Will the Volt Really Get 230 MPG, or is it BS?

When GM announced that its electric car, the 2011 Chevy Volt, is expected to get 230 miles per gallon, people were dazzled – and doubtful. Is that really possible? What does that number even mean? How can the EPA even measure fuel consumption that low?

According to GreenCarReports.com, it’s all in the assumptions. Here’s one, among many others:

40 miles, no gasoline

The Volt, remember, stores energy in both a gasoline tank and a battery pack. And it will always prioritize using electricity from the battery to power itself before it ever switches on the gas engine. Unlike a conventional hybrid car, though, the battery pack is usually recharged by plugging the Volt into a wall socket.

But the Volt’s 16-kilowatt-hour battery pack only gives it 40 miles of electric range. To eliminate “range anxiety,” after that, the Volt switches on its engine to run a generator that provides power to its electric motor. That gives another 300-plus miles of range.

So depending on how many of the Volt’s miles are run on grid power, and how many by burning gasoline in the engine to generate its own electricity.

GM often cites the statistic that more than 70 percent of all US vehicles travel less than 40 miles a day. If your usage falls within that level, your Volt would never turn on its engine–and never use a drop of gasoline. That’s gas mileage of, well, infinity.

On the other hand, if you drive a Volt 140 miles every single day, still recharging it at night, it would travel 40 miles on grid power and 100 miles on gasoline. If the car gets 50 miles per gallon with the engine on, that’s two gallons burned, 140 miles total, or 70 mpg.

The more daily miles over that first 40, the higher the proportion of gasoline burned–and the lower the overall mileage.

EcoGeek notes that there are a few concerns about GM’s claim, and addresses them in order of validity. Here’s the first:

The EPA rules for fuel economy are draft rules, and there is no guarantee that these are the numbers that will be on the car.

This is absolutely true. GM took draft rules from the EPA, applied it to their car, and then created a gigantic advertising campaign celebrating the results. This could be an attempt by GM to force the EPA into keeping these new guidelines, or it could just be GM jumping the gun. Either way, it doesn’t seem like a good idea. If this number gets into the cultural consciousness and then people walk onto dealer lots in two years and see the fuel economy listed at  80 / 60, people are actually going to be disappointed by 80 MPG. That’s a situation GM doesn’t want to put itself in.

Other questions about the rating include whether the EPA could be fudging the numbers since the government now owns GM, and whether using electricity is worse than using gasoline.

Meanwhile, Nissan is now claiming that its own electric car, the Leaf, will get 367 miles per gallon. The company even took a shot at the Volt on its Twitter, saying:

“Nissan Leaf = 367 mpg, no tailpipe, and no gas required. Oh yeah, and it’ll be affordable too”

The Leaf will also be cheaper than the Volt, making it more accessible to everyday consumers  at a retail cost of $25,000 compared to the Volt’s $40,000 price tag.

What’s really important here is that we’ve got active competition between car companies to produce the greenest, most fuel-efficient car. That’s a huge step, and assuming it continues, we should get a whole new spate of ultra-green vehicles in the next few years.

Link [Green Car Report] + [EcoGeek]
Photo credit: GM

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