Chevy Volt 230 MPG? Could This be True?

[HVAC Instructor]

WARREN, Mich. (AP) - General Motors said Tuesday its Chevrolet Volt electric car could get 230 mpg in city driving, making it the first American vehicle to achieve triple-digit fuel economy if that figure is confirmed by federal regulators.

But when the four-door family sedan hits showrooms late next year, its efficiency will come with a steep sticker price: $40,000.

Still, the Volt's fuel efficiency would be four times more than the popular Toyota Prius hybrid, the most efficient car now sold in the U.S.

Most automakers are working on similar designs, but GM would offer the first mainstream plug-in with the Volt, which seats four and was introduced at the 2007 Detroit auto show.

The Volt will join a growing fleet of cars and trucks powered by systems other than internal combustion engines.

Unlike the Prius and other traditional hybrids, the Volt is powered by an electric motor and a battery pack with a 40-mile range. After that, a small internal combustion engine kicks in to generate electricity for a total range of 300 miles. The battery pack can be recharged from a standard home outlet.

Hybrids use a small internal combustion engine combined with a high-powered battery to boost fuel efficiency. Toyota's Prius—which starts at about $22,000—gets 51 mpg in the city and 48 mpg on the highway.

The number of all-electric vehicles available to U.S. consumers remains limited. The Tesla Roadster, a high-end sports car with a range of 224 miles, is perhaps the best known. But its $100,000-plus price tag keeps it out of reach of all but the wealthiest drivers.

The company is working on an electric family sedan that will be priced considerably less.

Nissan Motor Co. unveiled its first electric car, the Leaf, earlier this month. Nissan said the vehicle will go on sale in Japan, the U.S. and Europe next year.

General Motors Co. is touting the 230 mpg figure following early tests that used draft guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency for calculating the mileage of extended-range electric vehicles.

The rest of the article can be read here: GM says new Volt could get 230 mpg in city driving

[Luke]

Nissan's Leaf is gonna be cheaper and cleaner. I'm looking forward to seeing the options other companies come up with and when they come out with 'em.

Nissan Leaf Electric Car | Nissan USA Official Site

[mugofbeer]

I think for a first version, the Volt looks pretty good in comparison with what I see on the Leaf. If you do nothing but city driving, either looks OK and the Leaf is 100% electric. The Volt will give you more range because of the gas engine. Once the technology improves, then I think the electrics will be ready to go "total" electric. As long as you aren't planning to leave town, the Leaf will get you where you want to go.

[gmwise]

When theres a vision there's innovation.
Electric cars was replaced by gasoline fueled cars,now we will see a renewal starting/ finishing "square one".
As alternative vehicles get more competitive then mass produced the price will come down.
witness the calculator 700$ when they first came out, now they practically give them away. lol

[feconi]

When theres a vision there's innovation.
Electric cars was replaced by gasoline fueled cars,now we will see a renewal starting/ finishing "square one".
As alternative vehicles get more competitive then mass produced the price will come down.
witness the calculator 700$ when they first came out, now they practically give them away. lol

Unfortunately, there's been lots of vision but little innovation with the automobile. I've heard more than one scientist say, "if cars had developed at the pace of integrated circuits we'd all be flying around like the Jetsons." There's been little incentive to break from the internal combustion engine paradigm because petroleum is just too cheap and the infrastructure too well established for other technologies to be viable--ever heard of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles?

Batteries are the center of a tremendous research effort in both academia and industry. It will be interesting to see what happens in the near future because battery technology evolves independently of automobiles (at a pace more akin to electronics), and the fact that these cars have received so much press will just accelerate their development.

[Midtowner]

So now your car likely runs on "clean coal" instead of gasoline. What is the overall efficiency of this method of harnessing energy as compared to the standard combustion engine? It would seem the energy spent delivering coal produced energy to a battery, which is going to be somewhat less than efficient, ain't the best way to do this.

[feconi]

Rechargable batteries are far more energy efficient than the internal combustion engine from a thermodynamic standpoint, i.e., ratio of energy input to work output. Rough numbers might be 20% for the gasoline engine, but maybe 80+ for a typical cycle of a Li-ion battery (probably higher, actually). Assuming a low power plant efficiency of 35% and a high 10% resistive loss in power transmission, a very crude calculation based on energy efficiency, then, would suggest that the "coal-powered" hybrid vehicle would be more efficient (0.8 * 0.9 * 0.35 = 0.25 vs. 0.2) than the ICE. Of course this doesn't account for the processing of raw materials to fuel (coal, in this case) or to refine petroleum, or for parasitic drivetrain loss, but you get the idea. To note, diesel engines are known for higher efficiencies of around 30-40%.

(All efficiency numbers except the power transmission efficiency quoted from the textbook Thermal Physics by Daniel Schroeder.)

[Luke]

IThe Volt will give you more range because of the gas engine.

But for twice the price.

The Leaf is said to be around $20,000. Volt is double that and still burns fuel.

[evh5150]

Nissan's Leaf is gonna be cheaper and cleaner. I'm looking forward to seeing the options other companies come up with and when they come out with 'em.

Nissan Leaf Electric Car | Nissan USA Official Site

I expect the Nissan "Leaf" to be a huge success in Canada,..they have a huge red leaf on their flag, ya know.

whats with the headlights streaking way up to the windshield?

So i guess in the near future, gas stations will not only still sell gasoline, but have "quick-charge" stations as well to recharge your battery for a nominal fee akin to the quick-charge kiosks that many airports have for cell phone users.

