How do you do that?

this comment should be raised to the top somehow. 😀

Thanks for the extended comment (no pun intended… initially).

And yes, the Leaf–Volt competition just got a bit more interesting with the Leaf’s big price drop (thanks to in-US manufacturing). Nice to see it rise from those ~650 units a month to over 2,000/month. 😀

lol. well done. 😀

MrEnergyCzar

That was based of the assumption specified in the first line of the article, not something I assumed. You can work it out with any number you like, but if you use any gas at all you will not achieve 98 MPG-e. It’s a physics problem.

Otis11, you are assuming that us Volt owner FILL UP the ENTIRE tank each time —that’s not the case. A Volt owner like me, will only put in 3 gallons (not 9.3) every time I go to the gas station. This is what’s recommended in the manual.

Otis11 and Anderlan, yes if you look at GM’s press release (link is above) the first thing that hits you is the impressive-looking figure of 900 miles between fill-ups, which of course is not the same as MPGe. The company reports that some drivers are getting far more than 98 MPGe and it seems that I lost some clarity for the sake of brevity. As for comparisons with the Leaf, the best bang for your buck depends on your driving routine and the availabilty of charging stations in your area.

I owned a Volt and a Leaf, but ended up selling the Leaf due to the range anxiety.

The Volt still let’s me drive 90% of the time on electric only except when I take long road trips. And it turns out the Volt is a “very good” road trip car even when running on gasoline…

Bottom line is that it is less stressful having an electric vehicle with no range limits, even if it uses gas once in a while. It is worth the higher price to eliminate that range anxiety.

Currently, best lease deals for the Volt is $175/month plus tax, $2700 down, 36 month, 10Kmiles/year. And you get $1,500 state rebate. You get savings of $100/month for not buying gasoline and paying for electricity. And if you earn $100/hr, and have been in traffic by not using carpool lanes, the Volt can save you $500/month by not visiting gas stations and saving time in carpool lane. The result is that you will be earning the net equivalent of at least $350/month. With Tesla, you will be paying the equivalent of $500/month. So get a Volt and earn $350/month instead of Tesla that would make you spend $500/month.

That being said, I do like the Volt and wish there were more vehicles like it. They do have some room for improvement, but I have no issue with the car itself, but with the quality of the reporting.

Again, sorry for being negative, but this was past even my threshold for disinformation. I strongly suggest HEAVILY editing this article or simply removing this post.

I am very rarely critical, but this is either a lack of understanding or very sloppy reporting. The Chevy volt only gets 98 MPG-e if you never burn a drop of gasoline. At 900 miles per fill up with a 9.3 gallon gas tank and 37 mpg on gas means:

9.3*37 =344.1 miles were driven on gasoline
900-344.1 =555.9 miles on electricity

((555.9*98 MPG-e) + (344.1*37 MPG))/900miles = 74.7 MPG-e actual for 900 miles per tank

This falls significantly short of the 98 MPG-e predicted by the EPA, not exceeding it.

MPG-e cannot approach infinity, it is a measure of efficiency on the amount of energy used to move the car and is not affected by the actual gasoline consumption.

Next, the Chevy Volt is not at all comparable to the Tesla Model S. Period. To compare it to a true electric car you need to look at the Leaf. There are probably even better comparisons out there, but this comparison would be fair. Unfortunately it loses to the Leaf. The Chevy volt in my area is $39K before rebates and the Leaf is $28K before rebates. The leaf also happens to have equal or greater rebates in every market I am aware of. Not to say the Volt doesn’t have advantages, but as stated this article is a lie.

Very good point. MPGe is meant to create a point of reference between Kwh and a gallon of gasoline. The current formula is 33.7kwh = equivilent energy to 1 gallon of gasoline. So the MPGe is a static figure and has nothing to do with the fact that most of us are driving on the charged battery most of the time.

MPGe has NOTHING to do with the total electric miles you put on your EREV between gas fill-ups. If people were going 900 miles on a single charge, well then, holy crap, that would be (900 miles fantasy range / 30 miles rated range) x 98MPGe = about 3000MPGe!!! Ermahgherd! Volt EREV MPGe cohrnfuhrzhuhn!!

It is true. Some trips require a little more haste unfortunately when dealing with timelines. Living in the west where that 350 miles was between big cities allows for higher speeds but at the cost of efficiency.

I would say that 36 mpg is outstanding given a cruising speed of 80 mph with sprints to 90 mph to pass cars. Just think of how much better he could have done at a more reasonable speed of say 70-75 mph.

Maybe if he had left 10 minutes earlier he could have achieved 40-45 mpg.

Fantastic news about your road trip. I plan on taking my Volt on a 2,000 mile round trip this summer and expect similar results. My “Lifetime MPG” is currently 192 MPG, it’s always fun to watch it build back up when all said and done.

Thanks for sharing your experiences…you’re right, 36 mpg is pretty decent but it looks like the next-generation Volt is going to improve on that.