By: Alan Gamblin
It’s not every day you get to drive a million dollar car; let alone six of them. That was my experience yesterday in the desert of Nevada. Chevrolet invited their dealers to a race track in Spring Mountain, Nevada to drive prototypes of the redesigned 2016 Camaro, Malibu, Spark and Colorado Duramax Diesel. Earlier I had the opportunity to drive the new 2016 Volt at a facility in Las Vegas. As these vehicles are pre-production cars, each car cost one million dollars or more to build. I can only say it was six million dollars of awesome. Let me share some thoughts on each vehicle.
2016 Chevrolet Volt
The all-new 2016 Chevrolet Volt electric car with extended range, showcasing a sleeker, sportier design that offers 50 miles of EV range, greater efficiency and stronger acceleration.
The all-new 2016 Volt has been refined and reengineered, based on customer input. Volt owners are the most satisfied in the industry and are very loyal, 90% say they would own another one. Current Volt owner feedback drove the changes in the new Volt. Many of you know that I love the Volt. Not only have I owned one, but I have leased Volt to family members as well. Driving the new Volt confirmed that Chevy listened to us.
Let me start out by highlighting the nuts and bolts changes before I talk about styling. The new Volt has more electric range. Now 50 EV miles, up from 38 miles with an estimated 102 MPGe (Combined). MPGe is the energy equivalent to a gallon of gas. While in gas mode the car will deliver more than 41 MPG’s. Chevy achieved this with a two-motor drive which increases acceleration and increased efficiency. Something else that is new is the ability to set your charging preferences for home and the car’s GPS will adjust to home settings automatically. You will save at the pump as Volt now runs on regular unleaded when your charge runs out. All new is Regen on Demand, which enables the driver to initiate regenerative braking using a steering wheel button. The vehicle’s kinetic energy is captured and sent back to the battery, while the vehicle is slowing down.
The 2016 Chevrolet Volt electric car with extended range is unveiled Monday, January 12, 2015 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. The next-generation Volt has a sleeker, sportier design that offers 50 miles of EV range, greater efficiency and stronger acceleration. (Photo by John F. Martin for Chevrolet)
Inside are where some fantastic improvements have been made. Volt has greater rear leg room and is now capable of carrying five people. I need to qualify that as the Volt propulsion system still limits the size of the new fifth seat. My favorite change is the better intuitive instrument panel controls. I drive a lot of different vehicles and remembering how to turn on my heater in a Volt was aggravating. Now the controls are easy to see and operate. New Smartphone technology connects to MyLink and displays on Volt’s color screen through the Apple CarPlay feature.
Outside the new 2016 Volt offers a muscular and sleeker design. If I could use only one word to describe the new outside appearance it would be ‘athletic’.
Chevy asked Volt owners for opinions, we responded and Chevy listened. The new Volt certainly exceeded my expectations. I shouldn’t be surprised because we Volt owners redesigned this new generation.