Trust GM to fudge the numbers and lie. BS is GM's most important product
230 MPG EPA Rating?Last we checked in with the Volt?s EPA MPG vision quest, GM was basically negotiating with the EPA for a 100mpg plus rating. Last September Bloomberg reported that,
obtaining a 100-mpg rating will require the EPA to develop a new way of measuring fuel efficiency for a car that?s likely to rely more heavily on electric than internal-combustion power, according to GM?s Posawatz. The automaker promised to share mileage data captured from the Volt?s onboard computers to verify real-world performance if EPA will grant the certification now, he said.
GM-volt.com?s Lyle Dennis thinks he knows how the Volt will crack 230 MPG
Mike Duoba from Argonne National Lab devised a method to determine the MPG of an EREV; first the car is driven from a full battery until it reaches charge-sustaining mode, then one more cycle is driven. If we use the highway schedule, the first 40 miles are electric. One more cycle is
11 more miles. If the Volt gets 50 MPG in charge sustaining mode, it will use .22 gallons of gas for that 11 miles. Thus 51 miles/.22 gallons = 231.8 MPG.What happened to 30 MPG in charge-sustaining mode? Is the 230 just a reference to the charging voltage rather than some concocted MPG equivalent? Expect more questions than answers at GM?s press conference on the 230 phenomenon tomorrow.