Will The Chevy Volt Blow Away The Hybrid Car Competition?
Yesterday, GM announced that their Chevy Volt will get an estimated 230 mpg in the city! Because of this extraordinary claim, there are many skeptics who question whether it’s truly 230 miles per gallon. Engadget was told that the EPA has released “a new methodology for determining a draft fuel economy standard for extended-range EVs like the Volt,” and it’s that non-standard measurement system that is giving Chevy’s boy wonder a triple digit MPG.
How Could It Possibly Get 230 MPG?
CNN has an article with an example that helps us understand the calculation better. The Chevy Volt and a standard hybrid car are different in the sense that the Volt will strictly use electricity from a battery, then switch to gasoline after it has been driven 40 miles. A hybrid car like the Prius uses a mix of the battery power and gasoline to power the car, but does it more efficiently than a standard car. Keeping that in mind, here is an example from the CNN article:
So let’s say the car is driven 50 miles in a day. For the first 40 miles, no gas is used and during the last 10 miles, 0.2 gallons are used. That’s the equivalent of 250 miles per gallon. But, if the driver continues on to 80 miles, total fuel economy would drop to about 100 mpg. And if the driver goes 300 miles, the fuel economy would be just 62.5 mpg.
Knowing this information and understanding this example, it’s more clear that the less you drive in the Volt, the more MPG you get, and if you drive a long distance, the fuel economy gradually decreases. So, for short commutes back and forth to work, the Volt really will get you 200 to 250 mpg, but for a 400 mile trip, you’ll get about the same fuel economy as a Toyota Prius or Honda Insight hybrid car.
How Do You Recharge Its Battery?
The Chevy Volt runs fully on a battery for 40 miles, unlike a traditional battery that operates the electronic components in your car and is continually charged by your car’s engine and alternator. So, in order to get that 40 miles of gas-free power, you would need to charge the battery every night. GM says that the battery can be charged in a standard residential, electrical outlet. They say it would cost about .40 cents a day in utility charges to charge the battery.
When Will the Chevy Volt Be Available?
Nobody knows at this point. Chevy had originally promised a release date of November, 2010, but they recently submitted a regulatory filing with the U.S. Treasury that means they may be having troubles with funding for a full launch in November.
Will GM set the standard for the beginning of electric cars or will it be a flop and open the door for another company to learn from GM’s mistakes? Only time will answer those questions. However, being able to use a car for short commutes back and forth from work that doesn’t use a drop of gas is an intriguing thought.