Silver Emerald Volt
On October 22nd, GM announced a contest to allow members of the public to participate in choosing the name of the Chevy Volt’s signature silver with emerald hue paint color.
The decision process was in the form of a contest.
GM claims nearly 13,000 creative entries were received from which they were able to whittle down three finalists.
They are:
1) “EV-ergreen by Devin McQuarrie, 30, of San Jose, CA
2) “Viridian Joule” by by Dave Thomas, 40, of Sanford, FL
3) “environMINT” entered by Matthew Valbuena, 30, of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
These finalists were decided “based equally on originality, creativity and the ability to capture the innovation and spirit of the Volt.”
Staring today you can vote for your favorite name below. The winner will be chosen by this public vote and will be flown all-expenses-paid to the LA Auto Show next month where it will be announced on December 1.
Not only will the winner go down in history as having named the Volts’ paint color but will also get an exclusive test drive of a pre-production integration Chevy Volt including in the now-ready-for-primetime charge-sustaining mode operation.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 8:39 am and is filed under Design, Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.Editor’s Note: There are reports on the Internet about an Ohio Chevy Dealer taking deposits on eBay. The dealer claims to have Chevy Volt allocation. This is denied by GM who report no dealer allocations have been given yet.
Nov 16th, 2009 (8:45 am)Where can you vote?
Nov 16th, 2009 (8:48 am)Interesting color names. Not even close to what I submited. I guess i’d vote for #2. Will there be a premium for this paint color?
Josh.. there’s a link “vote here”
+5
Nov 16th, 2009 (8:57 am)Wow – all three are extremely clever – erev to ever, joule / jewel for emerald and environment / mint green.
I would be happy with any of them.
Also, 13,000 submissions just to name the paint color – don’t tell me there is little interest in the Volt.
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:06 am)… so I guess they’ll pck the names of the other colors.
Electric Blue
Yellow Sparks
Voltage Violet / Power Purple
)
(not that there’s anything wrong with that
EV-ergreen would work for a true deep green if not picked for the “signature color.”
… sorry, it’s a little too early here for creativity. Any other ideas?
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:08 am)Well, the color I submitted a name for looked like a sort of silver to me. Now I see it is a greenish shade.
No wonder that my “Seattle Skymist Silver” didn’t win.
Congrats to the winners!
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:08 am)Lyle, my gut feel for the Ohio dealership on eBay was a scam.
But I can’t find it on eBay. I wonder if it has been removed?
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:14 am)I still like my “Lithium ICE” better but “Viridian Joule” is quite clever.
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:17 am)Although those three finalists are original and creative, I feel the Volts color name should have been chosen by the collective. I would have rather seen GM choose the name most submitted. That method is more in tune with allowing the public to choose another aspect in the Volt project. I for one submitted the name “Silver Joule” and I know I’m not the only one who submitted it and thought it was appropriate.
NPNS!
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:24 am)Resistance Red
High Wattage White
AMP-ber
… somebody jump in here, I’m floundering.
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:25 am)Resistance is futile!
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:30 am)Spark Red
+3
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:31 am)“High Ohm Silver” would have had my vote.
Awful + Awesome = Awwesome
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:41 am)I’d like to know who were the judges???
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:43 am)“Editor’s Note: There are reports on the Internet about an Ohio Chevy Dealer taking deposits on eBay. The dealer claims to have Chevy Volt allocation. This is denied by GM who report no dealer allocations have been given yet.”
When something shows up in “GM Dealerworld” which is what we use to place and track orders, in addition to vefirying our allocation of vehicles, I’ll let you all know.
Meanwhile… About those FLEET orders GM and the dealerships need: Would the “Color Czar” reconsider Victory Red and Summit White? Please?
I doubt that the big and burly fire chiefs will enjoy “Viridian Joule” as their new primary color.
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:45 am)GM Executives have no sense of humor that we know of. But I get it.
+4
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:55 am)I still want my Volt in Blackout Black.
Nov 16th, 2009 (9:55 am)I’m ordering Caddy White anyway, so, whatever the other colors are named doesn’t matter.
I would hate to see normal fleet colors on Volt (like plain white), but, whatever it takes to get some out there on the road is fine with me.
Nov 16th, 2009 (10:05 am)***THREADJACK — Breaking News:***
GM sales figures suck much less than predicted, GM may repay Gov’t loan 4 years early:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gDthEImr3_P0-59manCkynTnCl0AD9C0LKIG1
Where’s Statik?
