At Chevy's press conference at last week's LA Auto Show, outgoing Chevy manager Brent Dewar quickly flashed a slide across the screen revealing GM's intention to develop mobile phone applications for controlling and interacting with the Volt.

GM sources have told the charged-up folks at GM-Volt that there will be applications at least for the iPod and the Blackberry and we should expect them to be unveiled ahead of the Volt along with their potential functions.

For starters, the app will allow for control of when to charge the car. GM-Volt's Lyle Dennis also expects to see applications receiving signals from the car as well, indicating when charging is completed and if the driver forgot to plug it in at some time interval after arriving home. Read more of Lyle's account of what to expect over at GM-Volt.

What would you like to see in a Volt app?

[via GM-Volt]

Like Isaac Newton and gravity, The Christmas Truck was the results of one man's sudden inspiration. Kris Marshall was hauling a generator and a few strands of Christmas lights to his church in a $50 used truck. He simply combined the two and The Christmas Truck was born.

It's amazingly nontechnical, it's literally just lights taped to a truck. According to Marshall "It's not very scientific, it's a hideous site in the daylight, there's black tape and wires in the daytime." But at night it's amazing. Marshall has used eight trucks and added dozens of strand since, though it's always a 2WD Chevy/GMC with a regular cab and eight-foot truck bed "the way a truck ought to look."

By his own estimate there are 50-to-70 strings with a mixture of 50 and 100 lights each, making a conservative estimate of 3,000 lights. There are no LEDs, just the cheap $0.89 strings, though he'd like to add some to take pressure off the taxed generator.

It's a hit around Dallas and Polk Counties in Iowa, where Marshall is a GMC truck salesman. He often pulls hayrides and drives in parades around the holiday seasons. Unfortunately, not all police officers understand.

"It's totally illegal and almost all the cops are cool with that. Almost all... some of them don't get it. Last night I met two cops in four minutes and they just smiled. I think I've got most of them trained."

With the exception of a few tickets for illegal use of lights, the only other downside to The Christmas Truck is when one of his sons decides to use it for a date.

"If you're picking up your girlfriend in the Christmas truck and she's not expecting the Christmas Truck that can be a dealbreaker."

We salute Kris Marshall for a display of holiday exuberance high on awesome but appropriately low on ingenuity for someone who thinks a working heater in a truck is "a luxury."

This story's still developing, but if our sources are correct, it would blow the Toyota Prius out of the water. Heck, it'd blow every other vehicle currently on the market out of the water with the exception of the Tesla roadster — and that's no four-door mid-size sedan. So for GM this represents a huge marketing coup — the ability to claim the most fuel efficient vehicle in the world and a big blow to detractors who claim the big, sweaty 'merican manufacturer can't build quality products.

We'll have more out of GM's Warren Technical Center as the General holds their big product showcase event throughout the day.

Their new Energy Efficient Series, debuting in the 2011 Chevy Volt, promises to be 30% smaller, 40% lighter, and use 50% less energy than "conventional Bose sound systems."

Is this some grand achievement on Bose's part? Well, we don't really know. It's ridiculously easy (and cheap) to make low wattage audio systems—it's just a bit more difficult to make them sound great. Still, we're interesting to see a new industry emerge—one that may have car audio enthusiasts installing more efficient amplifiers and lower wattage speakers...well, at least if they want to untether their car from an outlet. [Bose]

Note to Chinese tow companies: either get heavier trucks or remember to take them out of neutral. [Chinasmack]

The wheels, while still in development over at Michelin, already have a vehicle ready to receive them. Called the Heuliez Will, this tiny tot from Opel doesn't look like much, but it has it where it counts, and might produce an offspring that, in a galaxy far, far away, makes the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. Or requires no gasoline to run. Probably the latter.

Even more impressive is the notion that in-wheel motors would free up space in the front or rear of the vehicle. This model also eliminates the need for other notorious space hogs like transmissions and exhaust systems. More room means more freedom for tomorrow's automobile designers, and cooler cars for we consumers. (*fingers crossed* anyway).

The target price for the Opel right now is about $24,000-37,000, which puts it in line with the upcoming so-called savior of Detroit, the Chevy Volt. Testing on the Opel has already begun, with an official consumer roll out expected by 2011. Active Wheels are also expected to come standard on the Venturi Volage sometime in 2012. [Michelin via Treehugger]

[Jalopnik]

Noticeable Differences Between Volt Hydrogen and Volt:

1. Volt Hydrogen features two hydrogen tanks near the rear of the vehicle.
2. Hydrogen still features a battery stack (we were told for electric-only option), but it's about 20% smaller than what you see in the Volt classic. (Specs say that it can go 40 miles on electric alone.)

Noticeable Similarities Between Volt Hydrogen and Volt:

1. That chassis looked identical—it's truly the Volt in hydrogen form.
2. It's called a Volt.

When can we expect to see it on the market? There's no official timeline out there, as GM is waiting for the hydrogen refueling infrastructure problems to be solved before launching a hydrogen car. In addition, GM isn't finalizing the design until they see how the Volt performs for the masses.

And as for that infrastructure problem, "we're working on a solution," a GM spokesperson said.

Like the Volt's unleaded offerings, the Opel E-Flex diesel engine is not a motor at all, but a backup power generator for the electricity-driven car. Let's just swap out that diesel engine for a nuclear reactor, and we're in business. Hit up Jalopnik for more photos. [jalopnik and carscoop]