'chevy volt'

DETROIT--Although a technological breakthrough for batteries is unlikely before 2020, industry experts say the case for electric vehicles will improve significantly in the next few years.

Jon Bereisa, CEO of consulting firm Auto Lectrification, said at the Automotive News Green Car Conference here last week that costs of such items as the lithium ion batteries will drop as automakers boost production and achieve economies of scale.

Right now the battery costs are prohibitive for many drivers. For example, the Chevrolet Volt hybrid's battery, which holds the energy equivalent of about 1 gallon of gasoline, costs about $8,000, Bereisa … Read more

Car Tech Live 220: The Volt gets cheaper, the Altima Hybrid scarcer, your government hates your car tech, and we drive the Lexus CT200h (podcast)

• CNET drives the Lexus CT200h

• A CNET user's analysis of the real cost of a Chevy Volt

• Fed dude at DOT not a big fan of your car tech, smartphone

• What's next for the Nissan Altima Hybrid?

• Hyundai Blue Link priced and detailed

• CNET's LOLcars gallery!

General Motors said today that dealers in all 50 states can take orders for the 2012 Chevy Volt, which will come in a model priced just below $40,000.

The plug-in hybrid Volt is now available in six different models, rather than three, with the lowest listed at $39,995, or about $1,000 less than the 2011 price. The high-end model with leather, backup camera, navigation system, and other features is $46,265. Prices include the destination fee but not other taxes and fees.

Buyers can benefit from a federal tax credit of $7,500 for plug-in vehicles with … Read more

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET News for Friday, June 3.

Five questions heading into Apple's WWDC Apple may have already declared what it's going to demo at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference, but what else does it have up its sleeve? More

Targeted attacks hit Web-based e-mail Attacks aimed at Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail point to weak spots in e-mail services that can let attackers into corporate networks, reports say. More

Sparked: Volunteer work, right in your cubicle Sparked, a recently rebranded version … Read more

Nissan slams the Volt as being a cousin to the leaf blower, a new app keeps an eye out for accidents ahead, and we drive the Mini Cooper S Countryman.

• CNET drives the Mini Cooper S Countryman

• App keeps an eye on accidents about to happen

• New Corvette coming in 2013?

• Nissan Leaf sticks it to Chevy Volt, oh so subtly.

• Tanner Foust pulls off a huge Hot Wheels jump

• CNET's LOLcars gallery!

Most Chevrolet Volt owners probably apply the same driving habits long practiced by hybrid owners, such as braking and accelerating gently, to conserve energy and maximize battery power. But they may not know that small, seemingly inconsequential choices, like how they choose to warm the Volt's interior on a chilly day, can also makes a difference in how far they can go on battery power alone.

Chevy Volt vehicle line director Tony Posawatz has lots of practice eeking the most out of his Volt's 16 kWh battery, and says that even during Michigan's cold winter months he'… Read more

Toyota and Microsoft head for the clouds, 2010 the safest year ever on U.S. roads--the technologies behind that, what Lexus has up its green sleeve in New York, and we hit the road in the 2011 Chevy Volt.

• 2011 Chevy Volt review and video

• Microsoft and Toyota team on telematics

• New way to monitor where all the bad accidents are

• Largest automotive lithium ion battery plant completed

• CNET's LOLCars gallery!

You can literally count the truly influential new cars of the postwar era on two hands with a couple fingers left over. With the arrival of the Chevy Volt, there's one less finger free. But does that guarantee the Volt will do all it's expected to? Brian Cooley takes you for a drive to check the tech.

General Motors is giving a vehicle each to 10 winners of the PushOn sweepstakes. Contestants need to register through OnStar by May 31, 2011, to win a new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac models.

The sweepstakes rules allow anyone with a digital OnStar-equipped vehicle--regardless of whether they are a current OnStar subscribe--can enter to win by pressing the blue OnStar button. The eligibility doesn't include fleet vehicles (such as rental or media fleets), only personal vehicles, the company said.

An alternative way to register for the sweepstakes is to send in a hand-written postcard. Details of the contest rules, … Read more