***We now return to our colorful comments, already in progress***
Nov 16th, 2009 (10:11 am)Off topic: GM reported an update on its financial condition. Apparently they had a 1.15 billion dollar loss last quarter. Excluding one-time costs from things like restructuring their dealership network it was only $261 billion. (Net loss of $651 million in North American, and $238 profit in the international divisions.) But they have increased their cash reserves by 3.3 billion. So, they’re no longer burning cash. At least temporarily. Global market share is up to 11.9 percent. Up 3 percentage points from the beginning of the year. US market share was flat at 19.5%.
They also said they plan to start repaying the government 5 years yearly by $1 billion a quarter starting in December. (Although the money to do so comes from the loans.) Personally, I think that’s way too aggressive considering that they obviously benefited from cash for clunker programs all over the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/business/17auto.html?_r=1&hp
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GM-reports-12B-loss-says-it-apf-899930954.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=
Nov 16th, 2009 (10:13 am)I submitted “Prismatic Silver Ecstasy”.
Since the Volt uses Prismatic cells, a recent GM picture of these cells looked to be silver in color, and the multi-color design could be like the effect of a prism (think Dark Side of the Moon album cover).
The Ecstacy would be the joy of a fun to drive vehicle, stepping into the future, instantaneous torque, almost no tailpipe emissions, and a giant step towads reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
Nov 16th, 2009 (10:15 am)That was my first fear, so I looked up the dealership. The dealership is real. The person named on eBay is a real salesman at that dealership. The dealership is “the third largest Chevy dealer” and a GM award winner. They took my credit card number and wanted exactly $1,000. They also warned that the MSRP had not yet been set and that it could go as high as $55,000 for a “loaded” unit. They also warned that delivery was a year away. He acted like the dealership was unaware of Lyle’s list. Maybe it is just a test.
+4
Nov 16th, 2009 (10:18 am)No, resistance is V/I
-5
Nov 16th, 2009 (10:27 am)Seeing this post does create the suspicion that Lyle’s list may be irrelevent.
Nov 16th, 2009 (10:37 am)Forget about the Green, I’m waiting for my Proton Blue
Nov 16th, 2009 (10:50 am)@kdawg Sorry it didn’t show up in my browser. I was looking at it from work, sometimes hyperlinks don’t show up. Thanks
+2
Nov 16th, 2009 (10:51 am)I voted, but did not really like either of the three. Certainly would not purchase a Volt because of the color name. Either of these three would be a reason to consider another color. Sorry, but that is my opinion.
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:00 am)Nice contest, but I’m so disappointed with the color choices, the Green is really just silver with a Green ting. I’m so so Sick of silver cars 90% of the cars out today are some shade of silver.
Would love a rich vibrant Green or Blue, rather then a ting, I’ll probably end up with a Black or White volt and hate it. I wounder how much it would cost to repaint it right from the dealer?
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:03 am)Editor’s Note: There are reports on the Internet about an Ohio Chevy Dealer taking deposits on eBay. The dealer claims to have Chevy Volt allocation. This is denied by GM who report no dealer allocations have been given yet. this dealer is still up on ebay as of 11 am 11/16
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:07 am)I’m very disappointed that my entry for “EnvironMINT Metallic” didn’t make the cut in since Mr. Valbueana must have gotten his entry in before mine. Still, I wish him luck and think it’s the best name. It makes me wonder if there were others who had the same color name but didn’t submit first.
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:09 am)Well, it didn’t meet GAAP accounting standards. So, you know they have to be hiding something.
My guess is that its the pension shortfall…You know, if the government really wanted to give them the best possible chance, they would have let them unload the pensions to the PBGC. But that would mean that the UAW retirees would share in the pain..
+3
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:17 am)Naming is usually a fixed game. For example, when they have the naming for a new sports team, the team picks the name and then runs the contest, knowing that with so many entries at least one person will pick the name which has already been chosen. The names here are so weird I’m doubting this was the case in this instance!
Not sure if this is just me, but I’d just as soon they spend time doing something a little more productive than running a color naming contest. If they feel the need to do this kind of stuff — and given their target audience I don’t see why they do — my idea would be to design a color for Steven Colbert. They could present it on his show, which would get to exactly the demographic GM is seeking for the Volt, and Colbert would milk it for all its worth — his Americone ice cream and his spider still show up regularly. Better yet, have them vote on whether to name a color Enviroment or ColbertGreen and see how the Colbert Nation votes.
