Volt Bests Prius In Fuel Economy Ratings

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1956720/volt_bests_prius_in_fuel_economy_ratings/

Posted on: Friday, 26 November 2010, 08:40 CST

There is a new king of fuel economy, as General Motors (GM) announced on Wednesday that their Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid car will carry a better efficiency rating that the Toyota Prius, which had long been recognized as the industry leader in the category.

The announcement comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) handed down three different mileage ratings for the Volt, based on how it is driven. This marks the federal agency's first attempt to hand down a miles per gallon equivalent or MPGe rating, according to Sharon Terlep of the Wall Street Journal.

"The Volt sticker prominently displays 93 as the miles-per-gallon equivalent when the car is driving on the battery alone; 37 miles-per-gallon is the figure when the gas engine is delivering power to the electric drive system. In smaller letters, 60 miles per gallon is listed as the comparable to other compact cars," Terlep wrote in an article published Thursday.

That 60 MPGe rating is what has GM declaring the Volt as the new fuel economy champion. According to David Bailey and Kevin Krolicki of Reuters, the 2011 model-year Prius has been given a 51 MPG rating for in-city driving and a 48 MPG rating for highway driving. Furthermore, the Volt has been dubbed both the Green Car of the Year and the Motor Trend Car of the Year, according to Reuters.

FULL story at link.

[doc03]

1. The Prius costs half as much n/t

[DCKit]

2. Even at $5/gallon, $20K buys a lot of gas.

About 160K miles worth, for the Prius.

[wordpix]

3. sticker at the Chevy site says $32,800 so Prius is much cheaper

maybe price will come down if the Volt becomes popular.

[Smashcut]

4. That's assuming you're eligible for the full $7500 tax credit. Actual MSRP is $40,280.

[tinrobot]

7. Prius also gets better mileage when using gasoline

If you're a long-distance driver, the Prius would make more sense than the Volt.

[Omaha Steve]

10. That 60 MPGe rating is what has GM declaring the Volt as the new fuel economy champion

It doesn't charge the battery continuously. It only charges in short bursts. That rating is only for while charging.

[tinrobot]

11. The Volt never charges the battery from the gas engine.

The car runs on batteries for about 40 miles or so.

When the batteries run dry, the gas engine kicks in and runs a generator which powers the electric motor. Sometimes the gas engine helps out directly as in a parallel hybrid car like the Prius.

The batteries, however, must be recharged from a 220/110V charger. The gas engine will not charge them.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. According to GM, the engine does recharge the battery

The electricity, at around 50 kw, serves primarily to propel the car. As the driver drives, there may be times when more electricity is made than the motor needs. Guess where that goes? The battery of course. GM doesn’t want to waste energy or unnecessarily use petroleum. As well the regenerative brakes opportunistically may put charge back into the battery.

The generator does not fully recharge the battery. It doesn’t make any sense to, for then you would be using petroleum to travel. The goal is to use the electric grid, so the car will carry on at approximately that 30% state of charge until the driver can get to an outlet and then fully recharge. Without recharging at an outlet, the car could drive indefinitely using gas and refills, but doing so would defeat the whole point of petroleum displacement. It may be useful on the occasion when a long continuous drive is necessary though.

There may be times when generated electricity so far surpasses the needs of the car (i.e. a long downhill), that the battery level might get high enough to let the ICE cut off, but this probably wont be often. If it does occur, then as the drive continues and the 30% level is reached again the ICE will turn on again continuing the cycle.

http://gm-volt.com/2008/09/27/how-charging-of-the-battery-works-in-the-chevy-volt/

[Kolesar]

22. The Chevrolet Volt is the pluggable hybrid that Toyota Prius owners have been dreaming of

Heretofore, Prius owners customized their cars for pluggable use by having an integrator add a big battery. The modification voided the warranty.

[Omaha Steve]

5. After Rush attacked the Volt, I thought the DU would be nicer to it

I also didn't think it was the cost. I thought it was the reduction in using foreign oil and cleaner for the enviroment.

[txlibdem]

8. Although not a 100% accurate indicator, if Rush is against it I am wholeheartedly in favor of it

That goes double for the Volt. The price is higher than I had hoped but it's a first edition and limited production run. When GM ramps production up and/or puts the Voltec electric drive system into more vehicles (Cadillac Converj anyone?) the price will come down.

