Volt Visits Frankfort Car Club and Joliet West High School

Phillips Chevrolet visited Frankfort Car Club's meeting last Wednesday to show off the new 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Many Car Club members test drove the Volt.

Phillips Chevrolet's Sales Consultant, Daniel Bachert, stands beside the 2011 Chevrolet Volt along with a few auto students at Joliet West High School on May 13, 2011. The students and faculty had a chance to learn all about the future car.

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

And the top scorer is.... the Chevy Equinox

In the recent USA Today's $29,000 SUV Shootout, the top 10 SUV vehicles were judged on pros, cons, EPA mileage rating and observed mileage in highway test. The winner was the 2011 Chevrolet Equinox with 797.3 points!

"The Equinox is the clear winner in my book, "Varela said, "seemingly belonging to a completely different category...luxury."

"For $28,500, this care is loaded with family-friendly features," Newman said. Among them: dual fold-up DVD screens, a backup camera and the only powered lift-gate in the group.

"There's a real premium feel throughout the interior," Robinson said. Varela agreed: "The fit and finish go way above and beyond the others." Lawrence said, "I'ts so much more substantial."

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Chevrolet Volt, Ford Explorer named Detroit Free Press Car and Truck of the Year

As more and more Car and Truck of the Year awards pour in from a variety of major publications, it's no shock that the 2011 Chevrolet Volt continues to take home top honors as the best car of 2011. Both Motor Trend and Automobile have deemed the Volt their Car of the Year, and General Motors' high-profile EV is even a finalist for the prestigious North American Car of the Year award. (Our readers, however, would apparently rather see that honor go to the 2011 Hyundai Sonata). Thus, it's no surprise that the Volt was just named Car of the Year by The Detroit Free Press.

Similarly, the 2011 Ford Explorer is in the running for North American Truck of the Year, and the Detroit Free Press is honoring it as the best 'truck' of 2011. Freep auto critic Mark Phelan states that in the road ahead, automakers must choose the "right shade of green" for each type of vehicle. Phelan explains:

"The Volt allows most owners to go weeks or months without stopping at a gas pump. The Explorer recasts America's best-selling SUV in a fuel-efficient new form based on the same chassis as the Ford Taurus large sedan."

Interestingly, The Detroit Free Press details its second and third place choices for Car of the Year, with the Hyundai Sonata and Nissan Leaf taking those spots, respectively. These two vehicles are finalists for the North American Car of the Year award, and we're wondering if the Free Press' predictions foreshadow the decisions that the NACTOY judges will make (Note: Phelan is a member of the jury). We'll have the answer to that in just a few weeks, but for now, we tip our hats to the Volt and Explorer on taking home the Detroit Free Press awards.

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

Volt Versus Leaf seems a non-contest, but time will tell

I wonder how many days it will take in 2011 for a new Chevrolet Volt, with its 300 miles plus of range thanks to a battery backed up by a gasoline motor, to drive past a Nissan Leaf - range indeterminate but said to be 100 miles on a good day - stranded by the side of the road with a flat battery.

Let's hope Volt buyers are generous types who will sympathize with the afflictions of the less fortunate, even though it might be hard to to say I told you so.

After all, despite a $6.6 billion investment program, the battery-powered Leaf is almost undermined by extreme weather, hot or cold. If a Leaf is carrying a full load of passengers, that will curb the amount of miles available. If Leaf drivers venture on to the highway and start doing speeds close to the maximum allowed, the range will dip alarmingly. Perhaps the most surprising thing about battery-only projects is that they survived at all when it became clear that extended ranger electric vehicles like the Volt, and improved plug-in hybrids, were going to be available at the same time. It's not as though vehicles like the Leaf have much of a price advantage. Wouldn't it make more sense for battery-only vehicles to be much less ambitious, cheap and cheerful little golf-cart like vehicles used for a quick jaunt down to the shops?

The extended range Volt has a much smaller battery capability - up to 40 miles we are led to believe - but because of its auxiliary gasoline engine, range is over 300 miles, and of course it can easily be refueled in a couple of minutes at a gas station. A dead Leaf will take maybe eight hours to fully recharge, although a short, sharp charge will take considerably less time.

These huge drawbacks haven't stopped European motoring journalists voting the Leaf Car of the Year for 2011, despite the fact that the over-riding reason for the award was down to its unproven battery technology. This would seem to be a huge hostage to fortune. And its high price (even with the $6,600 government subsidy in Britain) will scare away regular buyers who want value for money and flexibility when they buy a car. In the U.S., some motoring writers have nominated the Volt as Car of the Year, and although its specification promises much more than the Leaf, the car still has much to prove. Will its battery range get consistently close to the claim of 40 odd miles? Can it really perform long term as promised, belting down the highway with power from the gasoline engine generating enough electricity for the purpose? How long will the batteries last?

Maybe by this time next year the Leaf and the Volt will have proved themselves valuable vehicles which will command car buyer's respect. I haven't drive the Volt yet, but my money reckons it is more likely to be in a winning position 12 months from now. I have a vision of the Leaf and other battery-only cars either stranding their owners miles from home, or subjecting them to teeth-grinding humiliation as they creep back to base at 15 miles an hour being overtaken by fist-waving truckers and contemptuous cyclists. We'll see.

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!

MyChevrolet

Chevrolet has just announced the release of its mobile phone owner application, myChevrolet. This great new app allows Chevrolet owners access to many of the common tasks they perform with their vehicle, in the palm of their hand and within the convenience of their iPhone or Android. With just a few keystrokes, you can schedule a service appointment, find your nearest Chevrolet dealer, summon Chevrolet Roadside Assistance, and more.

When myChevrolet is coupled with the connectivity of the OnStar MyLink app, owners with an active OnStar account can receive updated on key vehicle operating systems instantly so they always know the operating condition of their Chevrolet.

Phillips Chevrolet has Illinois’ Largest Chevy Inventory! We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the Largest Chevy Dealers in the United States. Visit us at www.phillipschevy.com. View our specials! Follow Phillips Chevrolet on Facebook and Twitter to receive coupons, special offers and prizes!