Visionz

Ultra-high mileage for GM's electric-drive Volt could give it a marketing boost.

DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) -- The Chevrolet Volt, GM's electric car that's expected to go on sale in late 2010, is projected to get an estimated 230 miles per gallon, the automaker announced Tuesday.

That exceptionally high government mileage rating could give the Volt a major boost. For the first time, car buyers will easily be able to compare electric cars with ordinary gas-powered cars.

"Having a car that gets triple-digit fuel economy can and will be a game changer for us," said GM CEO Fritz Henderson.

Determining fuel economy for an electric car is a tricky matter, and General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) has been working with the Environmental Protection Agency for years on the issue.

Basically, you will be able to drive the Volt for about 40 miles using the lithium-ion batteries. For those driving less than that, gas mileage is essentially unlimited. It is only after 40 miles that the Volt will start using gas.

"Most Volt drivers will operate on a daily basis without having to use a single drop of gas," said Henderson, saying that three out of four drivers travel 40 miles or less a day.

50 mpg? or 5,000?
Fuel economy for hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius is displayed in the same way as it is for any other gasoline-powered vehicle. It gets 46 mpg, for example, versus 19 mpg for a V-6 Ford Mustang.

That standard works because all the energy used by the Prius ultimately comes from burning gasoline. The Prius just uses that energy more efficiently than other cars do.

The Chevrolet Volt, on other hand, runs on electricity that comes from two sources -- a battery as well as a gasoline engine.

When gasoline is providing the power, the Volt might get as much as 50 mpg. But that mpg figure would not take into account that the car has already gone 40 miles with no gas at all.

So let's say the car is driven 50 miles in a day. For the first 40 miles, no gas is used and during the last 10 miles, 0.2 gallons are used. That's the equivalent of 250 miles per gallon. But, if the driver continues on to 80 miles, total fuel economy would drop to about 100 mpg. And if the driver goes 300 miles, the fuel economy would be just 62.5 mpg.

The Volt will need to be plugged in at night to recharge. The company said it estimates it will need 10 kilowatt hours for the recharge necessary to travel 40 miles. That should cost a total of about 40 cents at off-peak electricity rates in Detroit, Henderson said.

Making -- and selling -- the Volt
The EPA rating for the Volt is based on a draft report and applies to city driving. Henderson said GM is confident that when Volt's combined city/highway mileage average is calculated, it will be over 100 mpg.

But GM is obviously focused on the 230 mpg estimate as part of its early marketing campaign for the vehicle. It unveiled a logo with the number 230, with the zero looking like a cross between a smiley face and electrical plug.

GM started pre-production of the car in June is making about 10 a month. "Volt is becoming very real, very fast," Henderson said.

Henderson conceded the cost of building a Volt will be expensive, about $40,000 per vehicle. But he said the vehicle will qualify for a $7,500 tax credit, which will reduce the vehicle cost by that amount for consumers.

He also stressed that GM has not set the pricing for the Volt, and conceded the company may have to subsidize the vehicle. The goal: Make enough sales to move the Volt from "first generation" to lower-cost future designs.

"The cost of the vehicle in the first generation is high," he said.

187sks

I wouldn't pay $32,500 for one, but I would consider paying $20,000 for one. It would be a good daily driver. I would have to keep at least one other fun car though.

iheartmyredcar

hmm all gas mileage talk. where are the engine bay specs? if its anything like the horsepower the prius gets (just hit 100 hp for the 2010 model) i wouldnt buy it. plus currently for school, my drive to school is exactly 40 miles to get there. so everyday i would be driving on gas anyway.

Munky

Most important paragraph in that article:

03-accent-03

*EDIT* - Thanks for making me look like a d-bag lol

Visionz

03-accent-03

Yeah, but that's just to cover the 40 miles...

187sks

I think that the majority of my daily driving would easily fall into the 40 miles on plug power. I like that unlike other electrics I have the option to go farther if I want to though. The inability to go on a longer trip is the biggest reason why I would never have bought a plug in electric car.

People think electric car = slow. For most of them, that's true. The only reason it's true is because electric cars are designed and built by hippies. I'm excited for when electric cars are common because it's really simple to make electric cars much faster. I have even been considering opening an electric car tuning shop once the customer base is there.

I wouldn't buy the Volt to go fast though, I would buy it because it's almost free to drive as a daily driver for me.

ereeves116

I wish they didn't kill the EV1

Stocker

Electric cars can = quicker than stink, if done properly. A DC motor has torque from 0 RPM.

I like how it's OUR CAR GETS 4000MPG*

*unless you use gas

I can always shoot a one-hole group with a target rifle . . . by firing only one bullet!

GM can bite me. Any company that depends on more money than I'll ever see in my life, in .gov bailout money is never selling me a new car.