By Megan Green

In the late 1800′s, as cities grew larger and more crowded, the automobile become more and more of a necessity to offset the unhealthy and malodorous pollution from horses. Each horse could produce upwards of 35 pounds of waste per day, not to mention the macabre detail that dead horses littered the cities in the thousands per year. In 1903, William Phelps Eno wrote the first traffic code in the world for the city of New York and very soon the world was introduced to the Stop sign. Several years after that, Henry Ford put the modern assembly lines into practice, thus making the automobile cheaper and accessible to a wider range of consumers. This all led to the prevalence of automobile use and ownership facilitating the migration of people from cities to newly created suburbs post-World War II.

Now, in year 2011, we are at a similar crossroads. The trend has reversed; people are moving back to cities to decreasing space and resources. The streets are once again congested and, as a result, generating unhealthy emissions. Not only that, but the cost of filling up the gas tank just keeps skyrocketing. In the United States, CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, enacted in 1975 as part of the Energy Policy Conservation Act, were updated in 2007 by the Bush Administration with the mandate to improve fuel economy (and therefore reduce tailpipe emissions) to 35mpg by model year 2020. President Obama announced another agreement July 29, 2011 to increase fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon by model year 2025.

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After nearly four years of development and extensive testing with the pre-production models, General Motors has officially announced pricing and has begun taking customer orders for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt in seven select markets starting today. For the general public who are not up to speed on the details, the Chevy Volt is the first electric vehicle with extended-range capability and not limited to the battery’s capacity. The Volt’s MSRP will start at $41,000 ($33,500 net of full federal income tax credit, which ranges from $0 – $7,500) and includes the $720 destination charge.

The Chevy Volt has a total range of approximately 340 miles. The beauty is that the Volt uses a small gasoline engine which recharges the Li-Ion batteries and extends the car’s range another 300 miles after it runs tailpipe-emission-free for 40 miles on battery power. The purpose of the small engine is to recharge the batteries and extend the range of the vehicle — not to assist the powertrain as with the case of hybrid vehicles.

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The C7 will be the first Corvette designed outside the US

General Motors is looking to the future and realizes the current generation Corvette has a problem, its buyers are getting old. The average age of a Corvette buyer is 54 and each year is getting higher. Chevy is hoping to fix this by designing the next generation (C7) Corvette to appeal to a younger audience.

Chevy’s plan is to draw upon its pool of international design studios to come up with something that will interest a younger buyer. GM also hopes the international design will help give it more global appeal. Outside the US the Corvette is a poor seller. GM’s VP of global design, Ed Welburn said the target for the C7 is a design that feels trimmer and overcomes the stigma of being a large car.

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Will the US get a real SS model in the future?

Chevy is going to offer a Cruze SS model in Singapore and for the love of god, let’s hope we get something better here in the US. In the island city-state, the SS model will just be a $3,500 stripe and body kit appearance package. Where is the great suspension setup and the 260-hp turbo engine the Cobalt SS had? With any luck, we get a true Cruze SS model in the US.

You might be wondering why it even matters if the Cruze does get a high performance option. In the 2011 model year, the Cruze is going to replace the Cobalt, but there is no high performance option. The Cobalt SS was a solid performer, but it suffered from rental car looks. Our team of editors at CarReview raved over the Cobalt SS and Road and Track Magazine considered the Cobalt SS best in its class for it’s outstanding performance.

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By Adrienne Gruben

Continuing my focus on the American automakers’ efforts at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), I want to look at one of Daewoo’s descendents, the 5-door, 5-passenger, Chevy Aveo. I wrote that everyone borrows from everyone else, though less from the Americans, and while it’s not surprising that it was Chevy was doing some borrowing, it is surprising is how bi-polar they are being about it.

Some say that Chevy is re-appropriating the Daewoo but complaining that just because you bought ‘em doesn’t mean you gotta be ‘em, and if you’re gonna do it, be honest. My belief is that they borrowed just as much from the Scion xD and a little from the Scion xA, but its more fun for people who write comments on articles to kvetch about its similarities to Daewoo.

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By Adrienne Gruben

As I wrote in my Camaro Synergy Green Special Edition article, the Americans are trying to put their best feet forward at this year’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.

Now, it’s no secret that saddled by the stigma from a rough decade or two, the American wow factor isn’t always as high as with Japanese or European product. And despite the fact that everybody borrows, no one will argue that some of the Americans have been snoozy on innovation, and even classics like Mustang and Corvette (a market that some foreign automakers have wanted to enter) are sometimes referred to as pieces of s*#t because of laziness about features as basic as cheap control panels. You’re going to want to add other negatives to the list, but you can’t – it’s my keyboard. Bottom line: American cars haven’t inspired foreign automakers to rip them off for decades.

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The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) had much to offer this year, but what I was most impressed with was how hard the American car underdogs are trying to win back individual drivers. Instead of choosing to remain in sad, little rental car fleets, they are going for “Most Improved Player,” while also staying true to the more positive parts of their images. I know, I know, some of you communists are thinking, “What positive parts?” but allow me to give props to one recent effort.

I need to get this out of the way: Camaro’s Synergy Green Special Edition is NOT green in the trendy sense; it’s not a an electric vehicle, or even a hybrid. It’s actually green. REALLY green. “Shrek” Green. So what’s up with the green, and why do I sort of love it? Camaro spoke to me personally about it–me, and 3000 other enthusiasts.

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$30 billion is gone, but it could have been worse

This was a bad year for both the auto industry and the American taxpayer. The Obama administration’s effort to save General Motors and Chrysler will cost taxpayers $30 billion. The Detroit News reported last week that the losses were less than expected. Earlier forecasts projected a loss of $44 billion of the $82 billion loaned-out.

GM received $50 billion of the money, with $43 billion given in exchange for 61 percent of the company.
A large portion of the $30 billion loss is due to Chrysler. Chrysler has had much of its $12 billion debt forgiven. The government is requiring Fiat to pay back $6 billion in loans before it can increase its 20 percent stake in the company, said Detroit News.

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