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2015 Chevy Impala Bi-fuel burns CNG, starts at $37,385*

Currently, the only natural-gas-powered passenger car offered for sale by an OEM in the US is the Honda Civic Natural Gas. Starting this fall, that long-running CNG car will be joined by a CNG-burning 2015 Chevy Impala for both fleet and retail customers. General Motors announced today that the car will start at $37,385, plus an $825 destination charge. That comes to $38,210 before taxes and options. Those options include two trim lines, the base LS and the upper-level LT. Chevy doesn't break out the details in the press release announcing the price, but you can see the trim details for the standard gas-powered 2014 Impala here. Exact information on the 2015 models is not available just yet, but GM spokesman Chad Lyons told AutoblogGreen that the equipment that you see listed on the site for 2014 is "almost exactly the same" as what will be available for 2015. The 2015 Impala gets around 19 city mpg on CNG, but official EPA numbers are not yet available. That means the LS will come with 18-inch aluminum wheels, electric variable-assist power steering, projector-beam headlamps, and 10 air bags. The LT adds an eight-inch touch screen with MyLink, premium Cloth interior and dual-zone automatic climate controls. The cost for this upgrade is unspecified. For CNG purposes, we can ignore the numerical prefix used for the gas-powered LT trims, since that denominates the engine type, and all the CNG models use a 3.6-liter engine with hardened valves and valve seats that can better handle natural gas. The trunk capacity also drops from 18.8 cubic feet to 10 cu .ft. in order to fit in the CNG tank that holds the equivalent of 7.8 gallons of gas. That amount of CNG should move you 150 city miles, which is around 19 mpg, but official EPA numbers are not yet available. With the addition of the gasoline on board, the overall range is 500 city miles. The car burns CNG when available and switches to gas with "no interruption" either when the tank is empty or when the driver selects the gas tank. Find more details in the press release below. GM says the CNG Impala will will be available nationwide this fall. CNG is a growing fuel in the US, thanks in part to fracking. The Civic Natural Gas, which starts at $26,640, is growing towards a nationwide availability. Next year, for example, the Shell Eco-marathon Americas in Detroit will allow CNG for the first time. Chevrolet Announces Pricing of CNG-Capable 2015 Impala 2014-05-06 LONG BEACH, Calif.

Buick Encore, Chevy Trax reportedly dead after 2022

The Buick Encore will not get an encore, and the Chevrolet Trax is dead in its tracks. Separate unverified reports say the two crossovers, which are essentially identical underneath the sheetmetal, will retire at the end of the 2022 model year without being directly replaced. Citing anonymous sources, enthusiast website GM Authority wrote that production of the Encore and the Trax is scheduled to end in the third quarter of 2022. Both models are manufactured in Bupyeong-gu, South Korea, and General Motors will reportedly use the extra production capacity to build more examples of the Trailblazer, which outsold the Encore and the Trax combined by a significant margin in 2021. General Motors hasn't commented on the report, but we wouldn't be surprised if the end is indeed near for the Encore and the Trax. Buick released the Encore for the 2013 model year, and Chevrolet launched the Trax for 2015, but the model made its debut as the Opel Mokka in 2012. It's at the end of its life cycle, and sales figures reflect this: 20,072 units of the Encore were sold in America in 2021, a drop of 52% compared to 2020, while 42,590 examples of the Trax found a home, a 60% decline. It's further proof that Americans don't like small cars. Viewed in that light, the decision not to replace either crossover makes perfect sense. If the report is accurate, the Encore GX (which is not related to the Encore in any way) will enter the 2023 model year as Buick's entry-level model. The situation is a little more complicated at Chevrolet: The pocket-sized Spark is on its way out in 2022 as well, meaning that the Trailblazer will become the entry point into the range. It's a different story in Europe: Opel, which is now part of the Stellantis group, released the second-generation Mokka in June 2020.

2014 Chevy Cruze Diesel destined for Chicago debut

It's been a little over a year and a half since General Motors first confirmed plans to offer a diesel-powered Chevrolet Cruze here in the United States, and we've now learned that the oil-burning compact will debut under the lights of the Chicago Auto Show in February. According to GM Authority, the Cruze Eco-D will be introduced as part of the entire 2014 model year Cruze range, set to go on sale in the second quarter of this year.
Earlier reports have indicated that the diesel Cruze will be able to achieve fuel economy numbers in the range of 50 miles per gallon. For comparison, the similarly sized Volkswagen Jetta TDI is rated at 30/42 mpg city/highway, but as we found out in our long-term test of the 2011 model, hitting 50 mpg was a piece of cake.
Official specifications will be released at the time of the 2014 Cruze's unveiling, though reports have stated that the sedan will be powered by a reworked version of the 2.0-liter turbo-diesel inline-four found in the Holden Cruze CDX overseas. In that application, the four-pot oil-burner produces 160 horsepower and 265 pound-feet of torque - increases of 20 hp and 29 lb-ft over the 2.0-liter engine used in VW's Jetta TDI.