EPA May Label Chevy Volt First 100 MPG Car

Unless some breakthrough happens in the next two years, GM could have a major coup when it puts the Chevy Volt plug-in electric hybrid on sale in late 2010. According to company officials, the EPA has agreed to preliminary testing rules for the plug-in hybrid category that would translate to at least 100 mpg on the Volt’s sticker. 

Of course, anyone watching the news the past two days knows that any preliminary agreement can fall apart, but for now we’ll take GM’s word that the EPA is on board with the figure.

Comments

I think 100 mpg would be the only thing that would make it worth it's price in consumers minds. Think of it this way:

You pay twice as much to get twice as many MPGs
(compared to a Prius).

Not too bad, though I still don't like it, that's a pretty good deal.

I seriously question the claim of the Volt being a TRUE 100 mpg vehicle. Sure, they can use the catch and label it, just like Ford's labeling the Escape Hybrid as the SUV with best mileage in the WORLD according to EPA (US) standards on US vehicles. (The Nissan Qhasqai Diesel in UK has been tested going 65+ mpg, for example).

The problem with this claim, as discussed by other websites, dispute the validity of the Volt's Hybrid system. If the electric motor has used up its juice, the gas engine does NOT recharge the electric motor. It provides enough power for the electric motor to power the vehicle, but that's about it, UNLESS the load of the power used is minimal, than excess electricity generated by gas motor will recharge the electric engine. However, the speculation here is that minimal means pretty much no AC or heat, no sound system, etc. In that case, u really have a dead weight of the battery like other hybrids, plus you do need to plug in your hybrid every 40 mi or so, which the other hybrids don't need. I don't know 'bou you guys, but that doesn't sound like an efficient or user friendly system (which the user friendly part has made the Prius so successful).

and if you go less than 40 miles the mpg is infinite ;)

How does 400 miles with a 12 gallon tank equate to 100mpg???? This would only be possible with limited daily driving. Give it the "real world" test. Fill the tank, drive it until it's on empty, fill it again and see what the mpg is. That's the real world...not driving it 30 miles a day and charging it overnight.

They need to rate it at different daily mileage intervals or you're going to get some jerks complaining that he took a trip and only got 40mpg.

I think you either label it this way or else test the car from basically a drained battery pack and list the mpg at that point where it running in hybrid mode. Neither number really does the story justice.

We almost need a new category for this type of car which captures maybe the miles per killowatt hour and a second number to capture miles per gallon. EPA numbers are good as a relative tool so info like this would help one shop it against other cars like it such as the Prius plugin. This would also help a consumer who is try to calculate cost for their use case to operate, assuming they knew the miles till the batteries are drained.

This car sounds more and more like a bad idea for anyone who rents or lives in the city. Imagine high-rise condo's putting plug-in chargers in their basement garages?

How will landlords charge you? It must cost a lot to install meters for individual outlets.

I don't have a garage so this car will never be charged up. Ironic, because the whole case for EV cars is for city people. But the people who have outlets and enclosed areas for their cars live out in the sticks -- mostly.

I'm astounded at the almost toal ignorance of everyone with respect to mileage for a plug-in hybrid like the Volt. An MPG numer for such a car is tiotally meaningless. If any of the public takes anything as stupid as a single MPG number seriously, then they deserve what they get. The proper window rating should provide information that is relevant to a plug-in hybrid, not some gas guzzling hog. It should say that the Volt will travel between 37 and 42 miles on a fully charged battery (fully charged as far as the customer is concerned# and then will achive 50/50 for city/highway while operating using gasoline.
THAT description is of value to the custolmer. Pinning a stupid and irrelevant MPG number means nothing and is, sahll we say, somewhat misleading, since drivers can plausibly achieve betwwen 120 and 600 MPG #or higher# in real life. Now, will someone explain why the Feds at the EPA are so completely confused and brainless? You CANNOT determine #for CAFE ratings# a typicl or average Volt MPG without
knowing the distribution of trip distances across all US drivers. You cannot determine that from any mileage test loop over at the EPa, nor #as one brainless reporter did# by lending a Volt to a friend for a week. We DO HAVE trip distribution stats for commuting and simple calculations for a car like the Volt indicate that a fleet of Volt-like cars would obtain a 275 MPG overall average. 80% wouldn't use any gasoline whasoever, and thus would achieve an infinite MPG. Perhaps someone will clue in the EPA #GM doesn't seeem to be doing a very good job) on their fictitous MPG "calculations." This problem shouldn't confuse an average 7 year old in elementary
school.

Another historic achievement for GM and as a current Prius owner I say "job well done." It's fun to read all the sour grapes on this one: "oh, I live in a condo, where will I plug in?" Grow up. There's a thing called the smart grid coming and all your worries will be answered Colin.

Ziggy, GM recently announced that the Volt's gasoline capacity was being reduced from 12 gallons to six gallons. 400 miles on six gallons, plus 40 miles at infinite mpg adds up to 100 mpg, I guess.

I guess if you bend the rules you can do anything. 4+4=10 The Volt gets 100 mpg. I can fly.

Red, maybe you didn't read the issue with the Volt. It's really not a sour grape. You really need to plug in the Volt to charge the battery; the gasoline engine won't do that job literally. Do you think that our local gov't and public utlities will be THAT efficient to convert downtown areas - whether new or old, but especially old - with narrow sidewalk and possible criminal activities - to have smart grid in just 2 years? Let alone of the fact that it's SO EASY to find parking in downtown residential area...

