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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.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla's Europe plans, Chevy Bolt details

Hybrid Cars takes a close look at the battery cooling system and gearbox in the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt. While information is still limited, we can make educated guesses about the car's inner workings. The Bolt's liquid battery cooling system appears simpler than that of the Chevy Volt, eschewing active inter cell cooling plates for what appear to be bottom cooling plates. The Bolt has a coaxial gearbox, with the electric motor and the drive shaft on the same axis. It uses a simpler parallel-helical gear set rather than the planetary reduction set used in the Chevy Spark EV. These simplifications have the benefit of helping lower the cost of the Bolt. Read more at Hybrid Cars. Tesla is planning to expand its Supercharger network in Europe in 2016. While a handful of countries in western and central Europe have an established Supercharger network, many European countries still have no Tesla presence. That should change this year, as a map of planned locations includes Spain and Portugal, Ireland, Scandinavian and Italian expansions, and the first Superchargers in many eastern European nations, including Poland, the Balkans, Russia, Ukraine, Romania and even Moldova. By the end of the year, you should be able to take that electric road trip from Lisbon to Moscow you never knew you were planning. Read more at Teslarati. National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe sat down for an interview with the Tampa Bay Times. In the interview, Jobe discusses biodiesel's environmental impact and relationship with the fuel market. He talks about its production, and its differences from the other major biofuel, ethanol. Jobe says the biggest challenge is dealing with the petroleum industry, which biodiesel needs to work with despite their differences. "It's a threat when you have the largest, wealthiest most powerful industry in human history making it a top priority to eliminate policy that is aimed at helping incentivize renewable energy," says Jobe. Read more from the Tampa Bay Times. Related Gallery 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV: Detroit 2016 View 10 Photos News Source: Hybrid Cars, Teslarati, Tesla Motors, Tampa Bay Times Green Chevrolet Tesla Alternative Fuels Biodiesel Electric recharge wrapup

GM says EVs are the future — but trucks are going to take it there

In the PowerPoint deck for the General Motors Capital Markets Day presentation, one of the more disturbing things comes early on, during GM President Mark Reuss' initial remarks, in an area where he is discussing the company's overall strength in trucks. The point being made is that GM has a truck for all and sundry. And there it is, a phrase on a slide that should send chills up the spines of those who still pine for the old Bob Seger "Like a Rock" Silverado ads: "Little bit country. Little bit rock 'n' roll." That's right. Donny and Marie. Somehow the Denis Leary snark in the F-150 ads is all the more appealing. The Capital Markets Day presentation was chock full of observations about electrification and automation (Reuss and CEO Mary Barra both noted that the corporation's vision is one of "Zero Crashes. Zero Emissions. Zero Congestion." Dan Ammann talked about the progress being made at Cruise Automation; Reuss rolled out the plan for an array of electrified vehicles, with a luxury EV and a compact SUV being the "Centroid Entries" for the modular bases of many others). But it is worth noting that there is no getting away from the power of pickups in the U.S. market, as that was the central topic in Chief Financial Officer Dhivya Suryadevara's comments, with "Truck Franchise" being flanked by "Key Financial Priorities" and "Financial Outlook." Clearly, to gloss the old phrase, the truck segment is where the money is. Suryadevra enumerated how the truck segment is significantly different than other types of light vehicles. Among her points: GM, Ford and FCA have more than 90% of market share. The truck parc has been growing and aging over the past 10 years. Customers are fiercely loyal to the segment—as in 70% of truck buyers are truck buyers. A good number of the vehicles are for commercial use (40 percent). Trucks are "less prone to. . .mobility disruption." Trucks offer high margins. Translaton: The segment is one that they're solidly positioned in. There are lots of old trucks on the road that will need to be replaced by new ones. Perhaps buyers may switch from a Sierra to a Canyon, but it will be a truck. If your livelihood depends on that type of vehicle, even if gas prices go up or the economy begins to go south, you're going to stick with it. Most of the country isn't San Francisco, so trucks will continue to be essential. And, well, they're profitable in the extreme.