakers.

Keith Bradsher of The New York Times reports:

Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that.

The goal, which radiates from the very top of the Chinese government, suggests that Detroit’s Big Three, already struggling to stay alive, will face even stiffer foreign competition on the next field of automotive technology than they do today.

“China is well positioned to lead in this,” said David Tulauskas, director of China government policy at General Motors.

Le Zoop

How can you not love an electric car that's designed by the the Paris fashion house Maison de Courréges and can do 120 m.p.h.?

I got this from the cheapinsurance.org website. In addition to this Zoop Car, they have a list of other "Weird and Unusual" cars that no one would ever actually insure.

Danger: Good News!

Who says nothing good ever happens to Flint?

Joe Lawlor of The Flint Journal reports:

"General Motors confirmed that it intends to make Flint the manufacturing home of the engine for the much-touted, battery-powered Chevrolet Volt, according to paperwork filed with the city.

"The Volt, hailed for its potential to reduce the world's reliance on fossil fuels, would run entirely on a battery charge for about 40 miles and use a gasoline engine -- apparently to be built in Flint -- to keep the vehicle powered for longer trips.

"The engine for the Volt would be built at a new plant announced by GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner in June. The new documents indicate the facility would be located on Van Slyke Road adjacent to Flint Engine South and Flint Truck Assembly."

Expensive ride

Forget the sticker price, what's the true cost of owning a behemoth like the Ford F-250? According to The New York Times, if you keep it five years, drive it about 15,000 miles a year, and gas stays at around $4 a gallon, it's $100,000. The gas alone would set you back $30,000.

A Piece of Cloud

As if Japan and Europe weren't enough competition for the Michigan auto industry, China is now on the horizon as well. This Tang Hua electric car is called "A Piece of Cloud." It's hard to imagine this over-sized Skittle rolling down Dort Highway, but you never know. The Photo is courtesy of Auto Pacific Vehicle Voice, a great website for car enthusiasts.

GM's Electric Dreams

With the Detroit auto show in full swing, Toyota announced plans to develop a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle with a lithium-ion battery before 2010. This is bad news for General Motors, which is allegedly planning to introduce its own lithium-ion hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt, around the same time and build it in Detroit.

I say "allegedly" because GM doesn't have a great track record on promoting electric vehicles, and GM execs have already started fudging on if the Volt will actually be in production by the 2010 target date.

The sad tale of how GM developed and then crushed — literally — their electric EV1 is chronicled in the 2006 film Who Killed the Electric Car. According to Wikipedia:

"A large part of the film accounts for GM's efforts to demonstrate to California that there was no demand for their product, and then to take back every EV1 and dispose of them. A few were disabled and given to museums and universities, but almost all were found to have been crushed; GM never responded to the EV drivers' offer to pay the residual lease value ($1.9 million was offered for the remaining 78 cars in Burbank before they were crushed). Several activists are shown being arrested in the protest that attempted to block the GM car carriers taking the remaining EV1s off to be crushed.

"The film explores some of the reasons that the auto and oil industries worked to kill off the electric car. Wally Rippel is shown explaining that the oil companies were afraid of losing out on trillions in potential profit from their transportation fuel monopoly over the coming decades, while the auto companies were afraid of losses over the next six months of EV production."

Once you watch this movie, you'll find it hard to believe that GM will ever beat Toyota at the electric car game.