Volt goes 1,000 miles between fill-ups

[ShnOmac]

Pretty good real world numbers!


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The electric-powered Chevrolet Volt is averaging 1,000 miles on each tankful of gas, according to General Motors.

The Volt's gas tank holds 9.3 gallons, so that means drivers are averaging about 111 miles per gallon. As a result, Volt drivers are stopping to fill their gas tanks only about once a month, GM (GM) said.GM collected the fuel economy and fill-up data through the vehicles' OnStar system, spokesman Rob Peterson said.
As of Friday, there were about 2,000 Volts in customer hands, he said.While there's no reason to doubt GM's claim -- 1,000 miles a tankful could be easily achievable if drivers recharge their cars' batteries frequently -- it doesn't necessarily mean drivers are really paying a lot less per mile to drive, said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the automotive website Edmunds.com."What's not being stated is that Volt drivers who go 1,000 miles between gasoline fill-ups are also charging their vehicles with electricity each night and incurring the cost of electricity," he said.The Volt can travel about 35 miles on a fully charged battery, according to EPA estimates. If the battery becomes depleted, a gasoline engine comes on to generate electricity for continued driving.


Electricity generally costs less, per unit of energy, than gasoline. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates it would cost $2.75, on average, to drive a Chevrolet Volt 25 miles on gasoline but just 99 cents to drive that far on electricity.

There are some places in the United States, however, where electricity is extraordinarily expensive. In those places, that cost gap would be narrower and could, in some cases, even go the other way.

"It's a good marketing claim, but it's not a practical point of comparison," Anwyl said of GM's 1,000-mile-a-tankful figure.

But real-world fuel economy figures like this could help GM's marketing efforts by helping consumers understand its benefits. Up to now, there has never been a simple, straightforward fuel economy figure for the Volt as there is for almost every other car.


While the Toyota Prius, for instance, gets overall fuel economy of 50 miles per gallon, according to the EPA, the Volt gets two separate EPA figures -- 93 miles per gallon equivalent on electricity and 37 miles per gallon on gasoline -- and consumers are left to figure out for themselves how that translates into real driving.

GM's 111-mpg figure, while based on real driving and not formal testing, at least offers something easily comparable to other vehicles. While it's less than half the 230 mpg the automaker unveiled to much fanfare in the summer of 2009, it's still much better than any other gasoline-powered car on the road.

"I think it does help to maybe put the Volt into perspective a little bit," said Alec Gutierrez, an analyst with the auto website Kelley Blue Book.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/02/auto...dex.htm?hpt=T2

[TOMS1SS]

These hybrids and EVs don't save anywhere near as much during long commutes. For example I have commutes ranging between 18 to 180 miles, only 1 commute falls in the electric range of the Volt. For me a conventional gas engine in Fiesta is even more efficient than even the Insight and Prius. Its a nice article about short commute economy but nobody ever mentions long commute and Volt in the same article it seems. Seems like I chime in a lot of EV/hybrid topics, must be

[KXRM]

Not to mention what these batteries are going to cost to replace a few years down the line.

[TOMS1SS]

Originally Posted by KXRM

Not to mention what these batteries are going to cost to replace a few years down the line.

Well cost to purchase and cost to maintain have been beaten to death. From what I understand down the battery comes in modules. When one module goes down they just replace one instead of the entire thing lock stock and barrel in one clip.

[ViperTomcat]

Yes, 1000 miles on a tank of gas..provided you dont drive more than 50 miles per day, per charge.

Take a road trip and watch it drop into the bucket.

Sorry, its using deceptive statistics to hide a car that is just another hybrid with nothing special about it.

[ShnOmac]

Originally Posted by ViperTomcat

Take a road trip and watch it drop into the bucket.

I dont think of the Volt as a road trip car.... I think of it as a commuter car.

If you fall into the "norm" I think the Volt is a no brainer!

JOURNEY TIMES

The average United States driver travels 29 miles per day and is driving a total of 55 minutes per day. (This is an average vehicle speed of 32 mph.) US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics

[fielderLS3]

Originally Posted by ShnOmac

I dont think of the Volt as a road trip car.... I think of it as a commuter car.

If you fall into the "norm" I think the Volt is a no brainer!

JOURNEY TIMES

The average United States driver travels 29 miles per day and is driving a total of 55 minutes per day. (This is an average vehicle speed of 32 mph.) US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Are those numbers mean or median?

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by ViperTomcat

Yes, 1000 miles on a tank of gas..provided you dont drive more than 50 miles per day, per charge.

Take a road trip and watch it drop into the bucket.

Sorry, its using deceptive statistics to hide a car that is just another hybrid with nothing special about it.

Umm...the fact the Volt CAN go for long trips is what's special...This car is so much more than any hybrid, EV, whatever on the road today it's a little unbelievable to read people downplaying it.

1000 miles per tank. That's the number. And it's pretty freaking cool.

