Won by a landslide
The Chevy Volt won North American car of the year 14 months ago but since then new troubles. Last week, General Motors announced that it was suspending production of the Chevy Volt due to excess inventory due to a problem embittered by reports saying that the battery caught fire during test crashes.
It seems this recent information did not deter European journalist from naming the Chevy Volt the European Car of the Year. The 59 judges on the European Car of the Year panel named the Chevy Volt first with 330 points, way ahead of the Volkswagon Up, which came in second with only 281 points.
The president of the EUCOTY panel and an auto critic for Dagens Industri Hakan Matson said the Chevy volt “is a remarkable step into the future of electrification,” and continued by saying, “Volt won in a field of strong competitors, particularly on account of the outstanding technical progress it reflects.”
Chevrolet writes on their website about the Chevy Volt, “Volt is unique among electric vehicles because you have two sources of energy. You have an electric source–a battery–that allows you to drive gas–free for an EPA–estimated 35 miles. And there’s also an onboard gas generator that produces electricity so you can go up to a total of 375 additional miles on a full tank of gas.”
Chevy commented on the failed test crashes saying they have made minor adjustments in the design of the battery. Chevy Volt sales are up 60 percent of late but even with the positive feedback by the European panel, Chevrolet is expected to not even come close to their demand target given to them by the federal government bailout back in 2009.
