It was just a few months ago that we dissected the convoluted fuel-economy sticker on the Chevy Volt, but if you didnâ??t get a chance to figure that out, donâ??t bother. The EPA has released a set of all-new stickers for cars and light trucks that will be mandatory for the 2013 model year. Use of the new sticker is optional for 2012, so you could see it in showrooms as early as this fall. Why this, why now? According to the EPAâ??s online fact sheet, the new labels â??highlight the increased efficiency standards achieved under the Obama Administration that will save families money at the pump starting this year.â?? Howâ??s that for grandstanding? Politics aside, the new labels are meant to provide more-detailed information about energy consumption and ownership costs. Plus, the labels give a consistent, easy-to-read look for plug-in hybrids and EVs.

The Basics

All labels have a projected annual fuel cost (and yes, it says â??fuelâ?? on the EV label) and five-year estimate for how much you save or spend compared to the projected CAFE average of all vehicles in that model year. The other universal elements to the labels are the â??Fuel Economy & Greenhouse Gas Ratingâ?? and â??Smog Ratingâ?? sliders. The greenhouse-gas rating is strictly a measure of tailpipe CO₂ emissions (which is directly proportional to fuel consumption) and doesnâ??t count any upstream emissions for electricity production. The smog rating is based on emissions of non-methane organic gases, oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde. The smog rating also is tailpipe-only; EVs and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles get a pass on both of these rankings.

Your Mileage May Vary

Gasoline, diesel, and E85 ratings are simple: a big combined fuel-economy figure is accompanied by smaller city and highway figures. E85 vehicles will actually display gasoline mpg; optional inclusion of E85 fuel economy is a future possibility. The reason for this, according to the EPAâ??s final ruling, is because â??Data show that, on average, FFVs operate on gasoline nearly 99 percent of the time, and on E85 fuel about 1 percent of the time.â?? Sorry, Iowa. Compressed natural gas and hydrogen vehicles look similar, only with mpg-equivalent figures.

Another number on the label is consumption rate in terms of gallons per 100 miles. Despite our American attachment to mpg, consumption rate is a great way to look at fuel economy. For example, consider a 25-mpg car and a 40-mpg car. When viewed in terms of consumption rateâ??4 gallons per 100 miles compared to 2.5 gallons per 100 milesâ??the difference is perhaps even more  pointed. Consumption rate also makes it easy to figure out relative fuel costs.

Conventional hybrid vehicles will get a standard gasoline sticker. Plug-in hybrids are broken into two categories, blended or series. Blended PHEVs include the plug-in Toyota Prius, where electric-only operation is possible at low speeds but the gasoline engine is still used when needed. Series PHEVs, like the Chevrolet Volt, can operate in full electric mode until the battery is depleted. Both types show 240-volt charge time, an mpg-equivalent combined city/highway rating, and range for either the blended or electric-only mode. Blended PHEVs also show the corresponding gasoline and electricity consumption (per 100 miles), while series PHEVs simply show the electricity consumption. This is essentially the same information presented on the old Volt EPA sticker, but the presentation is easier to read.

Finally, the label for pure-electric vehicles is much like the gasoline label, with the addition of 240-volt charging time and consumption rate expressed in kilowatt-hours per 100 miles. For both EVs and PHEVs, the electric consumption rate is wall-to-wheels, so it accounts for the electricity used to charge the battery and not just the electrical energy used to move the vehicle.

Chrysler Group LLC Wednesday delivered the first of a demonstration fleet of Ram 1500 plug-in hybrid electric pickup trucks to the city of Yuma, Ariz.

Chrysler says the trucks are purely for demonstration purposes, and that there are no plans for a production version of the PHEV Ram 1500 truck at this time. (Unsolicited Opinion Dept.: That strikes me as a shame. Now is the time to jump on this market!)

Chrysler developed the vehicles in partnership with the United States Department of Energy, Nationally officials plan to drive a demonstration fleet of 140 plug-in hybrid trucks up to 6.5 million miles to evaluate customer usage, drive cycles, charging, thermal management, fuel economy, emissions and impact on the regionâ??s electric grid.