It's among economy cars....and it excels at EVERYTHING expected of an economy car.

[ShnOmac]

Originally Posted by fielderLS3

Are those numbers mean or median?

Actually it does not specify....

National Household Travel Survey
Daily Travel Quick Facts

Daily Travel is a trip from one point to another on a single day.
How We Travel

* 87 percent of daily trips take place in personal vehicles
* 91 percent of people commuting to work use personal vehicles

How Many Trips We Take Every Day

* Americans take 1.1 billion trips a day — four for every person in the U.S
* U.S. daily travel averages 11 billion miles a day — almost 40 miles per person per day

How Many Trips We Take in a Year

* Americans take 411 billion daily trips a year or about 1,500 trips per person
* U.S. daily travel totals about 4 trillion miles — 14,500 miles per person

Why We Travel

* 45 percent of daily trips are taken for shopping and errands
* 27 percent of daily trips are social and recreational, such as visiting a friend
* 15 percent of daily trips are taken for commuting

What We Drive

* There are 204 million personal vehicles available for regular use
o 57 percent are cars or station wagons
o 21 percent are vans or SUVs
o 19 percent are light trucks

When We Travel

* The most daily trips are made on Friday (16 percent)
* The fewest daily trips are made on Sunday (13 percent)
* More daily trips are taken between noon and 1 p.m. (7.4 percent) than between 8 a.m. - 9 a.m. (5.5 percent)

The Average Driver

* Spends 55 minutes a day behind the wheel
* Drives 29 miles a day

Men vs. Women

* Women drive less (21 to 38 miles per day)
* Men drive longer (67 to 44 minutes per day)

http://www.bts.gov/programs/national...ly_travel.html

[TOMS1SS]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Umm...the fact the Volt CAN go for long trips is what's special...This car is so much more than any hybrid, EV, whatever on the road today it's a little unbelievable to read people downplaying it.

1000 miles per tank. That's the number. And it's pretty freaking cool.

It's among economy cars....and it excels at EVERYTHING expected of an economy car.

Its still not more economical on those long trips, nor are regular hybrids to a sub-compact. When an EV goes over 300 miles per charge and costs 25k max I'll be interested. A 35 to 50 mile full EV range with something like 35 to 40 MPG doesn't save me any money a long haul. My average commute round trip is 180 miles, I need the best car for the job and its not the Volt.

[KXRM]

That is truly the holy grail for me. I am not like most "normal" people. When I drive it's on long trips and this hybrid isn't screaming a great deal at $40K. Like the poster above me, the price of the car needs to be half of what it is and it needs greater range on battery for me to consider it a true electric vehicle.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by TOMS1SS

Its still not more economical on those long trips, nor are regular hybrids to a sub-compact. When an EV goes over 300 miles per charge and costs 25k max I'll be interested. A 35 to 50 mile full EV range with something like 35 to 40 MPG doesn't save me any money a long haul. My average commute round trip is 180 miles, I need the best car for the job and its not the Volt.

Originally Posted by KXRM

That is truly the holy grail for me. I am not like most "normal" people. When I drive it's on long trips and this hybrid isn't screaming a great deal at $40K. Like the poster above me, the price of the car needs to be half of what it is and it needs greater range on battery for me to consider it a true electric vehicle.

That's fine. Nobody's trying to push the Volt on anybody...fact is it's not the right fit for everyone. But that's why we have hundreds of different models out there, right?

However...your expectation is high...By the time technology progresses to that level, EVs will have yielded to something better, I think.

People said they wanted electric cars. This is what we've got. (Frankly, anyone looking for superman-fuel economy at a low price is crazy and unrealistic) The Volt and leaf are both still above 30,000 dollars once all the credits are considered. This technology is not cheap by any means. But it is amazing, in my eyes.

The primary purpose of the Volt was to offer the ability to run on electricity and save the owner hundreds of dollars on fuel costs, as well as the peace of mind and separation from rising petroleum costs. The secondary ability is that it can drive for however many miles you like running off the generator at 40mpg. All other EV's today require you to have a second vehicle to do that.

[KXRM]

My expectations are high because people aren't generally motivated by altruistic things like saving the environment and being efficient. They are motivated by cash. If they are looking at a $15K car that gets 40mpg with all engine or a $40K hybrid vehicle that gets 50 or 60 mpg they are going to choose the $15K vehicle. It would take you years of fuel savings to make them equivalent financially and most people just do not keep their cars that long.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by KXRM

My expectations are high because people aren't generally motivated by altruistic things like saving the environment and being efficient. They are motivated by cash. If they are looking at a $15K car that gets 40mpg with all engine or a $40K hybrid vehicle that gets 50 or 60 mpg they are going to choose the $15K vehicle. It would take you years of fuel savings to make them equivalent financially and most people just do not keep their cars that long.

Anyone truly interested in saving money isn't going to buy a new car.