The Pecan Street Project may be home to the highest concentration of Chevrolet Volt owners in the world. We set out to meet some Volt-owning residents and came upon Dennis and Carol Mick. They’ve been a part of the Mueller Community for the past four years and have owned their Chevrolet Volt for a little over a year now.

Dennis says after the couple retired, they decided to move from their suburban home to Mueller because of the community’s commitment to the principles of new urbanism, an approach to land planning that reduces traffic and eliminates sprawl. Since making the move four years ago, Dennis says they’ve dramatically reduced their carbon footprint and their one-year-old Volt is a big part of their more energy-efficient lifestyle.

The couple’s favorite Volt features are OnStar’s turn-by-turn navigation for directions and using the OnStar RemoteLink™ mobile app to cool down the car before they go out for a drive in the Texas heat. They also enjoy the ability to call and speak with their personal Volt expert Andrew, from the Volt Advisor Team, whenever they have any questions about their vehicle.

What’s more, the Mick’s have a unique experience when charging their Volt at home – they have their own solar panels. Dennis says all the electricity recharging his Volt comes from the Sun’s energy captured by his home’s rooftop installation. Additionally, Mueller residents have the ability to log-on from either their smartphone or computer to instantly access their home’s energy usage, from such things as A/C and lighting, to power generation from the structure’s solar panels.

One thing is for certain – the Mick family is ready to take on any new energy efficiency challenges with their Volt by their side. Dennis says the couple is excited to participate in future programs focused on reducing their carbon footprint.

Today, Chevrolet announced that the 2014 Spark EV will get a combined city/highway EPA-estimated range of 82 miles when fully charged and an EPA-estimated combined city/highway 119 MPGe fuel economy equivalent, making it the leading industry benchmark in electric vehicle efficiency. With the most efficient battery available, drivers will get the lowest possible cost per mile, making the Spark EV the most affordable pure EV for purchase in the United States. That equates to a potential savings for Spark EV owners of up to $9,000 in fuel costs over five years, compared to the average new vehicle.

More than just efficient, the Spark EV is sporty, responsive and fun to drive, which comes from 400 ft. lbs. of instant torque and an innovative electric propulsion system that puts power in all the right places the moment it’s needed.

Not surprising, this electric mini car borrows some of the same cutting-edge electric power technology proven in the Chevrolet Volt, the best-selling plug-in car of 2012, such as regenerative braking.

"The Chevrolet Spark EV is a great city car that blends technology, functionality and style in an unexpected package" said Cristi Landy, director of Chevrolet small and electrified vehicle marketing. "We built on the success of the Volt and the gas-powered Spark to offer an affordable, fun and efficient mini car our customers will love to drive."

The motor and drive unit are assembled at GM’s Baltimore operations plant in White Marsh, Md. Last week, the plant celebrated Spark EV motor production, marking the first time a major U.S. auto manufacturer has designed and built both a complete electric motor and drive unit for a modern electric vehicle in the United States.

The Spark EV goes on sale this summer in California and Oregon.

I was looking to create my own health food product and loved the idea of starting a business from scratch because it gave me the chance to create a company that reflected my core values.

At B’more Organic, we make bottled skyr smoothies. Skyr (pronounced “skeer”) is an Icelandic-style yogurt that’s strained, similar to Greek yogurt. As our name says, we’re all organic. Our vision is to change the way the world eats by providing convenient and healthy food. Our smoothies have more than 34 grams of protein, no added sugar and nothing artificial. We also try to live our core values every day, one of which is “B’More Green.”

B’more Green means we try to adhere to sustainable business practices in all that we do. Our milk comes from a farm powered by solar electricity. The electricity for our office is generated from wind-power. So, when it came time for us to purchase a company vehicle, we wanted it to be as green as possible too, while still fitting our needs.   

One of the added benefits of “being green” is that it often saves you money. As a start-up, we couldn’t afford to spend a lot on gas and oil changes, (the $7,500 tax credit will save us some green as well).  We also wanted a car that minimized our use of fossil fuels -- and our country’s dependence on foreign oil. We realize that one car won’t change the world, but we believe in what Gandhi said: “Be the change you want to see in this world.”

There were a few options for us, including some pretty good cars getting really good gas mileage. Others we looked at could even be converted to running on used veggie oil!  Besides worrying about smelling French fries all day, those were good options. There were also other plug-in hybrid options from Ford and Toyota. But, when we looked into the Chevrolet Volt, we were attracted to the fact that we could go 40 miles running only on the battery. We also really liked the Volt’s gasoline range-extender for longer trips - something the Nissan Leaf doesn’t offer.

Our office’s electricity is 100 percent wind-powered thanks to our energy supplier Clean Currents. Because of this, we loved the idea that we can drive around powered mostly by renewable wind. We think it’s pretty cool that the car was made in the U.S. and it’s primarily powered by American wind. Not many company cars can make that claim.

When we test drove the Volt we found it to be surprisingly quick and it handled really well. It’s quiet with very little outside noise. So quiet, in fact, that it even comes with the little button that alerts unsuspecting pedestrians that you’re nearby. The Volt also has all the fun electric gadgets that our 24-year-old Market Manager, Eric, geeked out over, mainly the Bluetooth audio and free XM radio for three years. He’ll use the Volt to make shopping trips to local stores. He’s getting it decaled to reflect our values of being green and taking it to area events where we hand out free samples. I just hope that he lets me drive it sometime!