CHEVROLET VOLT GETTING POOR MILEAGE

The much touted saviour of Chevrolet (and GM to an extent), the Volt, has hit the media this week for preview drives.  It looks like the range and mileage Chevy has been throwing around is somewhat exaggerated.  According to Popular Mechanics, who tested the mileage and range, has come up with an average of 33 miles on electric motor only.  This is down from Chevy's initial, and long standing, statement of over 40 miles on electric motor.  Chevy has revised their estimates for range 3 times.  The first statement had the range at 40+ miles, then it was forty-ish miles and most recently a complete revision to 25-50 miles.  In fairness to Chevy, there are a number of factors that can affect the efficiency of batteries including weather.

Also of concern is the mpg of the gasoline powered "assistance" motor.  Popular Mechanics tested this as well and calculated 32mpg city/36mpg highway.   This is a far cry from Chevy's estimate of overall fuel economy of 230mpg.  GM does say the 9.3 gallon tank adds 310 miles of driving range, which is 37-42mpg.

Chevy also recently announced the gas "assist" motor can directly drive the wheels.  This is in contrast to what was widely believed.  The understanding that most people had, and Chevrolet perpetuated, was the gas engine would power a generator which in turn would recharge the batteries which would then power the motors on the wheels.  With this change to the gas motor powering the wheels directly and charging the batteries the Volt becomes a standard hybrid vehicle with a $41,000 price tag. [Gearlog]