By Bill Visnic
Senior Editor, Edmunds.com

(August 4, 2010) General Motors' Chevrolet Volt may be able to travel 40 miles on its battery charge, but early adopters might be in for a bigger jolt when they try to avail themselves of the highly attractive lease GM touted when releasing the Volt's $41,000 base price this week - it appears at least one of the 600 Chevrolet dealers due to take part in the initial rollout in December isn't planning on letting any Volts pass through his doors until buyers pony up a rather substantial extra "charge."

(August 3, 2010) Although vehicle seats are the component area with which new-vehicle owners are least likely to indicate having experienced a problem, compared with other vehicle component areas, overall customer satisfaction with seats is particularly low, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study.

(August 2, 2010) The California Public Utilities Commission has ruled that companies that sell electric-vehicle charging services to the public will not be regulated as public utilities, Edmunds.com reports.

Companies such as Coulomb Technologies, Better Place and Ecotality can operate without being regulated as an investor-owned utility, the commission ruled Thursday during its regular meeting in San Francisco.

(July 29, 2010) Edmunds.com has analyzed the performance of the auto industry so far this year and determined that it seems increasingly likely that this year's sales will be in the low 11-million range.

"Analysis of the first half of 2010 shows the auto industry has had its winners and positive trends, but an upward sales trajectory now seems clearly stalled," reported Edmunds' AutoObserver.com Senior Editor Bill Visnic in his story "Buckle Up, Industry Recovery Going to Be Bumpy". "It just may be that the current sales level represents a new norm that takes years, rather than months, to substantially improve upon."

(July 27, 2010) General Motors has announced the pricing for the Chevy Volt, the extended-range electric vehicle which is expected to be released by year-end. It will be initially sold in California, Michigan, Washington, D.C. along with Austin, Texas, and New York City. The pricing of the vehicle was announced at $41,000, before a $7,500 tax credit.

(July 2010) SANTA MONICA, Calif.  — Edmunds.com reports that consideration of the Ford Explorer has nearly doubled as consumers await the highly-anticipated new model that will arrive in showrooms this fall.

(July 21, 2010) Edmunds.com reports that new cars are selling at a rate close to 12 million SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate) so far this month. However, industry observers should not misread this as a sign of recovery for the industry.

(July 2010) When California-based Coulomb Technologies deployed its first electric-vehicle charging station in Warsaw in May after its local distributor, 365 Energy, struck a deal with Polish energy company Polenergia, Green Car observers could be forgiven for being optimistic about the prospects for rapid alternative-powertrain vehicle growth in Poland, Russia and other Eastern Bloc countries.