EPA on Volt: 93 MPGe electric, 37 mpg gas-only, 60mpg combined

Wow thats pretty bad. We all know the Prius can get at least 50mpg over a range of 450+ miles.

Theoretically for Volt, if you use expend all electricity and gas over its ~414 mile range you get an average mpg of 41.7. Like I said, pretty bad.

 

One of the marketing messages fans had hoped to use was fuel savings to offset the high purchase price. That has gone out the window.

 

It looks like your math is incorrect at 414 based upon what that image says. 35 + 344 = 379 not 414. The image says 344 miles AFTER the electric is used. Ironically, that may lower your MPG figure of 41.7

 

However, I will add, that for 80% of people the electric range will cover probably 80% of their drives. That is still a beneficial item, although, it'd be extremely tough to recoup any extra costs by fuel savings alone, without some pretty steep increase in fuel. I do wonder if they couldn't have done significantly better with a smaller diesel generator or even small gas generator in it. I won't condemn it based upon the FE once the battery is drained. That's a lot of battery weight to carry around, also, and we all know that extra weight require extra power to move. At what point does the additional battery weight with current technology hit the point of diminishing return?

 

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Precept]General Motors Precept - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame].

The real question is why they couldn't have gotten their emissions low enough. It is a computer operated ICE and fixing the emissions could not have been that more expensive. Given the well known disdain by GM for all things 'geen' during the development, this was an obvious screw-up.

Bob Wilson

 

Quick question - what is the legal requirement for the emissions of a petrol or diesel engine in a car such as a Volt? Do they have to meet the same emissions as a 'normal' car? or because the engine doesn't directly drive the vehicle can they be classed as a generator and as such be eligible to produce higher emissions?

Just a thought?

 

Youre absolutely right, lol. My bad.

 

All plug-ins are tested in ICE mode running.

 

So on a 200 mile trip the Volt will use 4.5 gal. of gas plus 12.6 kW of electric. A Prius HV will use 4 gal. of gas only plus the $8k to $18k I save buying the Prius. How's my math? It would be better if there was a breakout of the city and hwy only mpg.

 

can you say
FAIL!

 

But on a 5 mile trip the prius will spit millions of times more pollution from it's tailpipe and and burn thousands and thousands of times more gas.
They way you and everyone else thinks, every car ever sold in the us FAILS to the Prius. And i'm including the origonal insight beacuse it Fails at having five seats.

 

The Volt and the Leaf both have 'hidden' costs that don't seem to be mentioned, namely TIME. The Prius can easily go over 450 miles without stopping for fuel, while getting 50 plus mpg. Both the Volt and especially the Leaf would have to stop and charge, and in the Volt, fuel up. If you don't charge the Volt and just let the ICE power it (as a generator) you won't get 50 mpg. It will take hours to charge the Volt.

My time is worth money, how about yours?

 

Plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles are the technology of the future. With the recent introductions of plug-in hybrids, non-plug-in hybrids have now become the technology of the past like the gasoline-only vehicles. It's amazing how fast the technology changes.

More than 90% of drivers will get better fuel economy with Chevy Volt than the non-plug-in Prius. The 10% exception will be the extremely long commuters.

The reason why Volt gets less MPG than the Prius in the gasoline-only mode is the heavier weight, bigger tires, and less aerodynamic exterior. Prius' Atkinson-cycle engine also helps too.

The non-plug-in Prius can't outperfom these modern plug-ins and electric vehicles in fuel economy. Now, we will have to wait and see if the plug-in Prius can outperform the Volt and Leaf. It would be great if the plug-in Prius could get 100+ MPG, which neither the Volt nor the Leaf was able to obtain.

 

The mpg is better then 95% of the cars on the market but I am also disappointed as I was expecting 42 or higher. On the other hand....

Everyone who says the Volt is the worst of both worlds gas and electric really has nothing to stand on. The electric rating of the car is quite good! The mpge is less then 10% lower then the leaf and you can drive it with no range issues.

 

I value my time highly, apparently higher than you do yours
As I refuse to waste time stopping at gas stations for fill ups.
As for charge time, I plug the car in at night (10 seconds) and unplug it in the morning (10 seconds).

Now, this is in no way defending the Volt's terrible fuel efficiency. Just noting that your angle on placing value on time doesn't work unless the EV driver needs to fuel up in the middle of the day while they would otherwise be driving.

 

I don't think many people here are saying it's the worst of both worlds. I think the issue most are having, and it most likely was a sub-conscious thing, is that better was expected. Remember, GM threw out 230 MPG how long ago? I don't think they should ever have leaked any number. I think the initial "the generator doesn't drive the engine" to "oh wait, yes it does in some circumstances" made people feel as though they were a little flim-flammed. The fact that there are cars out there that can get 40 mpg and more, made people expect a much higher rating considering the cost, electric plug-in, etc.

Now, as far as the PHEV Prius goes, I would love to see the battery capacity of the VOLT combined with the FE of the current G3 Prius. THAT would be really sweet. The biggest downside to more battery capacity is more weight to lug around. More weight is more power to move the vehicle.

Overall, I think the VOLT serves a really good portion of what most people typically drive. 35 miles of electric is typically more than sufficient for a typical daily commute. When you have the long highway drives, 37-40 MPG isn't all that terrible on the highway. The key is the ability to be able to plug in when you get to where you are going. I think for those people that only take a few trips a year away from home, these trips are really the only times they are going to have to put fuel into the gas tank. However, $41k is probably going to be out of the price range for those, and most, folks.

 

Volt's gasoline-only fuel efficiency is a moot point because most people who buy it would use it mostly in the electric-only mode.

These cars are not meant for mostly gasoline use or entirely gasoline use.

These cars will easily outperform the non-plug-in Prius in $$$ fuel savings with their intended plug-in use.

Last but not least, entirely electric operation means zero emissions, zero direct global-warming effects, and zero foreign-oil dependency, none of which comes with non-plug-in hybrids.

 

Yep, between the GM reputation and $41,000, this car is stillborn.

 

funny.
As if the Earth differentiates between CO2 emitted 3 feet from the driver, or 30 miles away.

Savings of about 1.5 cents/mile assuming median petrol and electricity costs in the US. Is that "easily?" It will take ONE MILLION miles at that rate to recoup the higher cost.