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Scoop: First Glance at Next Generation 2016 Chevrolet Volt

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#1 ·
Scoop: First Glance at Next Generation 2016 Chevrolet Volt
Carscoops
By John Halas
Tuesday, April 22, 2014

While heavily camouflaged, the new Volt's silhouette suggests that the reports about Chevrolet refreshing, but not dramatically altering the design of the car, likely hold true. However, it does appear to have a sleeker and pointier shape, if you will.

Our spies, who had a closer look at the car, told us that particular attention was paid to covering the roofs of these prototypes "leaving us to wonder if there is simply another glass roof underneath, or some sort of solar panel".

It was recently reported by Reuters that GM's brass is mulling the development of a lower-cost base version of the 2016 Volt with less equipment and more significantly, a smaller battery pack and shorter driving range of less than 300 miles or 480 km than the standard car, which would probably approach or even surpass the 400 mile or 640km mark.

*Full Article w/Pictures at Link
 
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#6 ·
+1... GM dragging its feet with Voltec.

Greater range for the same price is the way to sell these in numbers. Not a little bit more range for a little more money or a cheaper, shorter range option that only appeals to PBR-drinking hipsters in some city.

Its going to look better at least. And a solar panel roof could make things interesting but its like GM engineered this awesome power train then gave up on improving it with any significance.

If/when Tesla starts upping production, GM will have to compete or take its ball and go home.
 
#5 ·
The Volt needs to target the Prius on affordability. I think they start at just under $ 25K and go up to $ 35K+ for the plug in hybrid. The Volt technology seems better then the hybrid technology and prius plug in is only good for 11 miles on electric only power (up to 65MPH max). Seems like Chevy/GM could get this done. The challenge would seem to be more on the pricing, packaging and marketing to get consumer to believe Volt or Next Generation lower cost Volt are better choices.
 
#16 ·
What makes you think that you haven't seen one?

I have been told by a GM product specialist that a next gen Camaro was photographed in the wild, and that photo was posted here at GMI within the past month or so... It just didn't look like a "Camaro." ;) (The same GM employee has fed me tons of credible info over the years, all of which pans out & much of which I've posted here. He also happens to "lurk" on this forum often, but never posts anything.)

Hint: For anyone who lives around the Detroit area, if you see a camouflaged Alpha (ATS/CTS) vehicle in the wild, take a closer look. The wheels may not line up properly and the interior may not match the current Cadillac scheme... It may also be sporting the sound of an LT1 under the hood... I hear those in Australia may have the chance to see one or two testing there too... ;)
 
#9 ·
The pix and article on here last week showed a test mule that seemed to have a slightly bigger platform. if they could deliver an Epsilon short wheelbase sized version with 5 usable seats, hatchback versatility, and an option of 8, 16, or 24 kw battery packs in the base ranges of $24K, $30K, and $36K they could own the market for plug-in with range extender vehicles. The smaller battery would be better than any of the current market hybrid plug-in offerings with full electric operation up to 20 miles. The middle tier would be the current 40+ mile electric range model. The top tier would allow for 60+ electric miles. Hopefully they could extend those ranges with newer technologies to extend battery life learned from the first generation Volt. In all likelihood the tax credits for the Volt will start to phase out soon (anyone hear a projection of when?), so GM needs these models to sell on their own merits and not on tax credits.
 
#14 ·
How could GM be so far ahead of the pack, with the development and launch of this vehicle. And yet, fall so far behind already? Why hasn't the Voltec power train been spread to other models? I don't get it. I owned a Volt for 2 years, fantastic vehicle. But it doesn't make sense from a cost/efficiency standpoint. Spread the expense to more models, and let's get this thing moving!
 
#15 ·
Far behind who?

Nobody makes a car like this for this price. The closest I can think of is the BMW i3 with REX option which is more expensive and has a host of other compromises.

The Energi's have fairly poor pure EV performance and very short EV range.
Or are you talking about a Model E that doesn't yet exist and in itself will have a host of compromises.

In my opinion GM is taking a car that is still well ahead of everybody and making it better.
 
#17 ·
How could GM be so far ahead of the pack, with the development and launch of this vehicle. And yet, fall so far behind already? Why hasn't the Voltec power train been spread to other models? I don't get it. I owned a Volt for 2 years, fantastic vehicle. But it doesn't make sense from a cost/efficiency standpoint. Spread the expense to more models, and let's get this thing moving!
Exactly! Where is the Voltec Malibu or Colorado? What ever happened to the AMP crossover SUV? GM is famous for sharing parts, but will NOT share a powerplant?
 
#20 ·
I agree with Ed. These spy shots make the car look "blocky and ungainly", unlike last week's pictures. I was hoping for "sleek and sexy".



The way I see it is that GM is making an investment. Since they obviously make more money selling a Cadillac, they figure that a better Cadillac can make a better Chevy down the line.
 
#25 ·
Aiming this car at the Prius would be a disaster.
Making it look like a Camaro would destroy its range.

Why not let the Volt be a friggin Volt and give it the support it needs. Treat it like a Corvette and have some pride in the damn car instead of trying to come up with excuses on why it doesn't do things.
Make it worth 40k and people will buy it.
If you want to make a 25k hybrid, then make a 25k hybrid.
 
#36 ·
Just my opinon, but I would say don't let the Volt be a friggin Volt because they aren't selling enough Volts. They need to change something. I think most of us believe in the technology but the car is more of a miss then a hit.

Meanwhile Toyoda is moving a lot of Prius's and GM never really came out with a successful $ 25,000 Hybrid. Their work with BAS systems were a failure and they never built comparable real hybrids.

How I miss the days when GM would tease us about plug in Saturns and Hydrogen fuel cells....
 
#28 ·
This vehicle looks somewhat different than the vehicle in the other spy shots. Maybe it's just the angles, but the other one looked longer and this looks shorter.

If the rumours of different variants is true, maybe this is the base Volt and the other one is the longer range one. That would be fine with me. Make the shorter range one shorter and the longer range one longer :). Easy to differentiate, then, too :).
 
#29 ·
Using the wheels as comparison it seems this vehicle is longer by a few inches than the other one. And this one is definitely a hatch and the other one looked more like a sedan. It would be interesting to see if GM is opting for a number of Voltec cars this time around, which would be intelligent of them. Maybe we're seeing a sedan, a hatch and perhaps soon we'll see a CUV.

Of course, if the sedan has larger wheels then the sedan-looking vehicle in the pics from last week would be longer than the car pictured above. Since they have different patterns I'd assume they're different mules.

Time will tell, but it does have my curiosity piqued.
 
#35 ·
The Spark EV is a great answer to the low end of the Prius range. It's also probably closer to turning a profit per unit than Volt is. Putting Voltec in a high-end Buick makes sense, it could possibly bring a profit. There's no hope of selling Voltec Malibus at a profit. People won't pay $40,000 for them.

As the post above shows, we have good entry level and high level options. We need a mid level choice.
 
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