Red Forman wrote:
The EPA could give the Chevy Volt a 230 MPG rating
It was not immediately clear how GM reached the 230 mpg in city driving, but industry officials estimated the automaker's calculation took into consideration the Volt traveling 40 miles on the electric battery and then achieving about 50 mpg when the engine kicked in.
I am not at all against plug in vehicles.... But the 230 rating is pretty much a gimmick. The car does the first 40 miles purely as a plug in electric, and GM is exploiting that to artificially boost fuel efficient ratings.
By the same logic that rates the volt @ 230mpg, the Tesla gets infinite miles per gallon.
If you drive under 40 miles, there is no MPG rating because its not using gas. Once you cross that you are getting 50 mpg.
I like the system, its a good idea and apparently works well...
But the testing criteria used by GM is not even released. They can produce ANY MPG rating they want by manipulating the tests, they could drive 42 miles and only consume as much gas as is used in the last 2 miles of travel, then average that consumption over the trip distance and inflate their claims to what ever they want.
We will likely see this 230mpg rating plummet when the EPA releases a more realistic test criteria. And this current rating is likely based on tests designed to produce insane, but still believable numbers.
Last edited by VicktorVauhn (2009-08-11 17:31:02)