GM announces... 2011 Chevrolet Volt will get 230 mpg city!
by Sam Abuelsamid on Aug 11th 2009 at 8:23AM 
In case you missed it this morning, General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson made some big news just one month after the "new" GM emerged from bankruptcy protection.
First of all, Henderson announced that the GM FastLane blog would now be used to solicit feedback on new designs directly from customers. Over the next two years, GM will be launching 25 new models in its four remaining "core" brands (Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC).
After the webcast ends, we'll going over to the design dome for a preview of the new large XTS and small ATS models from Cadillac. The latter will slot in below the CTS and be aimed directly at the BMW 3-series with rear- and all-wheel drive. The XTS is expected to be based on a stretched Epsilon II platform.
The biggest bombshell is Henderson's announcement that the "230" marketing campaign floating around for the past week is related to the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. The EPA has released a new methodology for determining a draft fuel economy standard for extended-range EVs like the Volt, and under this new procedure, the Volt will have a composite urban fuel economy rating of 230 mpg! On the electric side, the Volt will consume 25 kW-hours per 100 miles. That makes the Volt the first car ever to get a triple digit fuel economy rating.
According to Frank Weber, vehicle chief engineer for the Volt, the number is based on combined electric only driving and charge sustaining mode with the engine running. He declined to get specific about the proportions, but did say that the urban cycle would be predominantly EV only. The EPA has been studying real world vehicle usage and is developing the formulas to try and provide a representative number of what most customers could expect to achieve. In addition to the composite number, the new EPA stickers will likely also get numbers for mileage in charge sustaining mode and electric efficiency in EV mode.
Stay tuned for more news from this morning's event as it happens.
Gallery: 2011 Chevy Volt
[Source: General Motors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 11)
Pete 8:27AM (8/11/2009)
Now only if my 2010 Camaro SS would get that!
Right now I've been getting around 18 MPG on average, with a good deal of city driving mixed in.
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swimtedswim 8:33AM (8/11/2009)
did you also buy your camaro for the trunk space? :p
Pete 8:37AM (8/11/2009)
The extra spacious back seat was what really sold me, haha..
If the EPA gives the Volt a 230 MPG rating good for Chevy. It's not like the EPA is giving them special treatment, if Toyota had the same technology they would get the same rating.
xcrunk 9:05AM (8/11/2009)
18 MPG's? Uhm, go for the clunker trade in while you can!
230 MPG's sounds like typical GM smoke and mirrors.
tankd0g 10:58AM (8/11/2009)
Since the government in Government Motors sets the rules, maybe it does get that. I'm sure they can come up with some arbitrary set of test criteria to show the Camaro gets 230MPG, why not? It's all a sham now anyway.
chineyz954 11:11AM (8/11/2009)
TankDog is a troll. All corporations have taken some form of government money(Tax incentives, Loans, or share by outs) Stop being a right wing troll. Get over it and grow up.
tC 11:26AM (8/11/2009)
tankd0g, just because you can't figure out why you can't achieve the EPA rated fuel economy estimates, doesn't mean it's a "sham". My car is rated for 27mpg highway, I get 34mpg on the highway, so where's the "sham"?
Tohe 12:48PM (8/11/2009)
@tC
Lets dilute this Kool-Aid in more water, err I mean electricity. Of course it is a sham.
chrissten 1:30PM (8/11/2009)
Newsflash: electricity isn't free! Assuming $3/gal gas and $0.20/kWh, that's the equivalent of 60mpg. Good, but not quite the "230" they're claiming.
Judy Zik 3:05PM (8/11/2009)
Thanks Chrissten for being the first to actually point out the truth. Releasing a mpg figure like that just makes a mockery of the whole system. Instead of meaningless numbers they need to get real with people or there will be a big backlash when owners discover it doesn't run forever on nothing. One way to do that would be publishing estimated cost of energy from now on. Basically this is what it would cost to do 100 miles of city driving (daily commute cycles) with this vehicle and this is what it would cost to do 100 miles of highway driving based on current gas and electricity rates.
What I am interested in as far as the Volt's figures go is how much electricity it will take to fully charge and how far I can get on a charge. After that I want know mpg's it get's once it starts running on gas. A pie in the sky figure like this doesn't tell me anything. I am pretty sure if I am planning a 500 mile drive in a Volt non stop I can expect to use more than 2 gallons of gas.
PJ 4:15PM (8/11/2009)
What this says to me is that the EPA's current mileage tests, and perhaps MPG as a measurement in general, will become more-or-less meaningless as a measure of vehicle energy efficiency in the next 10-15 years.