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:24 am)I agree. I liked yours and other suggestions (Silver Joule, Proton Blue,…) on this site more. Even mine — Electromotive Metallic, or alternatively EMF Blue Metallic. I wonder if we can alter the voting names, e.g., Environ-cost-a-mint; Oops, sorry, don’t want to go there!
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:26 am)I was robbed!!!!!
Here was my entry: VOLT – Viridian Oyster Lustrous Tri-Coat
How many people would come up with Viridian as a color for green??? I guess I should not have posted it here…..
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
It doesn’t matter. I want blue!!! Are you listening GM????
I will find a picture of the blue I would really like to see on a Volt and post it here later….
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:29 am)There must have been a lot of very similar names. I would assume “demographic correctness” was also a factor in the selection.
I like the Evergreen color name–not overly cute.
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:36 am)I have been glad to see some strong blue colors on cars, recently (and very little “robins’ egg blue” of Little Old Lady fame). I’ve even seen a couple of models sporting a metallic orange.
If Volt (or any new GM make) comes out available in only subtle, muted colors, it may come off as being behind the style.
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:40 am)Did GM decide it wanted a green color and then choose the finalists.
If I was voting on the sound of the name I would choose “Viridian Joule” but if I was voting for a color I would actually want I guess it would be “EV-ergreen.” I’m not fond of lighter greens but darker greens are nice.
btw, the original post is missing the closing quote after EV-ergreen.
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:52 am)I don’t want to sway anyone’s vote, but…I guess I do. I voted for Viridian Joule because it sounds the coolest and because I think Republicans that think like Bob Lutz, that global warming is “a crock of $%#” will think it’s just GM’s green posturing if it’s called EnviroMINT or EVergreen.
+1
Nov 16th, 2009 (12:15 pm)That’s an insanely good idea. Bob Lutz already came on the Colbert Report before and talked about the Volt. They would start on all out blitz for Volts if Colbert got one and showed it off.
They should show his evil twin trying to prove that EVs are slow and useless, have him race against a Hummer at a stop light and beat it, then after driving 40 miles in his Volt (show a montage of going all around the city) he thinks he’s used up all of the electricity and finally can prove that EVs are useless, but the range extender comes on, then show a line plotting his progress going all around the map of the United States as he exhaustingly tries to reach the end of the Volt’s unlimited range. With bags under his eyes for lack of sleep for several days of straight driving, he finally gets back home and gets in his Hummer and falls asleep at the wheel, the non evil twin Colbert finds the Volt, “Hey, I’ve been looking for that” and plugs it in at home in his garage.
Since GM is selling Hummer, they can officially laugh about it now and make it the butt end of the joke.
Something like that. He would love it, it would be hillarious. The public would be all over it if they did it right.
Nov 16th, 2009 (12:19 pm)So when Viridian Joule wins (this contest’s other entries are just mind-bogglingly terrible to the point of being a force/farce) will they deepen the green color?
Viridian isn’t exactly a light shade:
http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/overview/viridian.html
+2
Nov 16th, 2009 (12:27 pm)… AWAY!
</Lone_Ranger>
Nov 16th, 2009 (12:28 pm)That’s nice but the only colors they are offering are black, white, red, and two shades of gray
http://gm-volt.com/2009/10/22/gm-announces-chevy-volt-paint-colors-and-contest-to-name-the-signature-hue-and-win-a-test-drive/
Viridian is the name of a city in Pokemon… half of us who were kids in the 1990s know that (Cerulean City, Vermilion city, Saffron City…). Cartoons can be so educational lol
Nov 16th, 2009 (12:32 pm)I just checked the GM system again.
No info for “pre-orders” on VOLT, Z/28 Camaro, Spark, Beat, Orlando, or any other 2011 Chevrolet.
As I’ve mentioned here before, there’s no reason to take a deposit if we can’t place a REAL order. That other dealer is just looking for press and he got it.
Nov 16th, 2009 (12:45 pm)I vote for a new selection committee. My entry was “Eco Silverde”. It has sort of an international flair don’t you think?
Nov 16th, 2009 (12:55 pm)JohnK,
Neither you nor Lyle mentioned the dealership by name.
Sorry John. It still sounds like a scam.
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:08 pm)Lots of creative juices flow here! I have no idea why I wasn’t a finalist with Joule Drool….
Be well,
Tagamet
Let’s Just Get The Volts’ Wheels On The Road!!**********NPNS
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:11 pm)That’s why my entry was Viridian Silver…I guess it was descriptive but not cute enough.
