230mpg Chevy Volt is more like 59mpg considering the cost to recharge the battery

[Timpo]

2011 Chevrolet Volt: If Not 230 MPG, Then What?
By Dan Edmunds | November 30, 2009

The involuntary eye-rolling began mid-sentence as we read GM's first press release claiming that the fuel economy of the 2011 Chevy Volt would be about 230 mpg.

The method by which this number was obtained was not clearly stated, and GM made vague references to a "draft EPA procedure". But we spoke to engineers at the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), and they weren't clear on the formulas GM used to generate that much-touted figure, either.

Here's the problem: plug-in hybrids like the Volt are designed to be refueled with two different sorts of energy--electricity from a wall outlet sold in kilowatt-hours (kWh) and gasoline from a gas pump sold in gallons. No agreed-upon methodology exists to describe the fuel economy of a vehicle that uses two external fuel sources in the normal course of events.

Our resident engineers decided to take a crack at it, and the mathematical exercise that followed led to a far different conclusion. At today's national average prices for gasoline and residential electricity, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt will cost the same to refuel as a 59-mpg gasoline-powered car: both require $55.85 to cover the 1,250 miles that make up a typical month in a 15,000-mile driving year.

Details on how we arrived at these figures follow after the jump.


To begin, we need to understand how the Volt works. GM calls the Volt an "extended-range electric vehicle", but we dislike that term because it sounds like an electric car with a humungous battery for lots of range. But the Volt is an electrically-driven car that pairs a relatively small battery with 8 kWh of useable storage that provides 40 miles of range with a gasoline engine that generates additional electricity for extending the driving range for as long as you need--so long as you understand it's burning dinosaur juice until you plug in again.

There's a well-established word for cars that run on gasoline and electricity--we call them hybrids. Sure, the Volt can be plugged-in to pre-charge the battery and lessen the amount of time the engine runs, and that makes it a plug-in hybrid, a much-anticipated variation on the hybrid theme. A pure electric car with just 40 miles of range would be impractical in the extreme, but a plug-in hybrid with that much electric range looks impressive indeed.

The trick to estimating a plug-in hybrid's monthly fuel cost involves knowing the percentage of total miles the car will run on electricity (charge-depleting mode) and on gasoline (charge-sustaining mode). The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has spent a lot of time studying this very question, and they have come up with a standard procedure for making such an estimate, SAE standard J2841.

They call the percentage of electric-only miles the Utility Factor (UF). To determine the UF of a given plug-in hybrid, we simply insert the vehicle's electric range into the SAE's chart. The Volt's 40-mile range returns a UF of 0.62, which means the average Volt will spend 62% of its life running on electricity that came in via the plug and 38% on electricity generated by the gasoline engine. Armed with these numbers, we can properly weight the costs of our two fuels; electricity and gasoline.

No clear-cut fuel consumption figures have been released, electrical or otherwise, so we applied some more math and made some careful estimates based on specific GM performance claims. We start with the preliminary specs GM has given us: a useable battery storage capacity of 8 kWh and an electric range of "up to" 40 miles. Dividing one by the other returns a best-case electric-only consumption rate of 20 kWh per 100 miles.

But you'll actually pay for more electricity than that because battery charging is an imperfect process. Batteries generate heat when they're being charged, so a fan may come on or a pump may circulate fluid to keep things cool. These losses represent electricity you pay for, so they have to be included as consumption even though none of it makes it into the batteries. For this exercise we're assuming a fairly common charging efficiency of 85%. Put another way, the electric consumption seen from your wallet's point of view rises by 15% to 23.5 kWh per 100 miles.

Our typical driving month is 1,250 miles, and 62% of that is 775 miles. At our electric consumption rate of 23.5 kWh per 100 miles, the Volt will consume 182.4 kWh of electricity during the month. The national average cost of electricity is 12.05 cents per kWh, so this equates to a monthly electricity cost of $21.97.

We've made further estimates on gasoline consumption in charge-sustaining mode because GM hasn't released specifics. Volt Chief Engineer Andrew Farah told us the "unadjusted" development target is 50 mpg in the so-called "FTP" city mileage test. But for our purposes we require EPA combined with the most recent 2008+ window sticker adjustments included because our own fuel economy testing has shown them to equate well to the real world. We have the conversion formulas, and 50 mpg city (raw unadjusted ftp) equates to 37 mpg city on a 2008+ window sticker.

The 38% of the month that is spent on gasoline amounts to the other 475 of our 1,250 miles. A gasoline fuel economy of 37 mpg means this distance will require 12.8 gallons, which costs $33.88 at the current national average price of $2.64 per gallon.

Taking gasoline and electricity together, the total monthly cost for 1,250 miles in our Volt is $55.85 - the same as a standard car that achieves 59 mpg on gasoline alone over the same distance.

Of course these costs can range lower for those who have solar panels or can take advantage of lower off-peak charging rates when they plug in, but we're not trying to account for the best-case scenario here. This calculation is attempting to figure the average fuel cost for the average consumer using current national average prices.

And what we come up with for the 2011 Chevy Volt is still impressive compared to the class-leading Toyota Prius. But it's nowhere near 230 mpg.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

interesting

[godwin]

The basic premise is it still reduces North America's dependency on Middle Eastern oil... eg people in Quebec / NF will use hydro.

It also make Canada more strategically valuable to US.

[too_slow]

They should replace the ZipCar fleet/ Prius Taxis with cars like the Volt.. Setup quick charging stations at taxi stands, ZipCar designated parking spots.. etc..

