1984 Chevrolet S-10 Ls on 2040-cars

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2016 Chevy Volt will not need premium gas

Buried in the new technical details of the 2016 Chevy Volt released yesterday was a throwaway line about a small but important change that's due to the new 1.5-liter, four-cylinder engine. The first-gen Volt has always required premium gas but the new powerplant will be happy burning plain old regular. The Volt's chief engineer, Andrew Farah, told AutoblogGreen that the change was due to today's Volt owners explaining they were not happy paying for top-shelf petroleum. "The ability to use regular unleaded was based directly on customer feedback," he said. "Since the range extender is an all-new engine, it was optimized to use regular unleaded at the outset. Using regular fuel will not have effect on vehicle acceleration or other performance factors." As Larry Nitz, GM's executive director of vehicle electrification, told AutoblogGreen yesterday, the new engine is more powerful and quieter than the outgoing 1.4-liter engine that's used in the current Volt. Fuel economy and EV range specs for the next-gen Volt are not expected until the full car is revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

GM seeks national mandate for zero-emissions cars

DETROIT — General Motors says it will ask the federal government for one national gas mileage standard, including a requirement that a percentage of auto companies' sales be zero-emissions vehicles. Mark Reuss, GM's executive vice president of product development, said the company will propose that a certain percentage of nationwide sales be made up of vehicles that run on electricity or hydrogen fuel cells. GM says a nationwide program modeled on such a requirement in California could result in 7 million electric vehicles, or EVs, on U.S. roads by 2030. California wants 15.4 percent of vehicle sales by 2025 to be EVs or other zero emission vehicles. Nine other states, including Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, have adopted those requirements. In January, California Governor Jerry Brown set a target of 5 million zero-emission vehicles in California by 2030. The Trump administration criticizes California's ZEV mandate, saying it requires automakers to spend tens of billions of dollars developing vehicles that most consumers do not want, only to sell them at a loss. Reuss told reporters that governments and industries in Asia and Europe "are working together to enact policies now to hasten the shift to an all-electric future. It's very simple: America has the opportunity to lead in the technologies of the future." A national mandate also would create jobs and reduce fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and "make EVs more affordable," Reuss added. GM, the nation's largest automaker, will spell out the request Friday in written comments on a Trump administration proposal to roll back Obama-era fuel economy and emissions standards, freezing them at 2020 levels instead of gradually making them tougher. Under a regulation finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency at the end of the Obama administration, the fleet of new automobiles would have to get 36 miles per gallon by 2025, 10 mpg higher than the current requirement. But the Trump administration's preferred plan is to freeze the standards starting in 2021. Administration officials say waiving the tougher fuel efficiency requirements would make vehicles more affordable, which would get safer cars into consumer hands more quickly. GM on Thursday said it doesn't support the freeze, but wants flexibility to deal with consumers' shift from cars to less-efficient SUVs and trucks.

Chevy preparing new Camaro ZL1 Convertible?

It's a given that when an automaker introduces a new performance model, it's only a matter of time before an even hotter variant arrives. The Ford Mustang begets the Shelby GT350 and the Dodge Challenger R/T spawns the SRT 392 and Hellcat. And for Chevrolet, that progression sees the Camaro SS evolve into the ZL1. That's probably what our spies have captured here. The convertible variant of GM's most powerful Camaro is betrayed not by its big, black wheels or quad exhaust tips – both of those items have been fitted to the far tamer 1LE in the past – but by its brakes. To put it simply, they're enormous. The old ZL1 had 14.6-inch rotors in front and 14.4-inchers in the back, with Brembo-branded six-piston calipers up front and four-piston binders at the rear. While the overall size of the calipers doesn't appear to have changed much, it looks like the rotors – especially in front – seem to take up a larger space inside the front wheels than in last year's model. Perhaps Chevy moved to a straight 15-inch rotor? It's difficult to discern any more from these images, though. Chevy did a fine job with the camouflage, making it difficult to pick out ZL1-specific body parts. From the rear spoiler to the front fascia to the side sills, each body piece looks like it's the same as the standard Camaro or is just completely obscured. If this is a Camaro ZL1, it seems like Chevy may have just stuffed the vital organs inside the body of more pedestrian droptop. According to our spies, it's unlikely that Chevy will mix things up under the hood. Expect the 6.2-liter, supercharged V8 from the Corvette Z06 and Cadillac CTS-V to move the ZL1 from 550 horsepower to around 640 ponies when it debuts for model year 2017. A six-speed manual transmission will be standard, while the Camaro's big brother will probably donate its eight-speed automatic. Related Video: Image Credit: Brian Williams / SpiedBilde Spy Photos Chevrolet Convertible Performance chevy camaro zl1