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:17 pm)Tag, that sounds kind of gross. lol
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:17 pm)At the end of the article above where it states Vote Here. Click on Vote Here to link to the voting site.
Happy trails to you ’til we meet again.
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:20 pm)I vote none of the above.
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:24 pm)I’m sure I saw a little spittle leaking from Lyle’s broad smiles when he accelerates from a dead stop, hence Joule Drool (g)
Be well,
Tagamet
Let’s Just Get The Volts’ Wheels On The Road!!**********NPNS
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:42 pm)I guess there were copyright issues with my suggestion, “Night Ranger”…
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:44 pm)I doubt it is a scam, but it sounds a little unscrupulous. Basically the dealership has taken $1000 and promised people a Volt. It is a GM dealership so it should have the ability to order a Volt eventually, and they haven’t specified a price or a delivery date so you may be putting a $1000 deposit on a $55,000 Volt to be delivered in July of 2013. I would at least hope that the $1000 deposit is refundable at the customer’s request.
I seem to recall a poster saying they had made a deposit at a Vancouver dealership last year, and that’s without knowing when the Volt will make it to Canada.
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:50 pm)Well, we all tried to win but alas. I submitted “Electrum Silver”. From Wikipedia: “Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals.” Like others I didn’t notice the greenish tine until it was mentioned. I thought the name had a rich character to it, gold being one of the alloy materials and copper having a greenish hue. Now to sided which of the three to choose.
Happy trails to you ’til we meet again.
+2
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:57 pm)Whatever anyone on this site wants to do is their business – BUT, I can assure you that NO GM DEALER IN THE USA knows for sure that they will get any allocation – and NO GM DEALER (or employee at any dealer) knows for sure how the initial roll-out will occur. We are months away from learning any of those details. As CorvetteGuy has said, there is NO OFFICIAL information.
Anyone who gives a deposit to a dealer at this point is kidding themselves that they are any closer to getting a VOLT. In fact, IMHO you are far LESS LIKELY to ever get delivery from a dealer who is taking deposits at this point. Remember, these are the same stores who will be most likely to post their first VOLT allocations on eBay (whenever they get them – year 1 or year 3) and sell them to the highest bidder.
A word of advice: I can assure you that as soon as ordering details become available, they will be posted on this site. Stay tuned and stay smart – keep you money in your pocket!
Nov 16th, 2009 (1:57 pm)I hope #2 wins
#1 and #3 are just… too….
“Oh thats really neat.. I guess”
Actually all 3 color choices are that way. Fun for a year or two, but not a long hall 5+ year color name.
Nov 16th, 2009 (2:28 pm)As a FYI I told someone they could register for a pre-order at the web site you mentioned a while back and they said it was throwing a “page doesn’t exist at this server” message.
They also said “CorvetteGuy” did not appear on the list of people who had referred them to the site.
Nov 16th, 2009 (2:58 pm)OK, now we have a lot of very beautiful and creative names for colors. Lets have Chevy go back to their paint shop and produce some colors that are as creative and beautiful as the names people here have developed. Either my monitor is broken or this car is gray, just like all the other tens of millions of dull boring gray cars that have been made over the last 25 years. Calling it silver don’t change it. It is still gray. I am old enough to remember when cars actually came in colors. Everybody had some they loved, and everybody had some they hated, but nobody fell asleep while looking at their car. This gray stuff is just about making something so boring that nobody gets offended. Which offends me. Make my Volt that bright Neon Lime Green that is used for safety wear. Then people will see me coming. And I’ll take my EREV compact pickup in Blaze Orange, thank you.
Nov 16th, 2009 (4:56 pm)I was hoping for Disinfectant Green but I guess that’s not in the spirit of the contest.
Nov 16th, 2009 (5:00 pm)My next question would be have any of the finalists participated on this blog?
+1
Nov 16th, 2009 (5:03 pm)Here’s an example of why these “voting” contests are a joke. I was Googling and found this:
Help me win a contest! Volt Color Contest!Nov 16, 2009 … I just really need everyone’s help to win the Volt Color naming contest. I got selected as a finalist and you can vote on 3 color names. …
sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/wan/1468522245.html – 1 hour ago
By the time I clicked the link the post had been flagged and deleted. This reminds me of the old professional wrestling line, “win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat”.
+1
Nov 16th, 2009 (5:18 pm)Green???? Looks silver to me. I don’t see any green.. maybe a little color blind.
