Chevrolet announced a low-emission version of the Chevrolet Volt on Thursday, designed to allow California drivers to drive solo in the state's carpool lanes.
Fortunately for California drivers, the Low Emissions Package won't cost more than the standard Volt pricing, with the standard MSRP of $39,900, a Chevrolet spokesman said. The Volt also qualifies for the $7,500 federal tax credit for ultra-low emissions vehicles as well as a $1,500 California state tax rebate.
Since the Volt is already qualified as a ULEV, one might wonder why it didn't already qualify to run solo in California's HOV lanes. The Chevy spokesman said that the Volt had to be slightly retooled to meet California's AT PZEV regulations, however, before the state allowed it to traverse the more than 1,400 miles of HOV lanes.
As evidenced by the movie L.A. Story and others, California has a love affair with the car, and driving in the carpool lanes a treasured perk. Chevrolet said that in some parts of Southern California, drivers can shave 36 minutes off a typical commute.
Typically, only cars with two (or in some places, three) passengers are allowed into the state's HOV lanes, in an effort to reduce emissions by reducing the number of cars per passenger. The state has also allowed low-emission vehicles into the lanes, but with expiration dates attached. For example, the first generation of hybrids, including the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius, which used the state's gold HOV sticker, were forced to join the rest of the commuting masses on July 1, 2011.
Now, the state only offers two HOV stickers, both of which expire on Jan. 1, 2015. An unlimited number of white clean-air vehicle stickers are available to all federal Inherently Low Emission Vehicles, which include Zero Emission Vehicles that run either exclusively on electricity or natural gas.
California also has a second category of green clean-air stickers that will be provided to owners of just two AT PZEV models, at the present time: the Volt as well as the Toyota Plug-in Hybrid. Only 40,000 green stickers will be issued by California's Department of Transportation. (A list of the qualifying vehicles for both green and white stickers can be found here.
"The Volts with the Low Emissions Package are certain to be a strong draw for California commuters looking to travel the state's notoriously congested freeways in the carpool lane," said Chris Perry, vice president of Chevrolet marketing, in a statement.
Volts with the Low Emissions Package, which is standard for California, began shipping from the General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck plant this week and should begin arriving at the more than 140 participating Chevrolet dealerships in California before the end of the month, Chevy said.
Safety regulators with NHTSA have been investigating Volt fire risks since November. Earlier in 2010, the agency deliberately crashed a Chevy Volt to determine how it would withstand a side-impact collision. The battery was damaged and the coolant line ruptured, the agency said. Three weeks later, the vehicle caught fire, and the NHTSA blamed the Volt's lithium-ion battery. During further testing, the battery caught fire again, prompting the investigation.
In January, however, the NHTSA closed its investigation, finding no evidence of a "defect trend" and a reduced potential for battery-rupturing impacts after GM modifications.
For more, see our hands-on with the 2012 Chevy Volt.