I think it's a perfect car for people who are (for whatever reason) need the extra security blanket of having the gasoline engine hanging around just in case they want to go farther than the battery can take them. It's a great car. They just need to make increase production numbers from 50,000 a year to 500,000 a year IMO.

[upi402]

6. 3 things; Reliability Reliability Reliability

All else follows. Price is pressure now, but people want reliability and US automakers still refuse to see it.

[Omaha Steve]

9. Perhaps you missed that this US car is Motor Trends "CAR OF THE YEAR"

For it's new groundbreaking technology. Chevy has the best warranty too.

[upi402]

15. Maybe, but I don't miss crawling under my GM

Good to learn Chevy has a good warranty now, I thought Kia's 10 year was best - but I'm not in the market as I'm unemployed so don't keep up.

Seems Lee Iococca and other corporate socialism fans took my tax dollars, and exported jobs;

"Clinton's promise to accompany a congressman on a duck-hunting trip, the massive ego stroking necessary to recruit former Chrysler Corp. Chairman Lee A. Iacocca as a NAFTA salesman, and the genesis of the toothless and largely unenforcable side agreements on labor and the environment. The author also says that Ross Perot's fight against NAFTA backfired when Vice-President Al Gore bested him in a televised debate and made anti-NAFTA sentiment seem as crackpot as Perot."

http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_19/b3680043.htm

I marched and donated and wrote and later emailed - against NAFTA. so fuck GM. This chicken ain't in love with Colonel Sanders no matter how good the gravy tastes.

[joshcryer]

12. Electric cars are going to be some of the most reliable machines we'll ever produce.

While I'm no fan of GM and their really questionable engineering choices, I think the Volt will last quite awhile.

[txlibdem]

13. Not to mince words but the Volt is not an electric car

GM has admitted recently that during certain conditions the gasoline engine helps to push the vehicle along, working in concert with the electric motor. That makes the Volt a hybrid and not an electric car. That being said, I don't care what it's called, the Volt is going to be a game changer for GM.

My only complaint with the Volt: GM is not making enough of them to be profitable. I want them to take the Voltec electric drive system and put it in every car they make, then make a larger version and put it in all luxury cars, SUVs and Trucks they make as well. Imagine the feather in their cap if GM could say that they have the only 100% hybrid vehicle fleet! But they're only making 50k or 60k a year... they should be making 500,000 at the very least. Remember that GM makes over 3 million vehicles a year!

And the beneficial effects of mass production would bring the price down, they would find additional efficiencies here and there over the years as well until they could make Voltec-based vehicles cheaper than (or at least on par with) standard internal combustion vehicles.

edited to add: Sorry, took a while to find it but this is the OP about the Volt not being an electric car:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x261028

[tinrobot]

14. The Volt is more complex than either an electric or gas car.

That's because it is both. It has all the parts of a gas car plus all the parts of an electric car.

I agree pure electric cars are going to be very reliable, but I'll wait and see what happens with the Volt.

[moparlunatic]

17. I believe the Volt

will unfortunately fail miserably. If nobody on here would buy one then who is their target buyer going to be. Unfortunately more people like to talk about supporting unions than actually doing it.

[flvegan]

18. This thread really is a shame.

The article is about how well the Volt came out on top with a higher mpg than the Prius. That's a substantial achievement. It doesn't mean that the Prius isn't a good choice in a green car, it just means that the Volt has upped the mpg ante. Jesus, people it's called progress. Is the Volt expensive? Yes. But the tech is getting better. Look how much the Tesla costs. Look at the fact that the Honda Clarity has been dismissed.

No, wait...this is DU. I MUST find some fault. The Prius is hopelessly slow and ugly, and the Volt's production level and price is stupid.

There, now I feel better.

*shakes head*

[Javaman]

19. people love to hate...

people who own prius's love to hate.

people who are down on American made products love to hate.

I just invested in GM and I own a Prius.

I don't love to hate.

[Nihil]

20. *some* do

Like you, I own a Prius and I don't love to hate.

I think the recent announcement that GE is buying loads of Volts
is brilliant and hope that it will start the ball rolling towards
getting the Volt accepted.

:shrug:

[Javaman]

21. We can only hope. nt