Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
Mark welcome to EM,
Are you counting the electricity like the EPA does as 33.7kWh / gallon? If so, how are you measuring the electricity?
Thanks for sharing your experience in the real world.
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I really don't measure electricity at all in the sense you mean, I work all my numbers based purely on my selfish out of pocket costs. Kwh rates in my part of MD (as well as gasoline prices for that matter) are really quite reasonable compared to many parts of the country, < $.09/khw, or about $1.10 per full battery 'fill-up'. That $1.10, in real work money terms, is about the cost of 1/3 of a gallon of gas. So while the Volt continually monitors my gas vs battery usage and tells me the overall mpg, that 79 mpg lifetime does not include the cost of electricity.
My lifetime numbers to date are 2,812 ev (battery) + 2,402 gas = 5,214 miles. Overall I've averaged 33.4 mpg running on gas, which means for the 2,402 miles I've driven 'batteryless' I've burned thru 72 gallons of gas.
BUT - my 2,812 ev miles were not w/o cost, and at my favorable kwh rates they equate to a cost equivalent to approx 28 gal of fuel based on that 1 full battery charge = the cost of 1/3 of a gallon of gas nonsense I mentioned above.
So putting this whole business it into a gasoline-centric fuel cost perspective, I went 5,214 miles on 72 gal of gas + 28 equiv cost gals of gas, meaning 5,214 mi/100 gal = 52 mpg cost equiv, about the same as a Prius. If I drove shorter trips my costs would be much less than a Prius, and must more if the trips were longer, but I do expect my mpge to increase once I get past February, and I was at 91 mpg lifetime before January began.
And, of course, none of this anal-retentive number crunching takes into account the Volt being a hugely cool ride.