Shoppers Say Chevy Volt Expensive, Nissan Leaf Ugly in Study

Despite their small share of total vehicle sales, the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius garner a lot of attention from new-car shoppers, according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2012 Avoider Study.

The study finds that gas mileage is the most important attribute shoppers are looking at now, surpassing older key reasons such as exterior styling, reliability and price.

That puts the Volt, Prius and Leaf in a good position as each are among the most fuel-efficient cars in the country.

Volt Owners Could One Day Tap More Renewable Charging

OnStar and PJM Interconnection, a major electric transmission company, are teaming up to help make clean, renewable electrical charging easier for Chevrolet Volt owners.

Together, the firms have developed software that manages the use of renewable energy via the Volt's OnStar data connection. The software, which is still in beta testing, would notify Volt owners by about time-of-use energy pricing, identify new charging locations and manage the energy put into the Volt.

For instance, the software could inform Volt owners that peak wind generation typically happens between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., making charging at those times most advantageous. Customers can also indicate that they'd like to use renewable energy sources, and OnStar would regulate the charging by using only those sources. Furthermore, the software could track the demand for renewable energy sources by consumers, which would help companies like PJM with investment in the proper infrastructure.

The software is part of a greater effort to improve the sustainability and efficiency of our electrical grid by focusing more on information gathering, also known as smarting the grid.

NHTSA Closes Chevy Volt Investigation

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has concluded its safety defect investigation into the Chevy Volt. It opened the case on November 25 after reports of the Volt catching on fire following severe crashes.

"The agency's investigation has concluded that no discernible defect trend exists and that the vehicle modifications recently developed by General Motors reduce the potential for battery intrusion resulting from side impacts," NHTSA said in a statement.

GM has decided to re-engineer the battery coolant system and make structural enhancements to Volt to protect the battery in the event of a crash. The automaker strengthened the structural elements that protect the battery, added a new sensor to the coolant system reservoir to monitor the coolant level and installed a tamper-resistant bracket to the coolant reservoir to prevent overfilling.

NHTSA also stated that there haven't been any real-world Volt crashes that have resulted in battery-related fires. The original fires were reported after lab tests on the Volt's battery pack resulted in an electric fire days later.

GM Makes Changes to Chevy Volt Battery

In an effort to reduce the risk of electrical fire after a severe accident, Chevrolet has issued what it calls a customer satisfaction initiative on the Volt. General Motors is voluntarily recalling nearly 8,000 Volts to re-engineer the battery coolant system. GM is also making structural enhancements to the vehicle to protect the battery in the event of a crash.

The modifications are an answer to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s findings that severe-impact crashes could lead to a coolant leak and electrical fire. Lab tests late last year on the battery pack led to an electrical fire six days later. A similar occurrence happened after the Volt was involved in a major crash in summer 2011.

GM Will Buy Back Chevy Volts From Nervous Owners

GM CEO Dan Akerson told the Associated Press today that, if necessary, not only will the automaker recall every Volt it has ever made to fix the battery problem (once GM determines what it is), it's even willing to buy back Volts from owners who are nervous about the possibility of a fire in the event of a crash.

Akerson reasserted that the Volts are safe, but he told the AP that GM is taking this unusual step because it wants to keep its customers happy. Of course, given that fewer than 10,000 Volts are on the road today, this wouldn't have as much of an impact on GM's bottom line versus a mainstream seller.

"I think in the interest of General Motors, the industry, the electrification of the car, it's best to get it right now than when you have — instead of 6,000 — 60,000 or 600,000 cars on the road," Akerson told the AP.

Fires have occurred in one Volt and two separate battery packs after crash tests by the federal government. Those fires, though, happened long after the crash tests were performed.

Earlier this week, GM offered all owners (including Cars.com) a loaner vehicle if they felt unsafe in their Volt, and a company spokesman told the AP that the automaker doesn’t expect many owners to take it up on the buy-back program.

GM Willing to Buy Back Volts (AP)

GM Considers Chevy Volt Battery Redesign After Probe

General Motor’s CEO Dan Akerson told Reuters today that the automaker may redesign the Chevy Volt’s battery pack after a recent federal probe into safety concerns about possible fires.

In the one vehicle that’s the probe’s focus, a fire started three weeks after the car was in a crash. Akerson says there need to be “protocols” post-crash to ensure the lithium-ion battery is drained so fires don’t occur.

GM will wait until there is a resolution with government agencies before launching a European version of the Volt under the Opel brand.

Chevy Volt Tops in Owner Satisfaction

In its annual owner satisfaction study, Consumer Reports admits that it’s dominated by fuel-efficient vehicles and sporty ones. These two types of owners seem the most satisfied with their purchase versus buyers of more traditional or practical ones.

The Volt had the highest satisfaction rate with 93% of owners saying they’d buy it again. Consumer Reports says its study was composed of 314,000 responses from subscribers with vehicles from the 2009 through 2012 model years. Because the Volt has sold in such small quantities for such a short time its high score should have a few asterisks attached to it.

The study also focuses on just one premise: Would you buy this car again?

It doesn’t take into consideration reliability or other issues covered in other CR studies.

Overall, domestic automakers dominated most segments of the study, taking the top spot in eight of 10 segments surveyed. However, domestic makes also took the lowest scoring title in seven out of 10 segments.

Check out the full lists below.

GM Offers Loaners to Concerned Volt Owners

To alleviate fears involving recent evidence that a severe crash in a Chevrolet Volt could result in a car fire, GM today announced it’s offering free vehicle loans to wary Volt owners.

In May, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration discovered that a severe impact and intrusion into the Volt’s battery assembly can over time result in an electrical fire. After the initial crash test, it took three weeks for the Volt’s lithium-ion battery pack to catch on fire, according to NHTSA.

The May incident was recreated three times by NHTSA more than two weeks ago; so far, the preliminary investigation has shown that one vehicle battery pack ignited while another began to smoke and emit sparks shortly after the crash test.

700 Miles in the Volt: Costs and Comfort

In a homecoming of sorts, I drove the Cars.com Chevy Volt to its place of manufacture, Detroit, from Cars.com's Chicago headquarters for some unrelated test-driving events. There was no fanfare, but even in Detroit, the Volt gets noticed and garners an occasional thumbs-up.

At 692 miles round-trip, this was the Volt's longest journey since January's maiden voyage from a California dealership in the hands of our editor-in-chief. It was also my longest single excursion with it, and I found it to be an excellent car for the long haul. It's comfortable, rides well and maintains high speeds easily. It rained every inch of the way back to Chicago, and the Volt felt surefooted and grounded even through standing water and substantial crosswinds.

Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf Bring in New Customers

While total sales have been low so far, the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf are having a big impact by drawing customers that wouldn’t usually shop either brand, according to the L.A. Times.

Nearly 78% of Volt buyers didn’t own a Chevrolet before purchasing the plug-in electric. Nearly 90% of Leaf buyers didn’t own a Nissan beforehand.

Some 37% of Chevrolet Volt buyers are from California, which is a weak market for GM. The most frequently traded-in car for the Volt is the Toyota Prius, accounting for 7% of trade-ins, according to the L.A. Times. About 18% of the Nissan Leaf trade-ins are the Prius, says Nissan. Nearly 38% of all Leaf trade-ins are Toyotas.

Both vehicles are attracting shoppers who come to dealerships to look at the EVs, but ultimately buy something else in the lineups. Even so, the Chevrolet Cruze — a car that’s benefited from sharing a space with the Volt — only has a 48% conquest rate, which is just 5% more than Chevrolet’s overall conquest rate.

Prius owners are trading into electric vehicles (LA Times)