I think it is well documented that I am not a fan of the state of California. When the Chevy Volt was not awarded an Advanced Technology Zero Partial-Zero Emissions Vehicle (what an awful, contradictory name) certification, it meant that the Volt would not get a $1,500 state rebate, or access to the HOV lanes that save on average 36 minutes of commuting time.
GM is rectifying this issue by shipping special low-emissions Volts to California. In addition to near-zero tailpipe emissions, these greener Volts get an extended warranty to boot. The Low Emissions Package, as its called, will be standard on all Volts sold in the Golden State. This package grants the Volt access to the $1,500 rebate and the HOV lanes that are reserved for other green cars and vehicles with 3 passengers or more.
In addition, GM will offer a 15-year, 150,000 mile warranty on the emission systems, and a 10-year, 150,000 mile warranty on the battery. The warranty had been 8 years or 100,000 miles.
However, the rest of the country won’t get these even-cleaner Volts, which is odd if you ask me. California has always had different standards for vehicles, necessitating automakers to offer different engine tunes the reduced emissions and horsepower. There’s no mention of performance loss…but no mention of what was done to reduce emissions to near zero either. Why not just give the whole country the Low Emissions Package and streamline the process? GM really wants that AT-PZEV certification apparently.
More importantly though, does the rest of the country get access to the extended battery warranty? An extra two years or 50,000 miles cold save companies who buy Volts en masse a lot of money in replacement batteries…
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About Christopher DeMorro