Nobody should be speculating on the functionality of the Volt's electrical system based on a few statements from press releases and especially not from the report done by journalists on InsideLine. With that being said though I agree that any potential urban owner will not be able to take full advantage of a plug-in hybrid if they can't readily plug it in somewhere.

There will be outdoor electrical outlets along the streets with the ability to identify which car has plugged in, and to automatically add the electric charge to that person's monthly utility bill. They already have wireless technology reporting your home's electric usage without having to physically read the meter. And it's been proven that you can send digital data over powerlines so that problem will be an easy one to solve. Not having enough parking spaces will not be solved so easily. Amuro Ray, I think the Volt's gasoline engine is fully capable of charging the batteries. In fact, I read that the gasoline engine will generate enough electricity to run the car and put a good charge back in the batteries at the same time.

What about the Saturn Vue Green Line Plug-In Hybrid? are they still looking into that? if so how much in common will it have with the Volt? i mean if GM will make another plug-in,in order to save money they would use the same technology in the Volt right? ...idk what i am trying to ask now. i guess im tryin to ask although on the heavy side the Saturn VUE is more sensible than the Volt because of space? so they should be able to squeeze just a little less if not more than the Volt out of it, i think, plus its still bigger than a 4 seater sedan.

It's made by GM and it won't be available until "late 2010". This car and the company are irrelevant. Between now and then Toyota and Honda will sell over a million hybrids. They will be actual working vehicles not some pie in the sky marketing story by a company known for turning out inferior vehicles.

Red & AR,
The gasoline engine will NOT recharge the Volt's batteries (much). It wouldn't make any sense to recharge the batteries that way because then you couldn't plug the car in, and you would be relying more on gasoline than necessary. When the batteries are mostly depleted the gasoline engine starts up to maintain the batteries' level of charge to within a small range. This is the cheapest, cleanest, and easiest-on-the-powertrain method of operation.

As for the 100mpg rating, I wonder if it's more for CAFE standards than the window sticker. 100 mpg suggests about 80 miles between recharging. If they put 100mpg on the window sticker they'll get sued by some consumer advocacy group on behalf of people who don't understand where the number came from. Since gas consumption in plugin hybrids is a piecewise function, I think the window sticker should show a graph of gas consumption as a function of miles driven. I'm sure it would still confuse people though.

Lil' Tom, I guess the article I read was wrong. Thanks for the info.

If GM management wishes to dream, than why not dream BIG?
What about 1000 mpg.

Substract form 400 miles the 40 miles on batteries and you get 360.
Divide 360 by 12 galons and you get 30 mpg.

Now this is a more realistic figure, isn’t it?

Even if tank size is half the original figure of 12 gallons and we GIVE GM the extra 40 battery-only miles for free, 400 miles/6 gallons is a generous 67 mpg.
Something is wrong here. Maybe the EPA is unusually compensated.

"... no official word from GM on exactly how big the gas tank in the Volt will be, despite the official revealing of the production Volt last week. Originally slated at 12 gallons, we know that GM has downsized the tank. The overall range has been mentioned at 400 miles or more on a full tank of gas, which would include the 40 miles the car can travel on its fully charged battery."

I agree with watchdog's comment that we shouldn't speculate too much on how the Volt will work. It's likely that when the gasoline engine/generator is running and the car is cruising at light load conditions the computer will send some excess electricity to the battery - that probably wouldn't be the case while climbing a steep hill or taking off from a stop. After the batteries get a partial recharge, the gasoline engine will probably shut down while you coast, go downhill, or stop for a traffic light, just like the Prius. Combine that function with regenerative braking and they probably made a pretty good case for a 100 mpg car with the feds. The thing to remember is that the Volt's use of gasoline is not just for propelling the car for that moment, but some of the horsepower can be diverted to the battery for later usage - and the battery capacity is much larger than in any current hybrid, so the potential to get more out of the gasoline you use is greater. Based on Lil' Tom's comment you can only top-off the batteries all the way by plugging in at the end of the day. I don't think the exact MPG number is as important as the fact that if there's a gasoline supply disruption the Volt will allow you to keep rolling on a limited basis, and that will appeal to a huge number of people - not to mention that each day you plug in you save yourself $3 and substitute a foreign energy source with a locally produced one. Let's hope it does what they say it will.

If the price is affordable like the Prius or even better I'd certainly buy one.

100 mpg is somewhat of a useless number but from a marketing standpoint it sounds good and let's face it, it's all about marketing. I'm still not convinced that GM will actually put this car in showrooms, and lets hope that if they do, they don't use the consumer to finish the R&D as they have in the past. If the Volt succeeds, it will be a very good sign for GM in that it will represent a shift in corporate culture that's healty. If it fails for any reason (great marketing but poor quality would be one reason), it will be a disaster for GM in that no one will have faith in their products.

I've owned a couple of GM cars in the past and compared to the Toyotas, Hondas, Mazdas, and Porsches I've owned, they're just junk. I'm sorry but it's the truth. I was burned by GM not once but twice! Would I be willing to take a chance on the Volt? If it does what they say it can do, and has good reliablity, then yes, I would trade in my Lexus for a Volt. Go USA!

Why don't they make a:

DIELSEL-HYBRID, PLUG-IN ELECTRIC CAR