Bill Ford Criticizes Volt, Leaf MPG Figures, and Says Automaker to Buy EV Batteries
By Scott Doggett August 18, 2009
Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford (pictured), in an interview with Edmunds.com reporter Bill Visnic earlier today, suggested the EPA's methodology for electric-vehicle fuel economy figures was meaningless.
"This question devolves into madness," he said in response to a question regarding General Motors' and Nissan's recent claims that their Chevrolet Volt and Leaf plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will have government fuel economy ratings of 230 and 360 miles per gallon, respectively.
"The government will have to come up with a meaningful number for customers - a user-friendly label. And I think they will. I can't dispute that number, but I'm not sure it's relevant to the customer either," he said.
GM announced last week that it is investing $43 million in a Detroit-area factory that will make lithium-ion battery packs for the Volt. Asked if Ford intends to make batteries for its EVs, the grandson of the company's founder said, "Initially, we should just buy batteries. We don't have any particular expertise in batteries. We'll probably stick to the vehicle-integration part of the puzzle."
On GM and Nissan huge claims for mpg for Volt and Leaf: "This question devolves into madness. The government will have to come up with a meaningful number for customers - a user-friendly label. And I think they will. I can't dispute that number but I'm not sure it's relevant to the customer either."
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Did you like Bill's quote that much that you felt it deserved extra emphasis?
Bill is right. It is possible for the Volt to use no gas or use plenty should it need to make a several hundred mile drive. With an electric car, it becomes important on what the cost per kilowatt hour is. In my region it runs from a low or 3.5 cent to 13 cents. So the cost of the MPG with gasoline must be redefined into something like a cost per mile during that first 40 miles of pure electric propulsion and then the cost per mile with gasoline generating electricity.
My last tank of gas cost me 6.9 cents per mile.
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