That said, I've got to hand it to GM for this vehicle. I don't think it'll be a commercial success (being high-priced, limited to four passengers, and likely a bit dated-looking when it launches), but it is without a doubt a milestone for the industry.
I'm also intrigued by Henderson's announcement regarding the FastLane blog. Wagoner made noise about "soliciting feedback" from consumers, too, but basically used the blog to tell consumers what they *should* think about GM, with a Comments section to allow users to agree with him. Time will tell if GM is genuinely starting to take the customer more seriously.
tankd0g 6:47PM (8/12/2009)
Hey tC, you think you are going to be able to get 230 out of the Volt? No? STFU then.
tankd0g 6:57PM (8/12/2009)
We all know GM lobbied hard to get a 100mpg rating out of the EPA by any means necessary before the bankruptcy. Now that the company has FAILED and they are government owned, it seems they have even better access to the EPA's balls.
In2uition 8:28AM (8/11/2009)
Noticed the typo "wee"
Anywho...good news. :]
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Mike 2:46PM (8/11/2009)
I can't WAIT to hear about the first person that buys one of these.... puts in 1 gallon of gas thinking they can go up to 230 miles.. so they try to drive 100 miles and run out of gas!!
I understand (and many of us do) that there is a 40 mile range before plugging in etc.
40 miles is also ideal right? So I'm thinking weather/hills etc will decrease by 10-15%.
BUY ANYWAY - if you were to buy one and put 1 gallon of gas and drive straight.. how far would it go???
This is obviously not a car for vacations (which the prius is much better suited), and it's not the car for weekend trips either.
This is a great car for SHORT Trips. However, most people that don't drive that often usually buy CHEAP cars.
Volt - $40,000 = 14,600 miles per year (40 per day)
Malibu - $24,000 = 14,600 miles per year @22mpg x $2.99 per gallon = $1,984
Prius - $26,000 = 14,600 miles per year @49mpg x $2.99 per gallon = $890.90
It would take 8 years and 1 month to recoup at those calculations. (Which are in heavy favor of the Volt. Thats EXCLUDING any electricity costs for charging the volt.
It would take 15 years and 7 months to recoup the Prius Costs.
Basically you will NEVER recoupe the money for the electric vehicle, but this is helping to fund the future and bring prices DOWN on them! This happened with ABS, Airbags, Alloy Wheels, Navigation Systems, HIDs etc. Eventually economies of scale will bring down the prices!
**How often do you have to change the oil? How can you tell how long you've run the gasoline engine for??
Mr.Oak 12:49PM (8/12/2009)
Mike: You went ballistic there for a minute didn't you?
A couple of points about the Volt that you either missed or chose to omit.
The range of the Volt, like the ICE base automobile is INFINITE. The battery range may be 40 miles, but as long as you gave fuel in the car, it will make electricity ONBOARD. There is NO range limit to the Volt. There is a limit only to the battery, then the ICE powered generator kicks in.
The car you described in your speil "This is a great car for SHORT Trips" is that UGLY Platypus thing that Nissan is peddling. With that car, once the charge is depleted, that thing is DIW (dead in the water). The Volt's battery gets depleted, and the generator kicks in.
So, you could drive coast to coast with the Volt, and only stop to refuel the generator. Nissan's duck like thing, in theory could do the same if you bought a Honda generator and put it in the trunk.
The Prius is NOT in this car's league. GM's 230 mpg claims, are not pie in the sky. Think of it, the ICE motor in the Volt NEVER has to bear the weight of the car, and probably runs at close to idle speed constantly. At idle speed, you could probably get 40 mpg in a Viper.
Now if the Volt has a 10 gal tank and gets only 150 mpg, that's 1,500 miles between fill ups. NYC to Tampa Bay and back to Georgia on a SINGLE tank of gasoline. Find me another car that can come close to that.
P.S.: If the Volt's price is 40K, it instantly qualifies for a federal tax rebate of $7,500. So, please go back and redo your estimates to reflect the FACTS.
Bryan 8:28AM (8/11/2009)
an electric car.... with 230 miles per GALLON.
So nothing has changed, the actual range of the vehicle is still tiny, and this new number is due only to a change in EPA measurements.
Awesome. Good job serving as GM's mouthpiece, Autoblog.
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AK 8:32AM (8/11/2009)
You do realize that the Volt is a series hybrid, not a purely-electric vehicle, right?
Bryan 8:36AM (8/11/2009)
Whoooooooooops.
I take it back.
mikechi79 8:37AM (8/11/2009)
I don't understand your complaint. How is 230 mpg a tiny range? Do you live 230 miles from work? Take your nonsense to another site.
Thank you Autoblog for getting this info posted so quickly this morning. I'm impressed!