In addition to Yuma, 11 other partners across the United States will receive vehicles for demonstration and testing purposes.

Cities and states were selected to evaluate temperature extremes, urban traffic cycles and diverse climates and geographies from North Dakota, Massachusetts, Hawaii and Arizona. Cities will include San Francisco and Sacramento, Calif.; Austin, Texas and Kansas City, Mo.

The Ram 1500 PHEV includes a liquid-cooled 12.9-kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack and a 6.6-kilowatt onboard charger.

Additional features include AC power generation of up to 6.6kW; directional charging; reverse power flow and full regenerative braking used to capture more energy.

For fuel economy improvements, the front axle can be disconnected when not needed. The powertrain also includes a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine and a two-mode hybrid transmission. The 5.7-liter is equipped with a Multiple Displacement System that improves fuel efficiency at highway speeds by shutting down fuel delivery to up to four cylinders.

The battery pack is located under the second-row seat of the pickup and is liquid cooled to help maintain a consistent battery temperature. For on-the-job electrical power tools, a 240 volt/30 amp four-prong outlet and 120volt/20amp duplex outlet power strip is located in the rear box.

â??Cities have been carefully selected to help the Chrysler Group collect a wide range of data,â?? said Abdullah Bazzi, senior manager of Chryslerâ??s advanced hybrid vehicle project. â??Temperature extremes found in the cold of North Dakota or the heat of Arizona can have a severe impact on battery life and charging efficiency.â??

The choice of a Ram 1500 pickup truck was based upon two-speed transmission technology that was readily available from a previous vehicle electrification project from the Chrysler Group.

Urban and rural use also will be tracked to measure battery performance and overall hybrid efficiency with the demonstration fleet of pickups. Other uses include military bases where vehicles will be able to provide power back to the electric grid in what is termed â??reverse power flowâ?? of up to 6.6kW.

Funding for the program in part is provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the Transportation Electrification Initiative sponsored by the DOE. The grant, totaling $48 million from DOE and $49.4 million from Chrysler Group, was designed to develop vehicles that will be cost efficient for consumers, satisfy safety concerns of daily travel without recharging and help reduce dependence on foreign oil.

The Chrysler Group also is developing a similar fleet of 25 Town & Country minivans with plug-in hybrid technology for demonstration and evaluation that will be allocated to select cities later this year.

GM Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant employee John Scott working on the line prior to today's GM announcement.

DETROIT -- General Motors said today it will build the next-generation Chevrolet Impala at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, adding 2,500 jobs.

The current Impala is built at GM's plant in Oshawa, Ontario. The next version is expected to go into production in 2013 or 2014.

GM said it will add two shifts at Detroit-Hamtramck for the Impala and the previously announced plan to build the Chevy Malibu. The tooling and equipment for the Impala will require another $69 million in investments.

In April 2010, GM said it would invest $121 million in the plant to support Malibu production.

The Detroit-Hamtramck factory also makes the Chevrolet Volt. GM said last week that it plans to ramp up Volt production to 60,000 next year, from an earlier plan to produce 30,000.

"We're doing this because we're confident in consumer demand for the great vehicles we're going to be building here," GM North America President Mark Reuss told workers at the plant today.

Today's announcement is part of a GM plan, spelled out two weeks ago, to invest $2 billion in 17 plants in eight states. Among the plants getting additional investment: Bowling Green, Ky., home of the Chevrolet Corvette; and powertrain plants in Toledo, Ohio, as well as Flint and Bay City, Mich. About 4,000 jobs are being created or retained at those plants, GM has said.

"Given the competitive nature of the auto industry in the United States, the bar for success is placed very high," Joe Ashton, UAW vice president of the GM department, said in a statement. "The members of UAW Local 22 soar over the bar every day by demonstrating their flexibility, hard work, and their intense focus on the customer."

