Bill Ford, AdAge chide GM over 230 MPG Chevrolet Volt MPG projection

The Chevrolet Volt's 230 mpg number continues to be questioned. The latest to criticize is Bill Ford, who takes issue not only with the General Motors-approved 230 figure, but also Nissan's claim that its Leaf EV will get 367 mpg. The real culprit here, Ford said, is the EPA's methodology, which he argues is meaningless. "This question devolves into madness," Ford reportedly told Green Car Advisor:
"The government will have to come up with a meaningful number for customers - a user-friendly label. And I think they will. I can't dispute that number, but I'm not sure it's relevant to the customer either."
Ford also said that since his company doesn't "have any particular expertise in batteries," they'll probably buy the batteries from established manufacturers for their own electrified cars.

Speaking of relevance, Advertising Age, the publication that was first to guess that the whole 230 teaser campaign was a GM plot, has determined that the stunt was a bad idea. The big problems it sees with the campaign are that it often gave people the wrong idea (that 230 would be the U.S.'s new a standard voltage for outlets) and didn't give people enough breadcrumbs to follow to the Volt. It created more questions than answers, until the big reveal last week. In any case, the whole thing was targeted at a younger, hipper audience, but are these the people who have $40,000+ to buy a Volt?


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[Sources: Green Car Advisor, Advertising Age]

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