Yesterday General Motors announced the Chevrolet Volt began shipping to Canadian dealerships with some actually receiving them yesterday as well.
The first retail deliveries will be to customers in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Oshawa, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal and Quebec City. Some of these will be as soon as a few days from now, GM said.
The company celebrated the Volt’s Canadian arrival in Oshawa yesterday morning at an event presided over by Kevin Williams, president and managing director for General Motors of Canada.
Kevin Williams, president and managing director for General Motors of Canada, released the first Canadian Volt customer shipments at an event in Oshawa yesterday.
“Today is an historic milestone for Chevrolet in Canada,” said Williams. “The Chevrolet Volt deploys transformative vehicle technologies that are redefining automotive transportation. Very soon, enthusiastic Volt customers will be able to eliminate gasoline from their daily commutes while having the flexibility to go further, something no other electrified vehicle can provide.”
GM said it is pleased to offer the “award-winning Chevrolet Volt” and compiled a list of the majority of the car’s many accolades garnered thus far.
• 2012 World Green Car of the Year
• Car of the Year for Guide de l’Auto 2012
• North American Car of the Year
• Motor Trend 2011 Car of the Year
• Green Car Journal’s 2011 Green Car of the Year
• AUTOMOBILE Magazine 2011 Automobile of the Year
• Car and Driver 10Best
• Popular Mechanics 2010 Breakthrough Technology
• Ward’s 10 Best Engines, recognition for Volt’s advanced powertrain system
When we last reported on the Volt's status in Canada, Chevrolet had just begun taking orders and drumming up interest.
GM of Canada Spokesman Jason Easton said in the three-plus months since then, the campaign to promote the plug-in Chevy has been successful.
“In terms of pre-orders, we are very excited by the interest Canadians have shown in the Volt,” Easton said, “and demand is currently outpacing supply."
We had asked a bunch of specific questions pertaining to numbers ordered, allocated – now, and for subsequent waves – but Easton said he was not at liberty to answer most, but would share what he could.
“We will sell as many Volts as the market demands, but in the early days we expect supply to be limited as Chevrolet is also launching this vehicle globally (China and Europe) this fall,” Easton said. “Next spring we are expecting to start Volt sales in additional Canadian markets, with the goal of nation-wide sales 12 months from now.”
So Canadians will go through a staged roll out similar to what the U.S. has endured – albeit with more of the country getting them on the first wave. This is considering also that Canadians and the rest of the world have been waiting since the beginning of this year already.
What we know from previous digging on this subject is that GM typically allocates about one-tenth the number of a given vehicle to Canada as it does to the U.S. In the case of a higher priced car like the Volt, the numbers may be even fewer.
Nonetheless, the word is that Nissan will deliver a total of 40 LEAFS to Canada this year, and these sold out over last weekend.
Although GM is being a bit dodgy about the actual Volt numbers, you can be sure they are otherwise positively extravagant by comparison.
While we were at it, we also asked about the situation of charging the Volt up there.
House current is the same in Canada as in the U.S. at 120 volts, and 240-volt lines are said to be readily available for optional chargers for those so inclined.
“In Quebec, there is a $1,000 credit to encourage people to install 240-volt charging in their home (half of installation cost up to $1,000 max),” Easton said, “as well as an initiative from Hydro Quebec to install public charge stations. Ontario just announced an $80 million fund for EV charging infrastructure ... no further details yet.”
Easton further said most garages will require re-wiring for 240 volts, and GM just announced a partnership to help with that as well.
The first retail deliveries will be to customers in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Oshawa, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal and Quebec City. Some of these will be as soon as a few days from now, GM said.
The company celebrated the Volt’s Canadian arrival in Oshawa yesterday morning at an event presided over by Kevin Williams, president and managing director for General Motors of Canada.
Kevin Williams, president and managing director for General Motors of Canada, released the first Canadian Volt customer shipments at an event in Oshawa yesterday.
“Today is an historic milestone for Chevrolet in Canada,” said Williams. “The Chevrolet Volt deploys transformative vehicle technologies that are redefining automotive transportation. Very soon, enthusiastic Volt customers will be able to eliminate gasoline from their daily commutes while having the flexibility to go further, something no other electrified vehicle can provide.”
GM said it is pleased to offer the “award-winning Chevrolet Volt” and compiled a list of the majority of the car’s many accolades garnered thus far.
• 2012 World Green Car of the Year
• Car of the Year for Guide de l’Auto 2012
• North American Car of the Year
• Motor Trend 2011 Car of the Year
• Green Car Journal’s 2011 Green Car of the Year
• AUTOMOBILE Magazine 2011 Automobile of the Year
• Car and Driver 10Best
• Popular Mechanics 2010 Breakthrough Technology
• Ward’s 10 Best Engines, recognition for Volt’s advanced powertrain system
When we last reported on the Volt's status in Canada, Chevrolet had just begun taking orders and drumming up interest.
GM of Canada Spokesman Jason Easton said in the three-plus months since then, the campaign to promote the plug-in Chevy has been successful.
“In terms of pre-orders, we are very excited by the interest Canadians have shown in the Volt,” Easton said, “and demand is currently outpacing supply."
We had asked a bunch of specific questions pertaining to numbers ordered, allocated – now, and for subsequent waves – but Easton said he was not at liberty to answer most, but would share what he could.
“We will sell as many Volts as the market demands, but in the early days we expect supply to be limited as Chevrolet is also launching this vehicle globally (China and Europe) this fall,” Easton said. “Next spring we are expecting to start Volt sales in additional Canadian markets, with the goal of nation-wide sales 12 months from now.”
So Canadians will go through a staged roll out similar to what the U.S. has endured – albeit with more of the country getting them on the first wave. This is considering also that Canadians and the rest of the world have been waiting since the beginning of this year already.
What we know from previous digging on this subject is that GM typically allocates about one-tenth the number of a given vehicle to Canada as it does to the U.S. In the case of a higher priced car like the Volt, the numbers may be even fewer.
Nonetheless, the word is that Nissan will deliver a total of 40 LEAFS to Canada this year, and these sold out over last weekend.
Although GM is being a bit dodgy about the actual Volt numbers, you can be sure they are otherwise positively extravagant by comparison.
While we were at it, we also asked about the situation of charging the Volt up there.
House current is the same in Canada as in the U.S. at 120 volts, and 240-volt lines are said to be readily available for optional chargers for those so inclined.
“In Quebec, there is a $1,000 credit to encourage people to install 240-volt charging in their home (half of installation cost up to $1,000 max),” Easton said, “as well as an initiative from Hydro Quebec to install public charge stations. Ontario just announced an $80 million fund for EV charging infrastructure ... no further details yet.”
Easton further said most garages will require re-wiring for 240 volts, and GM just announced a partnership to help with that as well.
