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Chevy Volt sales drop in June, Nissan Leaf inches upwards

Different month, same story. That's the gist of the monthly US sales numbers from the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. These were the first two mass-market plug-in vehicles to go on sale in the US and we've been comparing their sales numbers for what seems like ages now. So far, the 2014 tale of the tape shows the all-electric once again trumping the plug-in hybrid. The last time the Volt outsold the Leaf was in October 2013. Chevrolet sold 1,777 Volts in June. That was good enough to be the Volt's best sales month of the year, but it's down 34 percent from the 2,698 units sold in June 2013. In fact, it's on par with the 1,760 Volts sold in June 2012. Given the steady sales, General Motors might need to push up the release of the next-gen Volt to gin up excitement, especially if it also offers some of the things that current Volt drivers say they want improved: more range, a lower price and a fifth seat. GM also said it sold 85 Spark EVs in June, an increase of 215 percent over June 2013 Nissan sold 2,347 Leafs last month. The good news continues for Nissan, which says it sold 2,347 Leafs last month. That's an increase of 5.5 percent over 2013 numbers and makes 2014 the best June ever for Leaf sales. Let's credit Texas. Toby Perry, Nissan's director of EV sales and marketing, said in a statement that, "Since the Texas state incentive went into effect in May, we've seen a big jump in Leaf sales in the Austin, Dallas and Houston markets. Our dealers are telling us that they saw more traffic in their stores, and they had their best Leaf sales performance in the last weekend in June." Even with that increase, Atlanta remains the top Leaf market. Nissan has sold 12,736 Leafs in the US so far this year; Chevy 8,615 Volts. Our detailed monthly sales write-up of green cars in the US, including plug-in vehicles, hybrids and diesel cars, is coming soon. For now, we invite you to discuss these numbers in the Comments. Related Gallery 2013 Nissan Leaf View 55 Photos News Source: GM, Nissan Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales

Chevrolet Camaros at SEMA are a mobile accessory catalog

Chevy's goal at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas this week seems to be to show as much of its Performance and Accessories catalog as possible. That's why it brought three different Camaros - two with V8s and one powered by a V6 - with all of the best goodies from the catalog already fitted.
We gave a more in-depth recap of the Performance Camaro V8 Concept, the Performance Camaro V6 Concept and the Performance Garage Concept already, but we figured you'd like a short recap for each. It should be noted, though, that you can order all of the items you see here for your own Camaro, so be sure to take a long, hard look at our live galleries, just in case you're in the market for some mods.
Essentially, the Performance Garage Concept and the Performance V8 Concept are the same car - the only difference is that the later features a whole host of aesthetic tweaks in addition to its aftermarket, shorty exhaust headers and 2.75-inch exhaust. (The Performance Garage Concept has been usefully placed on its side; the better to see the new parts added to the vehicle.) The Performance V6 Concept is notable because, despite being a V6, there's no shortage of performance goodies fitted. All three of the Performance Camaros benefit from items from the Camaro ZL1, which can also be ordered through the catalog.

CNG-powered Chevy Sonic, Cruze headed your way

The value proposition for a Crazy Diamond Performance CNG ride was a little bit better before gas prices took a dive in the past month. Still, the Michigan-based company, which converts some of Chevrolet's compact vehicles to run on compressed natural gas, received approval late last month from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for two of its conversion models. And CNG is still pretty cheap. Crazy Diamond will start selling CNG versions of both the Chevrolet Cruze and Chevrolet Sonic. The startup will target fleet operators looking to cut both refueling costs and their carbon footprint. CNG can be found in much of the country in the low $2 range, while the average CO2 emissions are about 25 percent less than those of similar gas-powered vehicles. Average gas prices have tumbled by more than 30 cents a gallon in the last month, according to AAA, but they're still at close to $3. The two models will be able to go almost 300 miles on a full tank of CNG. Crazy Diamond said this summer that it would start selling converted a CNG-powered Cruze that delivers 130 horsepower for as low as $26,000. The turbocharged version goes for about $28,000. Take a look at Crazy Diamond Performance's celebratory press release below. Crazy Diamond Performance recieves EPA approval on its CNG Cruze and Sonic CDP receives EPA approval for its Mono-Fuel CNG Cruze and Sonic. Shelby Township, Michigan, October 30, 2014– Crazy Diamond Performance (CDP) receives EPA approval on its Mono-Fuel Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Chevrolet Cruze and Chevrolet Sonic. Crazy Diamond Performance has received EPA approval on two new mono-fuel small passenger vehicles, the CNG Chevrolet Cruze and CNG Chevrolet Sonic. These new mono-fuel CNG platforms are the first of a series of small and fuel efficient vehicles coming from CDP, where cost, low emissions and reduced fuel consumption is important for not only fleet owners, but to the general public as well. "Soon to be available, are the 1.8L and 1.4L Cruze and Sonic CNG retrofit systems. These two vehicles represent a change in the status quo, with an OEM level integration of the fuel system and its components" states Michelle Fern, Executive Vice President CDP Inc. These vehicles provide flexibility for fleets looking to purchase a domestic small mono-fuel passenger sedan, but have not had an option until now. There are significant emissions benefits over its gasoline counterpart, with an average reduction in Carbon Dioxide (CO2) of 25%.