GM Claims Chevrolet Volt Can Achieve 230 MPG

As part of an alternative-fuel vehicle conference today, General Motors is releasing what it expects will be the Environmental Protection Agency-rated gas mileage of its electric Chevrolet Volt, due next year. Hold on to your charge cord, it’s 230 miles a gallon in the city.

This is important because the Volt is expected to be one of the first—if not the first—of the new generation of electric vehicles that will change the way we drive. Volt, unlike Nissan’s and some of the others, is not a pure electric vehicle. It has a small gasoline engine to take over when the battery power runs out, assuring no one will ever get stranded. And what about highway mpg? USA Today 

The Volt is designed to run on electric power only for about 40 miles, after which a small gasoline engine kicks in to re-charge the battery, giving it a total range of more than 300 miles. The battery can be recharged by plugging in to a home outlet.

GM’s estimated mileage rating for the Volt is based on city driving. Highway mileage likely would be lower because it would require more work from the gasoline engine.

“From the data we’ve seen, many Chevy Volt drivers may be able to be in pure electric mode on a daily basis without having to use any gas,” said GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson. “EPA labels are a yardstick for customers to compare the fuel efficiency of vehicles. So, a vehicle like the Volt that achieves a composite triple-digit fuel economy is a game-changer.” Los Angeles Times 

If the figure is confirmed by the EPA, which does the tests for the mileage posted on new car door stickers, the Volt would be the first car to exceed triple-digit gas mileage.

EPA said in a statement Tuesday that it has not tested a Volt “and therefore cannot confirm the fuel economy values claimed by GM.” The agency said it applauded “GM’s commitment to designing and building the car of the future — an American made car that will save families money, significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create good-paying American jobs.”

GM has produced about 30 Volts so far and is making 10 a week, said during a presentation of the vehicle at the company’s technical center in the Detroit suburb of Warren.

Henderson said charging the volt will cost about 40 cents a day, at approximately 5 cents per kilowatt hour.

Most automakers are working similar plug-in designs, but GM could be the leader with the Volt, which is due in showrooms late in 2010. The Associated Press 

For comparison, Toyota’s hot-selling Prius is rated at 51 mpg city and 48 mpg highway (50 mpg combined). Nissan’s upcoming LEAF EV will travel a total of 100 miles before exhausting its lithium-ion battery pack. However, unlike the Volt, the LEAF doesn’t have a gasoline engine/generator as a backup when the battery is depleted.

While the Volt will definitely have an EPA mileage advantage over both the Prius and the LEAF, both vehicles will significantly undercut Chevrolet’s offering. The Prius currently starts at $22,000 and a new $21,000 model will hit dealer lots in September. The LEAF is being billed as “the world’s first affordable, zero-emission car,” so pricing will like be well below $30,000.

The Volt will retail for over $40,000—a figure that even took GM Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz by surprise. “When I said I hope to sell it in the 20s, I just thought, well, if a conventional car of that size with a conventional four-cylinder engine, we can sell it for $15,000 or $16,000, then let’s notionally add $8,000 for the battery and we’re at $25,000,” said Lutz in an interview with AdAge. DailyTech