So Much For That; EPA Won’t Back Up GM’s 230 MPG Claim
Oh GM, I knew you were getting ahead of yourself.
Early this morning, CEO Fritz Henderson claimed thatthe Chevy Volt, a gas-electric plug-in hybrid would earn an EPA-estimated rating of 230 MPG.
But according to Green Car Advisor, the EPA has said no such thing.
Hit the jump to read the EPA’s reply.
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The EPA had this to say in response to GM’s 230 MPG claim.
EPA has not tested a Chevy Volt and therefore cannot confirm the fuel economy values claimed by GM. EPA does applaud 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. We’re proud to see American companies and American workers leading the world in the clean energy innovations that will shape the 21st century economy.
So how did GM get to the 230 mpg figure, and why did they jump the gun without the right credentials?
Probably something like this; the average city testing cycle for a new car under current EPA rules is 11 miles long at various speeds, inclines, and conditions (traffic, open road, etc). The Volt can travel 40 miles on electricity alone, so by the time the gas engine kicks in, the Volt will have traveled 40 miles without a sip of gas. The next 11 miles would drain just under a quarter gallon of gas.
Just like magic, GM has a 230 MPG car.
I mean hey, technically, it works. Who among us drives more than 40 miles a day for work? My average commute consists of about 60 miles round trip, but in a Volt that would only cost me twenty miles worth of gas, probably under a half-gallon since the Volt will still get very good gas mileage. But my commute is almost all highway; how the Volt’s battery fares at highway speeds is yet to be seen.
I thought you all might want to know this, even though I’m sure I’ll catch all hell for it. I still believe in American cars…I just wish Fritz would have been more…up front.
Source: Green Car Advisor
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August 12th, 2009 at 3:03 am
GM aren’t doing themselves any favors making false claims.
August 12th, 2009 at 3:18 am
230 MPG (which is 0.44 GPHM) is really really high. This is one of those cases where the GM spokesman has to be incompetent, a liar, or both.
August 12th, 2009 at 4:24 am
Plus which they’re not factoring the energy it takes to charge the batteries. Not gasoline, to be sure — but still energy, with costs, emissions, etc.
I’m gonna have to go with “incompetent, a liar, or both”; sadly, it might not be just the spokesperson that’s the problem.
August 12th, 2009 at 4:46 am
I thought I read ‘under EPA like conditions’ somewhere.
It is a silly claim even with the disclaimer though – the same with Nissan and the hokie 65 mpg which no normal person will ever see close to.
August 12th, 2009 at 5:42 am
GM has been talking about the chevy volt since 1999 or earlier and is the same year they hired repo men to go out and confiscate all of the 100% electric vehicles that were getting 150 miles-per-charge EV1s leased out in CA. All of these perfectly good cars were scrapped. Look it up.
Really, If GM wanted to produce a car that was 100% electric or 300 mpg it would already be producing them. Its hard to for most people to face facts, but just like a cheating spouse, the facts about loyalties speak for themselves. Really. Really. Wake up people.
August 12th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
This is a city mpg number peeps. If you are driving 230 miles in one trip in the city you are either lost or casing houses to rob.
My commute is less than 40 miles a day in city traffic. If I drove the Volt I’d use no gas at all unless I forgot to plug in.
I will say this number is just as stupid as Nissan saying the Leaf gets 367 mpg when it can’t use any gas.
August 12th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
We need to scrap MPG and replace it with MPKW (miles per kilo-watt). Take the total of the watts in the battery, plus how many watts the generator prodcuces on a tank of gas, divided that by the number of miles driven until the car stops.
Until they tell us Miles per kilo-watt it’s nothing but spin.
August 12th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
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August 12th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
MPKW (miles per kilo-watt).
Go SI whole hog, drop SAE…
Kilometers/KWh instead
August 13th, 2009 at 12:10 am
@Gil Friend: I’d be surprised if they weren’t factoring in the energy it takes to charge the batteries. I bet they came up with the 230MPG number by using the EPA’s petroleum-equivalent fuel economy formula at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2000/June/Day-12/i14446.htm , which tells you how to convert an electric vehicle’s watt-hour/mile to miles/gallon.
August 13th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Hi,
“My average commute consists of about 60 miles round trip, but in a Volt that would only cost me twenty miles worth of gas, probably under a half-gallon since the Volt will still get very good gas mileage.”
NO gas if you charged at work.
August 13th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Bwahahah. I just saw one of these ads before a ONN (Onione News Network) video on YouTube. Seem amazingly appropriate! :^D
August 13th, 2009 at 3:01 am
“russ,” above, is 100% correct.
GM never said this was an EPA rating. They said it was based on internal testing in-line with the current EPA proposal. Is it possibly misleading? Of course. Fraudulent? Not in the least.
GM needs hype right now. If they jump the gun, don’t castrate them – they are trying to make a come back.
-bZj
PS: As a qualifier, I work for Toyota (my company even makes Prius parts).
August 13th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
MD, Kilo-watt is a rate of consumption. The term you are looking for is kilo-watt-hour, which is using power at a rate of one kilo-watt for one hour.
What we really need in this argument is a standardized test to arrive at a close estimate of monthly operating costs, since this is really what we are concerned about. This must include all maintenance, all normal use items (expendables) all power replenishment costs, and any home refueling equipment costs which can be prorated over three years.
I definitely agree with you that MPG is a misleading term in this discussion.
What is interesting in this little MPG story, or battle, is that Ford which did get over 80 mpg from a Fusion Hybrid in a special test in which they ran a Fusion Hybrid on one tank of gasoline until it quit, and they did tell us how they did it, and Ford has not claimed that this is what you can expect from your new Fusion.