The San Francisco Citizen

Click here to see the latest version of the proposed Chevy Volt “series hybrid” gas-electric car from General Motors. Yes, that’s a fake grill on the nose of the car - apparently, all Chevies gots to have a grille whether they need it or not.

But that’s the way this “boring, boring, boring” vehicle will look once it gets to production.

But look below to see what the Chevy Volt looked like less than a year ago when it visited San Francisco.

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Nobody expected these 22-inch wheels (complete with ”not for road use” Michelin Green-X tires”) to make it into production, but the folks at Chevy could have tried a little harder to drag the show car dream into existence.  

Comes now Toyota with the third-generation Prius that might get a plug-in option at the end of next year. GM better hurry if it wants to get the Volt on the road before then.

But at least Hollywood’s Michael Bay is doing all he can to help. Having honed his skillz directing Scarlett Johansen (as Jordan Two Delta) in The Island, he’s now working on fitting the Chevy Volt into Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

But sadly, this little Chevy will just drive around and not transform into a robot or have any lines with Optimus Prime (known as Convoy in Japan).

Oh well…

It seems Volkswagen is making progress with fuel cell technology. VW dropped by a few places in the bay area this past week to show off their latest effort in the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. VW just happens to be introducing their “Tiguan” (tiger plus iguana, in German) crossover vehicle soon, so why not put this experimental propulsion technology in the latest platform?

CNET was there at the W Hotel and they took some photos. Wired also took some shots, plus they have a nice rundown on the whole affair.

This Tiguan uses hydrogen fuel cell technology, which differs from what BMW has done with hydrogen so far. BMW’s approach is to just modify a typical internal combustion engine so that it will accept either gasoline or hydrogen. Comedian Jay Leno explains. But this method comes with its downsides.

VW was also pleased to show off the new fifty-state-legal Jetta TDI diesel. You can’t hardly tell it’s a diesel. Look to see lots of these TDI cars on the streets of San Francisco soon. It seems everyone who owns a TDI just raves about this high-MPG technology.

Invizabul driver in the SOMA. This new 50-state-legal Jetta has plenty of power and very high MPG - perhaps you’d prefer this VW over the slightly larger and more expensive Toyota Prius hybrid?   

And let’s not forget about the Jetta TDI Cup Race, which shows the young’uns that diesel engines have come a long way since the bad old days. It’s the first clean diesel racing series evah.

A  speedy TDI at the yummy XYZ restaurant in San Francisco.

VW says that their hydrogen fuel cell technology is seven to ten years away from being available. The sooner the better.

Apparently, the freeways of California are open to scooters, if they’re the right kind. Like this Suzuki Burgman for instance, seen on the 101 heading north in Marin County.

Read all about these fast scooters here (and discover the set up for the Chronicle’s off-colour moped joke here). Maybe this is your new set of wheels?