A blogger named Lyle J. Dennis developed his won Chevrolet Volt website. This website has attracted so many followers that it definitely got the attention of even the top executives of General Motors.

 The website, entitled GM-Volt.com was created by Dennis earlier this year. Due to his website’s growing popularity, Dennis was able to establish a direct line with the people behind the Volt. At the Lost Angeles auto show, top GM executives like Tony Posawatz, head of engineering for the Volt, and Denise Gray, director of advanced battery systems at GM sat down with Dennis for the latest news on the development of the Volt.

 The website was launched after the Volt’s debut at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year earlier this year. The volt is a vehicle powered only by batteries charged by a gasoline or an E85 engine. The system is what GM calls E-Flex and according to GM, the Volt will be developed to achieve 640 miles on a tank of gas. Just recently, Bob Lutz announced that the company is currently testing safe and reliable batteries that will power the Chevrolet Volt and that it will hopefully be ready by 2010.

The Malaysian unit of General Motors which is the General Motors Asia Pacific LLC, which signed in August a memorandum of understanding with DRB-HICOM Bhd to form HICOM-Chevrolet Sdn Bhd, may finally assemble Chevrolet Models in Malaysia.

According to HICOM-Chevrolet managing director-designate Yukontorn Wisadkosin, the company is still considering this and that there is no final decision yet.

Wisadkosin says, “Chevrolet models will continue to be assembled in Thailand and GM will rely on the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta), which under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff will see import duties reduced to between zero and 5% from Jan 1 for vehicles assembled in Asean.” She also added that the turning around of the Chevrolet brand in the country is part of GM’s global strategy in identifying 11 emerging markets, of which three are in South-East Asia, including Malaysia, acknowledging the fact that Chevrolet has faced a series of problems in sales due to certain factors like a shortage in spare parts supply, quality perception and tough operating environment.

She also further emphasized that the groundwork for the turnaround is already being prepared. This groundwork includes strengthening the dealers’ network, ensuring the smooth supply of spare parts and reinforcing after-sales service through a sales, service and spare parts center. With this turnaround, the company will hopefully schedule the launch of the Chevrolet Captiva before the year ends.

 “Apart from fuel economy, the Captiva is functional and stylish, its seven-seat capacity will allow us to play up against our competitors, which in Malaysia would be the Honda CRV, and the pricing range would be competitive against it. Aside from the Captiva, three or four other models would be launched in the next six months in the compact-car range. What we’ll be offering will be something in the range of the Honda City or Toyota Vios,” said Wisadkosin.

Meanwhile, General Motors Asia Pacific president Stephen K. Carlisle stated the even though there have been problems of GM in Malaysia, all the economic fundamentals are present in this country. “If you want to have a presence in South-East Asia, you have to be here. And while there is a unique set of difficulties operating here, we’ve reinforced some areas that we know are important.”

Carlisle also said that GM is hopeful that it will reach sales of at least 5, 500 units in the long run.

General Motor’s Chevrolet Tahoe has achieved one of the highest honors in the automotive industry today when it comes to environmentally friendly cars. It has been named as the Green Car Journal’s 2008 Green Car of the Year(R). The award was given at a press conference at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Ron Cogan, Green Car Journal editor and publisher says, “This is a milestone in many respects. People don’t think ‘green’ when SUVs are concerned, and for generally good reason since SUVs often get poor fuel economy compared to most other vehicles. Chevrolet’s Tahoe Hybrid changes this dynamic with a fuel efficiency improvement of up to 30 percent compared to similar vehicles equipped with a standard V-8.”

EPA’s 2008 estimated fuel economy ratings showed that Chevrolet has excelled far better when it comes to city driving. In city driving,, the 6.0-liter two-mode hybrid Tahoe is able to achieve 50 percent improvement in fuel economy compared to a Tahoe powered by a standard 5.3-liter V-8. Moreover, the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid has the same mpg city fuel efficiency rating as the city EPA rating for the four-cylinder Toyota Camry sedan.

Ed Peper, Chevrolet general manager says, “We’re thrilled to receive this recognition from Green Car Journal for our Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid. We’ve felt that the Tahoe Hybrid represents the best of both worlds — the great utility you’d expect from a Tahoe with fuel economy on par with today’s mid-size cars. It’s satisfying to receive this validation from such an authority on environmentally-friendly vehicles.”

Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Clubs said that GM promised they would use hybrid technology, and use it where it would make the most difference on their biggest vehicles. Pope said that GM has delivered with the Chevy Tahoe.

The Tahoe Hybrid is the industry’s first application of hybrid technology in a full-size SUV since most of the hybrid V6 and 8 engines are only offered in mid-size or smaller vehicles. Developing the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid with a smaller engine posed a different challenge since it was difficult to achieve an increase in fuel economy with such a large vehicle that has also other heavy duty purposes like towing and hauling.

Cogan also says, “The importance of GM’s accomplishment can’t be overstated. For years, consumers have been buying SUVs in increasing numbers because of their functionality, making them the number one class of vehicle on the market. The problem has been obvious: With larger vehicles generally comes poorer fuel economy because of greater size and curb weight. An ‘equalizer’ has been needed … and the two-mode hybrid system in the Tahoe is clearly that equalizer.”

The Chevrolet Tahoe emerged as the winner after garnering the majority of the votes of a high profile jury composed of environmental and industry leaders and four Green Car Journal editors. The jurors were Carroll Shelby, Jay Leno, Carl Pope (Sierra Club), Christopher Flavin (Worldwatch Institute), Jonathan Lash (World Resources Institute), and Jean-Michel Cousteau (Ocean Futures Society).

The other final nominees included the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, Mazda Tribute Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, and the Saturn Aura Hybrid. Among the requirement for the finalists to make it to the cut include being on sale and widely available to the public by Jan. 1, 2008, newness, production volume and the likelihood a vehicle’s environmentally-focused technologies to  further be implemented in other vehicles in the near future.

Chevrolet is again offering a major test drive to hundreds of test drivers. The vehicle that would be used the Chevrolet Equinox, which has been the topic of various car enthusiasts and environmentalist alike.

These test drivers of the hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinox will be composed of ordinary people, executives, celebrities and even policy makers.

The Chevrolet Equinox makes use of a hydrogen fuel cell to provide power for an electric motor. These fuel cells generate electricity oxygen in the air and hydrogen stored on board the vehicle. As a result, instead of harmful gas emissions, the by-products are only water vapor and heat.

For the next 33 months or so, test drivers New York, Washington, D.C and California will take turns in using 100 Equinox vehicles.

“It’s as real as Chevrolet. It’s here, we’ve got the technology,” says Mike Lelli, programme manager for the electric Equinox.

As of now, majority of the participants have not yet bee selected but there is a chance that Road Island can be included on the list provided that GM will be able to build a refueling station there at the soonest possible time.

Moreover, the vehicle has a range of 150 miles, a total of 9.3 pounds of hydrogen and has a fuel economy that doubles the capacity of the conventional Equinox.