Thinking about buying a Chevy Volt this year but don’t want to fork over the extra cash for the 240-volt home charger system? Well you can get one for free courtesy the US government if you’re among the first 4,400 Chevy Volt purchasers later this year.

Additionally, the Department of Energy is assisting in the installation of approximately 15,000 chargers for electric vehicles across the United States. A 240-volt charge station costs about $2,000.

For the DOE’s contribution it will get access to information on Volt driver usage that will help them to “understand what is required for widespread electric vehicle use.”

Today, General Motors released two interior photos to coincide with the Chevy Cruze’s unveiling at the Paris Motor Show this week. And can we just say that the interior looks swank? With tweed-like fabric covers and slick colored panels along with a slick, centrally-located LCD screen, the Cruze definitely trumps the Colbalt in design.

Chief designer Taewan Kim says that the new Cruze’s design is meant to be “bold, not evolutionary. We wanted to take a big step forward, making a strong design statement for Chevrolet products around the world.”

The Chevy Cruze, which is speculated to be taking the place of the Colbalt, will hit the European market in March of 2009, with U.S. production at the Lordstown, Ohio, plant, where the Cobalt is currently made, beginning in June 2010. So US buyers won’t be getting the Cruze until April 2010 as a 2011 model.

On 2011 Cruze’s official site, GM says, “Cruze boasts ample interior space, surprising cargo capacity and comfortable seating for five. With exacting safety standards and quality build, Cruze delivers on Chevy’s promise to offer a smartly designed compact at an exceptional value.”

GM announced earlier this month that they were working on an arrangement with eBay. While details were scare then, it’s now come to light that yes, they may also be selling the Chevy Volt on eBay.

This makes for the distinct possibility that an auction may see the first few Volt’s sold at significantly higher cost. You know, because some people just have to have the best toys first.

How high will the bids go for the first Chevy Volt? It’ll be interesting to see.

According to a memo sent out this morning from Chevy spokesman Brian Goebel the latest internal tests of the new 2010 Chevy Equinox has it running at an impressive 32 mpg on the highway and 22 mpg in the city.

The tests were done on the four-cylinder version of the Chevy Equinox that uses the new 2.4 liter direct injected EcoTec engine. It was originally expected to top out at 30 mpg but the engineers have squeaked a little more out of it in the last few months.

This puts the Equinox well ahead of comparable vehicles like the Toyota RAV4 that gets 22 mpg in the city and 28 on the highway or the Honda CR-V, which gets 20 in the city and 27 on the highway.

The 2010 Chevy Equinox should be available for purchase this June.

Charles Lane of the Washington Post tore into the Chevy Volt recently, decrying it as a waste of resources and part of the reason why GM is in such dire financial straights.

Lane’s main points against the Volt focus on the cost of its production and the belief that it’s price tag won’t be balanced out by savings on gas without the cost oil skyrocketing.

He also pleads with the Obama Administration to keep itself from investing tax payer money into completing the Volt.

There has been a great deal of speculation on the Chevy Volt on both sides of the fence about how well it will sell. Hopefully we will at least see it produced if for no other reason than to see who was right.

What are your thoughts? Is the Chevy Volt GM’s life preserver or is it their pair of concrete shoes?

The good folks over at Autoblog Green have been pestering Chevrolet for a chance to take the Volt for a spin for a long time. Well, they finally got their chance when they were invited to try out a Chevy Volt prototype.

In the above test drive video, Volt Vehicle Line Executive Tony Posawatz explains that this prototype represents about what the Volt will actually drive like with about 80% accuracy.

It has the Voltec powertrain with its 16 kW battery in place and even the 1.4-liter four-cylinder range extender. The Voly prototype’s body is that of a Cruze, a future member of the Volt family.

For the most part, Sam Abuelsamid of Autoblog Green, felt that the Chevy Volt looked like it was going to deliver on what it has been promising. He conceded that a lot of work still needs to be done between now and the latter half of 2010. Read the full description of the Autoblog’s Chevy Volt test drive and check out their full gallery of pictures of the Volt prototype.

When it comes to building an electric or hybrid vehicle with a decent range, the efficiency of all of the vehicle’s electrical systems count.

The upcoming Chevy Volt has apparently taken that into account with systems being reduced in size, weight and energy consumption.

The Chevy Volt’s sounds system, in particular, is doing its part in this regard. It is being designed by Bose and promises to use 50 percent less power than standard car sound systems. The systems are also 40 percent lighter and 30 percent smaller to help boost the hybrid vehicle’s efficiency.

While the Chevy Volt will be the first car to use the new Bose sound system, Bose intends to open its energy efficient sounds system up for use in other make and models.

Whether you’re running a standard gas powered car or an electric vehicle extreme cold can cause havoc with your battery. Chevy’s upcoming hybrid vehicle, the Volt, is addressing this issue in a couple ways.

To ensure that the Chevy Volt battery maintains its range by having a system that keeps the battery warm while plugged in. It will also engage the range extending engine upon start up to bring the battery up to it’s optimal temperature before relying on it all-electric mode.

While people in cold climates might be concerned about their electric vehicle’s performance when the mercury dips, there has been research that shows that with some simple battery heating and insulation the impact of cold on range can be easily mitigated.

Environment Canada conducted studies that included a 1987 VW Jetta (converted to EV by REV Consultants). The Jetta was left in 0 degrees Fahrenheit for 42 hours then run. It experience a range loss of only 0.4 percent. Something I think that most electric and hybrid vehicle owners would find more than acceptable.

While some people and companies have voiced concerns about running electric and hybrid vehicles in extremely cold conditions it looks like the fears may be unfounded. And at least when you’re running an electric vehicle in the winter you won’t have to worry about your gas line freezing.