What do the Cadillac XTS Platinum concept and the 2003 Cadillac Seville have in common?

Dimensions.

The XTS is Cadillac's upcoming large luxury sedan expected in showrooms next year. The XTS concept debuted in January 2010 at the Detroit auto show.

The consensus is that General Motors hit a home run with the concept's styling. The styling of the production sedan is pretty close to that of the concept, I've heard.

The 2013 XTS is being developed on GM's Epsilon front-wheel-drive platform. The concept features a 3.6-liter V-6 combined with a plug-in hybrid system, a powertrain expected to be used in the production car.

To make room in the Cadillac lineup, the DTS and STS will be dropped. The DTS, and before that the DeVille, catered to older buyers. The STS, cursed with exterior styling that was too similar to the lower-priced CTS, never reached its sales potential. Cadillac believes the XTS will be a true luxury alternative to Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz sedans. All-wheel drive will be available, possibly standard.

Photos of the XTS concept have appeared in buff books and all over the Internet. But unless the car has been seen in person, close up, the concept's size is difficult to gauge from the photos. So here's some help:

• XTS wheelbase: 112.2 inches, 0.5 inches longer than the Seville's.
• XTS length: 201.0 inches, 2.5 inches shorter.
• XTS width: 75.0 inches, 0.2 inches wider.

Although these are not final dimensions, they are close to those of the production car.

Performance enthusiasts love to have their cake and eat it, too. Which usually means gaining more power while also improving fuel efficiency

Chevrolet is aiming to do just that with the 2012 Camaro, thanks to a new cylinder-head design for the V-6 engine. The new design will bring together key components in a move that Chevy says will increase both power and fuel economy.

Basically, the new design on the 3.6-liter direct-injection V-6 combines the exhaust manifold and the cylinder head into one single aluminum casting. There will be two of these castings on each V-6, and each one eliminates a cast-iron exhaust, six bolts, a gasket, a heat shield, and three more bolts. That removes potential for a gasket failure--one less future repair for owners to worry about--and the new design also removes 13 pounds.

Chevrolet credits the weight loss along with increased airflow as part of the reason that the 2012 Camaro V-6 is estimated at 30 mpg by the manufacturer. That increased airflow (up by 7 percent) is achieved thanks to larger air-intake valves (38.3 mm over 36.9 mm) and it gives the car an extra 11 horsepower. Chevy claims that exhaust flow has also improved by 10 percent.

The ideas of reducing mass and increasing airflow to improve power and fuel-economy aren't new ones. Nice to see Chevy implement those concepts in this fashion. Now, let's talk about doing the same on the top-dog SS.

Memorial Day 2011 is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 30 in 2011). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War. It was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.

Memorial Day often marks the start of the summer vacation season, and Labor Day its end.

Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on Memorial Day.

Looking to put a charge in its eco-friendly image, General Motors is installing a 264,000-square-foot solar field at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant that builds the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid sedan.

The solar field, being built in cooperation with utility DTE Energy, will generate 516 kilowatts. GM says thatâ??s enough power to charge up 150 Volts every day for a year.

GM expects to save $15,000 a year in power costs at the plant with the solar field.

â??Making sustainable choices is good for both the environment and our bottom line,â?? said Bob Ferguson, vice president of public policy for GM.

Built on a tract of land on the south side of the plant to maximize solar output, the project is expected to be complete by the end of the summer.

The agency said in a May 10 Federal Register notice it will evaluate the costs and environmental effects of boosting fuel efficiency in the proposed rule it's scheduled to publish in September.

Automakers must have a fleet-wide average of 34.1 miles per gallon, according to the existing fuel-economy rule that applies through model-year 2016 vehicles. NHTSA is developing the next rule with the Environmental Protection Agency and California's Air Resources Board.

The U.S. said last year automakers selling cars in the U.S. may be required to almost double fuel economy to as much as 62 miles per gallon by 2025 models with annual fuel-economy increases of as much as 6 percent.