Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
Exactly.
What happens when you drive 230 miles in a Volt? You use way more than 1 gallon of gas.
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I think this quote from a GM forum (that I stole from a Tacoma forum) sums it up nicely:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by CustomTacos.com forum - Volt MPG thread
GM says that the Volt will go 40 miles without using gasoline. The quote from CNN tells the story better I think.
"So let's say the car is driven 50 miles in a day. For the first 40 miles, no gas is used and during the last 10 miles, 0.2 gallons are used. That's the equivalent of 250 miles per gallon. But, if the driver continues on to 80 miles, total fuel economy would drop to about 100 mpg. And if the driver goes 300 miles, the fuel economy would be just 62.5 mpg."
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For the average consumer, the 230MPG thing is true, though. Most trips are under 50 miles round, right?
I still wouldn't mind going 300 miles at 62.5 MPG, though. I wonder if there is a good way to P&G with it or drive it more efficiently...
Also - I've been hearing tell that the engine will not charge the batteries at all. If this is true, I believe this is a waste of quite alot of power, considering that (as I understand it) the engine runs in steady state operation at either peak output or peak efficiency (or somewhere in between), turning a generator. Obviously, it's directly driving the e-motor here, but what happens when you don't need the available 88HP (~70 counting losses)? The rest of that available power is just "gone"? I don't see this being a truly efficient use of available energy, although I can understand the cycling effect that the gas engine would have on the batteries.