Chevy Volt: Where Does the 230 MPG Rating Come From?

If you spend much time online, you have likely run across Chevrolet's "What is 230?" viral marketing campaign. Despite widespread speculation otherwise, it turns out that the whole thing was a gimmick to generate interest in the miles per gallon of their latest electric car: the Chevy Volt. While the marketing campaign was a little on the heavy handed side, the astounding figure of 230 mpg was and the buzz attached to the press release was certainly enough to catch everybody's attention, if only to raise our eyebrows and mumble "that can't be right." If Chevy's explanation as to how they arrived at the 230 mpg rating leaves you a bit confused, you are not the only one. Here's an attempt at sifting through the hype of the headlines to get to the real facts behind the Chevy Volt and the 230 mpg rating.

According to Chevy's press release on the 230 mpg figure, the rating was established by following the existing procedure for figuring the MPG on an electric hybrid car. The press release stresses that this procedure is the current market standard but has yet to be formalized by the Environmental Protection Agency due to the relative novelty of the technology in question. When driven for normal commuter use and charged only once a day, the Chevy Volt runs entirely on electricity and uses no fuel, regardless of whether the vehicle is on the highway or driven in the city. So long as the vehicle does not need to be driven more than around 40 miles per day, it consumes zero gasoline and releases zero emissions. If driven for a distance greater than around forty mile, the gasoline engine kicks in.

For drivers who rarely drive more than forty miles a day, this technology will truly change the way we drive and think about fuel efficiency. Even for commuters who are stuck in their automobiles for longer commutes, the increased fuel efficiency and decreased harm to the environment has most industry leaders saying that the next step in clean technology has finally arrived, and Chevy Volt, for the moment anyway, is its name. Still the 230 mpg figure has many consumers scratching their heads, as it is unclear from the press release exactly where that incredible number comes from. It just sounds to good to be true.

It turns out that the 230 mpg rating was arrived at by taking a couple of pretty reasonable variables into assumption. One of these would be that the owner of the vehicle would be sure to plug in the vehicle so that it is fully charged by the time that it needs to hit the road the following day. Only then is it safe to assume that the vehicle is not using gasoline for the first forty or so miles. If this is the case, then the mileage hits that head scratching three digit number based on the amount of miles that are driven on the gasoline in addition to those first forty miles. Because the mileage required to take into consideration to configure a standard mpg rating is set, those first forty miles make a big difference in the final number.

Of course, what is being left out of the equation is the energy and cost that goes in to fueling those initial forty miles per day. Still, in the goal of evolving our energy consumption beyond the age of gasoline guzzling, the Chevy Volt represents a major move in the right direction.

Sources:

http://www.product-reviews.net/2009/08/17/new-chevy-volt-230-mpg-explained/
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