Nov 16th, 2009 (5:28 pm)Here is a picture of the blue I would like to see on my Volt.
It is the same color as the blue from my first car – a 1973 Mach 1…..
And I agree with lektriktadpole at post #57. Silver/Gray is really getting boring…….
JMHO
Nov 16th, 2009 (5:41 pm)Excellent. LOL.
Nov 16th, 2009 (5:58 pm)ummm….
can someone tell me where the green anything is on the car? is the picture the “silver” they are talking about. i simply can not see it.
Nov 16th, 2009 (6:03 pm)Nice effort by the 3 finalists, I guess by suggestion “green” didn’t fly.
Nov 16th, 2009 (6:04 pm)We need an electric blue. Make it the same dark blue as the new camaro’s. Grey/silver, white and black just won’t do it. Please GM gives us some color besides just red.
Nov 16th, 2009 (6:04 pm)Yours was 4th
Nov 16th, 2009 (6:07 pm)your trekkie leanings are showing “the collective”
Nov 16th, 2009 (6:08 pm)I originally thought that “holographic silver” or “photonic silver” might be good because it sounded futuristic. If GM wants a regular descriptive color, I was thinking maybe “green apple silver”.
Why not? The interior was inspired a bit by Apple’s iPod and iPhone you know. The Volt is certainly going to be considered one of the most “green” cars on the planet when it comes out next year.
Even though “apple green” isn’t exactly the same as the color of emerald, it’s probably close enough.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartreuse_%28color%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_%28color%29#Emerald
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1283/1312529858_bbab92f7bb.jpg
Nov 16th, 2009 (6:10 pm)Naming colors is all part of the hype to generate interest.
Nov 16th, 2009 (6:17 pm)that was too big a mouthful for the salesmen
Nov 16th, 2009 (6:19 pm)Springfield, vote “Quimby”
Nov 16th, 2009 (7:02 pm)Yes, Disinfectant Green and Viridian Oyster Lustrous Tri-Coat are fine suggestions. It’s surprising that an infrastructure theme didn’t make the top three. Something like Grid Trip Gray or Transformer Arc Plasma.
Hope we hear more on time and place for the test drive. I’ll be sure to leave the date open for a road trip. Going to be a great L.A. Auto Show this year.
=D~
Nov 16th, 2009 (7:11 pm)My suggestion clearly wasn’t original enough, since I used two of the common words describing the color, when I should have used none of the original commonly-used names.
I sent in Ascendant Silver Emerald.
I like Environmint.
Nov 16th, 2009 (7:37 pm)Good point. I hope GM is listening…
Nov 16th, 2009 (11:00 pm)Hayley, good point. I must be forgetting my childhood *tear*.
Nice to have a fellow young-ish person on here btw!
Nov 17th, 2009 (12:57 pm)“Viridian Joule” now that is clever! Now the real question, how many buyers will know what a Joule is?
Nov 17th, 2009 (11:39 pm)I question how many people know what a Joule is on this board, or Viridian (which hilariously to me is so unused to not be recognized by my spell check.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Prescott_Joule
A joule is just a measurement of energy. In terms of actual development, joule is more closely tied to heat engines than electrical batteries. Its use in electricity is from a backwards experiment to see how much heat energy electrics lost.
Lets not forget that official world unit for measuring the energy content of food is the kilo-joule. Most European Food is labeled this way…
I guess though the average high school science American will have no issue thinking of joule as “something related to electricity”
Overall, I am more and more disappointed by the color choices. They give me the impression that for GM, the Volt is the “let’s win some green cred” publicity stunt rather than serious effort at a next generation car. Come-on, the car deserves better than a pun for a color, especially when the Puns make no sense. Colors typically take the form Adjective Color Effect, like White Diamond Tri-Coat or Crystal Red Metallic or my cars Ming Blue Pearl. Joule for example makes no sense. Is it the Color? An Effect? or an Adjective? Doesn’t work in any of those spots… but Adjective is probably the best place… Viridian Joule Silver Metallic? I mean what would Vermilion Inch mean?
Although, it is quite hard to name that greenish silver color. Not really popular actually… here are some paint color names close to the Volt’s color… Beach Blanket, Delicate Frost, and Summer Sigh
::shudder:: so I guess it could be worse
Nov 21st, 2009 (6:26 pm)Wouldn’t Silviridian Joule have been better after all it is supposed to be mostly silver
Nov 23rd, 2009 (3:38 am)Too bad they didn’t like my FUKOPEC Pearl submission.