[aerohead]

"For CAFE purposes,every EV sold will count as a 200-to 400-mpg ( 1.2-to 0.6L/km ) car under the 1988 Alternative Fuels Act." ( from Ward's Auto World,June 1992,p.32.---------------- With this Act,only the gasoline portion of energy is figured into MPG calculation,for a mixed-energy type vehicle.------------------------------ here's how it might work with the VOLT: Let's say,you drive the VOLT hard on the highway for 25 miles,drawing the Li pack down to 80% discharge,then the gasoline engine kicks in,say for 9.5 additional miles.----------- The VOLT would have covered 34.5 miles and for CAFE purposes the government would only look at the gasoline used.If the VOLT gets 30-mpg on the HWY with the engine on,then it would have consumed 0.316 gallons of gas.------- If this amount happens to be 15% of the energy,then by dividing 34.5 miles by 0.15 yields 230-mpg.The plug-in electric power is completely discounted as if it didn't exist.------------------------------------- For a complete energy balance on the VOLT we could use their figure of 6.25kW per 25-miles.Dividing by battery efficiency,charger efficiency,transmission line efficiency,generating plant efficiency,yields 26.004 kW produced from heat energy.If provided by gasoline,this would require 0.797 gallons of gasoline burned at the power plant to create the 26kW.------------ Adding 0.797 + 0.316= 1.113 gallons per 34.5 miles for 31 mpg overall efficiency.[ for efficiencies,I used 80% @ battery,94% @ charger( Solectria ),94% @ grid,and 34% @ power plant ].------------------------ E-85 and M-85 cars would be allowed the same Arthur Anderson/Bernie Madoff - style cookin' the books and ledgerdemain to arrive at the Buck Rogers MPG numbers.