GM Claims Chevrolet Volt Gets 230 MPG City
By Michelle Krebs August 11, 2009General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson announced Tuesday morning that the upcoming
Chevrolet Volt will achieve the equivalent of 230 miles per gallon in city driving, based on new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mileage ratings.
Though he didn't give an exact number, Henderson said the combined city-highway mileage will be in the triple digits. The Volt, which has an onboard gasoline engine that recharges the battery -- also rechargeable via a household electrical outlet -- is designed to travel 40 miles on pure electric power. That's the distance most Americans commute in a day.
GM had hinted about the mileage rating through an anonymous ad campaign featuring a 230 mpg with a smiley-faced electrical outlet in place of the 0.
Immediately, skepticism regarding the 230 mpg figure has arisen. Green Car Advisor, an Edmunds.com sibling site to AutoObserver, asked engineers and battery specialists attending the Plug-In 2009 Conference in Long Beach, California, this week, their opinion of GM's 230 mpg claims. They noted the EPA test figures for EVs are unrealistically optimistic.
GM noted in its press release that "Volt drivers' actual gas-free mileage will vary depending on how far they travel and other factors, such as how much cargo or how many passengers they carry and how much the air-conditioner or other accessories are used." -- By Michelle Krebs
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It's puzzling why GM who has acknowledged themselves that consumers are skeptical about their products made this very skeptical statement about the Volt. Would it not have been better to perhaps provide a number of different driving range and mpg numbers under various real worl driving conditions and thus demonstrate that there is indeed a new GM?
It's puzzling why GM who has acknowledged themselves that consumers are skeptical about their products made this very skeptical statement about the Volt. Would it not have been better to perhaps provide a number of different driving range and mpg numbers under various real worl driving conditions and thus demonstrate that there is indeed a new GM?
230 mpg, eh? If you drive with no A/C, don't go on the highway, don't do stop/start trips, and stay less than 20 miles from home.
In a state with 110,000+ square miles of land area (NV), I don't think the Volt will sell very well, or very much.
bill - I really don`t think NV is the target market (not many people either). Think LA, NYC and others which have many more people than NV.
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