Chevrolet Volt Owners and Their Fuel-Economy Stories

I’m sure many of you by now have either seen a Chevrolet Volt in person or seen one of it’s many commercials on T.V. I am also pretty sure many of you have asked yourselves, “Whats the big deal?” It seems as if every year some new car comes out and claims to be better than the one before it. But the ability to basically create your own fuel-economy, that really is a big deal.

Mike DiPisa of Lyndhurst, NJ has driven a total of 1,485 miles since taking delivery of his new Volt, not even filling up his gas tank. 1,391 of DiPisa’s miles traveled have been powered by electricity, giving him a staggering total fuel economy of 231 per gallons.

GM said the following in a press release: By recharging their Volt regularly, owners are easily surpassing the 93 miles per gallon equivalence, or MPGe, on full electric operation and an overall 60 MPGe composite fuel economy during extended-range operation. The EPA ratings make the Volt the most energy efficient compact car on the market today.

OnStar’s ‘Push On’ Sweepstakes

General Motors, through it’s OnStar division, has recently announced quite possibly one of the easiest ways to win a free car of your choosing. All Contestants need to do in order to win a brand new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac is press there vehicle’s OnStar button. Even those contestants who are not subscribers to OnStar will have the same opportunity of winning a new car. Winners will be able to choose anything from a Chevy Corvette ZR1 to a GMC Canyon.  Ten new GM vehicles in all will be given away between now and then the sweepstakes end May 31st.

Check out the commercial below to see the official GM advertisement for the Onstar ‘Push On’ sweepstakes.

Rumble in the Rockies: Silverado HD vs. Super Duty

With the proven Duramax Diesel and the brawny Allison Transmission, the new Silverado HD beats the competition in the field. Diesel Power Magazine and Pickuptrucks.com recently tested the Ford Super Duty with their new diesel and transmission against Silverado HD with the proven Duramax and Allison. Named the “Rumble in the Rockies” the one sided results crowned Chevy Silverado HD, King of the Mountain.

The magazine took both 1-ton Chevrolet and Ford pickups, hooked them to trailers with 18,900-pound loads and accelerated up I-70 in Colorado. Even though the horsepower and torque ratings are similar, in a real word setting the results weren’t even close.

Acceleration: “the Silverado made it through the quarter-mile more than 2 seconds quicker, achieved a top speed that was nearly 10 mph faster, and finished the entire climb more than 2 minutes ahead of the Ford. The Duramax performed significantly better at 11,000 feet of elevation as well pulling the 18,900 lb load at 47 mph, while the Ford slowed to 35 mph. Acceleration Test Winner: Chevrolet Silverado.”

The article continues, “The exhaust brake test brought out similar success for the Duramax and Allison combination. As we began our downhill run, the Ford descended the western slope well but required an average of 14 application’s of the truck’s brake pedal to hold the vehicle speed between 50-60 mph. Going downhill in the Chevy, the driver had far less work to do…. the Chevy only required 1 brake application for the entire 8-mile downhill run. While the difference in hillclimbing between the Chevy and Ford is impressive, the exhaust braking advantage of Silverado is staggering. Exhaust Brake Test Winner: Chevy Silverado HD.”

For more information just google: Rumble in the Rockies

Chevrolet’s MyLink

General Motors continues to be a leader in automotive technology with it’s most recent new and improved features that will become available in several Chevrolet models starting later this year. Both the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox and 2012 Chevrolet Volt will be equipped with Chevrolet’s MyLink, an integrated system which connects your Andriod or Blackberry smartphone to a console-mounted touchscreen.

Chevy Equinox, Chevrolet MyLink, 2012 Equinox, Chevrolet, General Motors MyLink

MyLink will allow you to access your smartphone apps through easy to maneuver steering wheel controls or through the consoles touchscreen. This will be made possible because your phone will be connected by the vehicles Bluetooth system which allows you to wirelessly access your apps. Mylink will also be Apple friendly, giving Apple users the same functionability, the only difference being connection via USB .

Chevy Equinox, MyLink, Chevrolet MyLink

Both the Chevy Equinox and Chevy Volt will also be the first Chevrolet models that will become available with the options of voice control functionality courtesy of Nuance, in addition with PowerMat’s cordless cell phone charging system.