In the past couple weeks, the Chevrolet Volt integration prototypes (pictured above) have been going through extensive testing prior to the model’s full-scale production. The introduction of the Volt, and its Voltec propulsion system, seemed to many like a technical exercise that would lead to the propulsion technology being coopted into other models while the original Volt faded into the background. This is apparently not the case, however, as a General Motors spokesperson has confimed that the company is already deep into production on the next generation of the Volt.
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Ford just got a nice $5.9 billion chunk of change from the Department of Energy to make their vehicles more fuel efficient, and it looks as if their plans are a bit more ambitious than previously thought. The original plan for Ford was to use the money to take 13 of their existing models and improve their fuel consumption through hybrid models and variations of traditional powerplants like the EcoBoost engine line. New reports indicate that a full 25% of Ford’s vehicle offerings could be either hybrids or electric vehicles by the year 2020.
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The new generation 2010 Toyota Prius has the best fuel economy ever seen on a production hybrid. So how does it get greener? By manufacturing it in an eco-friendly factory. The production of carbon emissions and the consumption of fossil fuels occurs through all phases of the automotive supply chain. From the energy required to mine the metals to construct a car, to the energy required to transport it to a refinery, then converting it into a pliable form, further transportation to the manufacturing site, and then the actual production. In order to cut down on the environmental damage that is largely unseen by the driving public, Toyota is constructing the Prius in a manufacturing complex that extends the model’s green credentials.
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