We didn't want to rush with this kind of news until we got the full coverage behind the story. So just two days ago, General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson held a press conference, and for the first time since 'New GM' emerged out of bankruptcy, he made some big surprising news!'New GM' CEO Fritz Henderson that the up-coming 2011 Chevrolet Volt, which GM hopes could save the company and their auto industry, will have an official EPA fuel-economy rating of 230 miles-per-gallon in city driving.
The new methodology of rating an EV vehicle is being developed by the EPA; which weighs plug-in EVs as traveling more city mileage than highway mileage on electric power alone. The EPA uses kilowatt-hours per 100 miles traveled to define the electrical efficiency of plug-ins, which then is converted to mpg. As such, GM says the Volt consumes 25 kilowatt hours per 100 miles in a city cycle, resulting 230 mpg. Now that makes the Volt, the first car ever to get a triple digit fuel economy rating!
What's more, GM said that it expects Volt owners to pay $2.75 for electricity for a range of 100 miles, or less than 3 cents a mile. So how in the name of technology have GM achieved such a thing?
Well, GM refused to state any answer to this, but just yesterday, we somewhat got an answer. Green Car Advisor contacted the EPA looking for confirmation and clarification on the methodology used on the Chevy Volt to come to 230 mpg - just like the rest of us. The EPA responded with the following statement: “EPA has not tested a Chevy Volt and therefore cannot confirm the fuel economy values claimed by GM. EPA does applaud GM’s commitment to designing and building the car of the future - an American-made car that will save families money, significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create good-paying American jobs. We’re proud to see American companies and American workers leading the world in the clean energy innovations that will shape the 21st century economy.” - [Green Car Advisor]
So, to be brutally honest, GM basically lied about EPA actually rating the Volt at 230 mpg! Ok, if GM says that the Volt will be able to achieve 230 mpg in city, then that must be true; but why say that EPA tested it and measured the Volt at 230 mpg? That seems pretty weird.
However today, we got another answer. Everyone's favorite GM man, Bob Lutz, who's now the marketing manager for GM, said that “If you haven’t heard, 230 is the estimated city fuel economy number for the Chevrolet Volt, as in 230 miles per gallon, according to new federal fuel economy procedures under development by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for plug-in electric vehicles,” said Lutz. “And we anticipate a composite fuel economy rating of more than 100 mpg. The Volt’s estimated electricity usage is about 25 kilowatts per 100 miles, about half of what a typical household uses daily”. - [Lutz’s article on ChevroletVoltage.com]
Yes, we are all confused! GM are adamant that the Volt has an official EPA fuel-economy rating of 230 mpg. On the other hand, the EPA says they haven't tested the Volt yet. So really, what's going on? For that, we just have to wait until the Volt comes to showrooms in end of 2010, and see if that is true.
Oh also, the embedded video below is Henderson's announcement of the 230 mpg Chevy Volt.
Refresher:
- 2011 Chevrolet Volt: Production of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt will start in late 2010. The plug-in hybrid electric-car will only drive the battery-powered electric-motor, while the petrol engine will recharged it when needed. The electric-motor can run up-to 40 miles alone on a electric-recharge, and 300 miles when the petrol-engine provides recharging. By running 220 Lithium-ion battery-cells, it produces 150 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque from zero-rpm. 0-60 mph is expected to come in less than 8 seconds, and now the fuel-economy is "rated" at 230 mpg.
Source : [General Motors]
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