2016 Chevy Malibu Hybrid Release Date, Price and Review: Now Comes At $28,645

Dec 13, 2015 01:51 PM EST

On Thursday, General Motors Co. announced the price of 2016 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid will start at $28,645, including destination charge. Expect the latest car is capable of getting 48 miles per gallon in city driving.

The gasoline-electric hybrid Chevy will hit the market in spring 2016 and only with the LT trim.

The price of Malibu Hybrid is just $2,750 more from the conventional gasoline-powered Malibu LT. For a base L model, it will start at $22,500. Expect to see the cars in showrooms by the end of the year.

A report from Forbes states that General Motors designed the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu with the lightest materials available. The article described the Chevy car as "shockingly light." The Detroit-based company hopes that the latest car will change the buyer's perspective about their brand.

"We're perceived as an older, tired brand that doesn't have much relevance," said Steve Majoros, Chevrolet Marketing Head. "So we have to shake things up with our new advantages; the car's design and technology."

General Motors has been struggling to compete with other established car manufacturers like Honda, Toyota, Ford and Nissan. For example, In the San Francisco area, the Malibu only ranked 12th in the sedan sales charts.

However, it will about to change, according to Chevy car designer John Cafaro. The Malibu has now sleek design that is characterized with elegant, coupe-like roofline.

The Malibu Hybrid, a new model of Chevrolet Malibu car, is equipped with a direct-injection 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that functions well with a two-motor electric drive unit modified from the brand-new 2016 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. Its power capacity comes from a 1.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack loaded with 80 cells.

Furthermore, expect its safety features and infotainment technologies are top of the class. The interiors of the Malibu is compatible with Apple ,Car Play, Android Auto, wireless charging and related features. Moreover, the car has 4G LTE hotspot, which can serve up to seven WiFi clients with a range of around fifty feet.

The 2016 Malibu can be programmed to activate all the car's safety systems, set limits on audio system volume and log speeds and distance driven. It also offers lane-keep assistance, adaptive cruise control, pedestrian detection and forward-collision warning with automatic braking, and rear-cross traffic alert, among other things.

According to Slash Gear, given that the car is lighter, it is also faster than before, courtesy of a new processor behind the scenes.