[metro]

When theres a vision there's innovation.
Electric cars was replaced by gasoline fueled cars,now we will see a renewal starting/ finishing "square one".
As alternative vehicles get more competitive then mass produced the price will come down.
witness the calculator 700$ when they first came out, now they practically give them away. lol

or actually it's hard to give a cheap promotional calculator away.

evh, if you go to california or other places on the west coast, they already have charging stations for cars for several years.

[mugofbeer]

But for twice the price.

The Leaf is said to be around $20,000. Volt is double that and still burns fuel.

Sure, but its the first release of both cars. If you want to be tied to the city, then the Leaf may be OK. If you want to drive it to Dallas, you will want to look at the Volt. GIven time, I bet the costs come down, too.

[bretthexum]

So now your car likely runs on "clean coal" instead of gasoline. What is the overall efficiency of this method of harnessing energy as compared to the standard combustion engine? It would seem the energy spent delivering coal produced energy to a battery, which is going to be somewhat less than efficient, ain't the best way to do this.

I believe it said somewhere that it costs $.40 to recharge the Chevy Volt overnight, so around $15 a month I guess. I can't see this being wildly popular being 40K starting out, but once the price goes down and the kinks worked out I'd consider it. I drive back and forth 40 miles rd trip with an SUV that gets 14 in the city if the stars and moons are aligned.

[kevinpate]

I remember when my suv got 14 ... I need to have it tinkered with again I suppose

[Bunty]

I'd much rather buy a car named Volt, rather than one named Leaf.

[BailJumper]

I didn't read the articles but I thought I heard the Volt will only do about 40 miles when they showed it on the TODAY show before needing to be recharged. But, some of you mention driving the Volt to Dallas?

Personally, I wouldn't buy either one. It will be like running out to buy the over priced Mac Classic in the 80's when it was new, only to consider it worthless 5 years later.

I can't wait to see what Volt 2.0 will be able to do!

[Luke]

I didn't read the articles but I thought I heard the Volt will only do about 40 miles when they showed it on the TODAY show before needing to be recharged. But, some of you mention driving the Volt to Dallas?

Personally, I wouldn't buy either one. It will be like running out to buy the over priced Mac Classic in the 80's when it was new, only to consider it worthless 5 years later.

I can't wait to see what Volt 2.0 will be able to do!

The Volt will be able go to 40 miles purely on a battery charge. When that is drained, the internal combustion engine takes over (and then it becomes a regular gas guzzler).

The Leaf, on the other hand, has no internal combustion engine, only a battery. However, it can go 100 miles before a charge. Nissan says a 100 mile rating would meet 70% of the world's motorist's needs.

The Leaf may be a good option for a family like mine. My current vehicle is ONLY used as a work-and-back vehicle which is about 20-30 miles a day max. So, the Leaf would be great for me.

Our other vehicle is the family sedan which my wife uses when necessary and our family takes on road trips. That type of driving isn't replaceable with a purely electric powered car, yet.

[trousers]

I think the idea of an electric car is most feasible for the two car family. My wife & I each have a vehicle that are used primarily for work-home driving but only one of those ever leaves town. 90% of the time we never leave the inner-circle of OKC (I-44, I-35, I-40 bondary area).

[fuzzytoad]

are the Miles per charge based on real-world statistics?

For example, if I'm in a Leaf and it's supposed to have a 100 mile per charge capacity, if I drive 30 miles in typical Edmond & OKC traffic, when i get to my destination will I have 70 miles left in battery charge or have I burned up a total of 50 miles from all the sitting in traffic, waiting on trains, wrecks, etc?

[BBatesokc]

I saw a video on the news showing the Volt struggling just to get up a hill. Can you not switch back and forth from electric to gas?

[Luke]

are the Miles per charge based on real-world statistics?

For example, if I'm in a Leaf and it's supposed to have a 100 mile per charge capacity, if I drive 30 miles in typical Edmond & OKC traffic, when i get to my destination will I have 70 miles left in battery charge or have I burned up a total of 50 miles from all the sitting in traffic, waiting on trains, wrecks, etc?

It is my understanding that if you are sitting in traffic, the only draw on the battery is lights and AC or heat or radio (if they're on). If not, then there is no draw.

[fuzzytoad]

It is my understanding that if you are sitting in traffic, the only draw on the battery is lights and AC or heat or radio (if they're on). If not, then there is no draw.

well crap, that just leads to more questions..

is it a 100 mile capacity with all the accessories on, or none of them?

if it's 100miles, give or take, with the AC running full blast, nice!

if it's 35 miles with the AC running, I'd rather pay less for a gas guzzler

[Luke]

well crap, that just leads to more questions..

is it a 100 mile capacity with all the accessories on, or none of them?

if it's 100miles, give or take, with the AC running full blast, nice!

if it's 35 miles with the AC running, I'd rather pay less for a gas guzzler

Great questions...

I dunno.

But, knowing how marketing types work, my guess is that it's 100 miles with no AC no radio, no nothing.

How those things would impact range? I dunno...

[Luke]

Just found this on Nissan's site:

[quote[The 100-mile range is based on EPA testing & a rating system involving real-world driving conditions.[/quote]

When the EPA does "real world" testing, generally speaking, do they turn on AC and other features that would draw power in their tests? If so, then the 100 mile range would include those features being turned on...which would be nice.

[kevinpate]

I see practical applications for short distance commuters, provided the recharge time is also reasonable

[bretthexum]

I'd go for the Chevy myself. Wouldn't want to get stuck somewhere and need to plugin if you went dead...