Now if only people would downsize the size of their ass/waist to fit into a Volt..

[q0192837465]

People should realize where your electricity comes from. It doesnt grow on trees

[too_slow]

Anyone have stats on how electricity is produced in the US vs Canada? (i.e. % in Hydro, Solar, Wind, Geo, nuclear, coal/gas)


Found this on Wiki:

19.3% of electricity in the US was produced by nuclear fission in 2005.

49.7% came from coal-fired power plants, 18.7% from natural gas, 6.5% from hydroelectric, and other minor contributions from other sources.

[q0192837465]

Same with so-called clean hydrogen fuel cell cars. Yea, the exhaust is only water, but where does the hydrogen comes from in the first place? Fossil fuel

[spenny]

People dont buy hybrids because theyre cheaper to run; they buy them because they want to "save the world from global warming". Mr. smart-ass Dan Edmonds is bringing the cost of electricity in with the cost of gas, their whole idea of MPG is more like MP$.. completely off base, IMO. It still gets great fuel economy. If you want something cheap to run, buy an old Civic and throw the crappiest gas in it that you can.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

save the world my ass

pfff


world is coming to an end anyway



if its ur time, its your time. Live to the fullest

[spenny]

2012 dude, its going to be exactly like the movie.

[godwin]

That's just like any commodity item when new, eg iphones, plasma / LCD etc etc.

The cars are being designed specifically for electrical drive.. eg Lotus extender etc.. it will take a few years..

If you believe in Warren Buffet, we will all be driving electric cars in 20 years.. but of course he is one of the largest shareholders of BYD.

Originally Posted by spenny

People dont buy hybrids because theyre cheaper to run; they buy them because they want to "save the world from global warming". Mr. smart-ass Dan Edmonds is bringing the cost of electricity in with the cost of gas, their whole idea of MPG is more like MP$.. completely off base, IMO. It still gets great fuel economy. If you want something cheap to run, buy an old Civic and throw the crappiest gas in it that you can.

[ericthehalfbee]

I used my monthly mileage driven for work and weekends and came up with these number for the Volt:

- 1,000 miles per month
- 100% UF (I never do more than 40 miles or 65 km in a day, and when I take long trips I'll use one of my other vehicles).
- BC Hydro Step two rates (max you'll ever pay for electricity) is $0.0827/kw
- My monthly costs to drive the Volt are only $18.80 (235 kw x $0.0827/kw).

That would buy you about 4 gallons of gasoline. So for me the Volt would get an equivalent of 250 MPG.

Big difference when you consider our cheaper electricity, our more expensive fuel, and don't use the SAE "example" of 62% usage. I mean, cmon, do you think people will buy the Volt to do road trips? This is a commuter car and the 40 mile range was picked because the majority of American drivers don't go more than 40 miles in a day commuting.

[jeff_alexander]

Originally Posted by spenny

People dont buy hybrids because theyre cheaper to run; they buy them because they want to "save the world from global warming". Mr. smart-ass Dan Edmonds is bringing the cost of electricity in with the cost of gas, their whole idea of MPG is more like MP$.. completely off base, IMO. It still gets great fuel economy. If you want something cheap to run, buy an old Civic and throw the crappiest gas in it that you can.

No, you buy a diesel.

[JesseBlue]

GM already had the electric car...and they killed it...this will still not make me support GM

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by spenny

People dont buy hybrids because theyre cheaper to run; they buy them because they want to "save the world from global warming". Mr. smart-ass Dan Edmonds is bringing the cost of electricity in with the cost of gas, their whole idea of MPG is more like MP$.. completely off base, IMO. It still gets great fuel economy. If you want something cheap to run, buy an old Civic and throw the crappiest gas in it that you can.

You're only considering about the time when you're driving it. YES, the CO2 level is a lot lower in hybrids, but hybrids are just as polluting as normal cars. If not, worse...

People wanna buy hybrids because they wanna save $ on fuel, not global warming, etc...although some celebrities will buy hybrids to show off how much they care about earth or whatever. If they buy it to save earth, well obviously those people have NOT done any research.

Let's take an example of Prius, since it is the most successful hybrid on the market today.

Is it really polluting to produce cars like Prius, since you have to put batteries and motors and the factories that are producing those things will pollute our air by quite a bit. Not only they will produce smogs and CO2, but the electricity they use are from nuclear power.
Also, when the battery dies, you have to consider about waste problems as well. The Chevy Volt is a lot worse in this aspect.

Prius is MADE IN JAPAN...so you know what it means, you have to somehow bring it here in US or Canada. How? by aircraft or ship, either way, if you do the math how much air we would have to pollute and waste our limited fuel just to bring it here, Prius is hardly environmentally friendly.
Also those aircrafts and ship will have to do some maintenance, like oil change or whatever and that's also polluting.
Some celebrities will actually use aircraft to ship Prius from Japan, saying that they couldn't wait several months to save our air...which doesn't make sense to me.

So, just buy a Civic that is made in Canada if you want to buy a environmentally friendly vehicle.
It is a lot less polluting to produce, it is still a low emission vehicle, and you don't have to pollute air to ship it here from other side of earth. If they could make Civics in BC that would be great...so that we can just use hydro energy to produce them.

[slammer111]

Originally Posted by ericthehalfbee

I used my monthly mileage driven for work and weekends and came up with these number for the Volt:

- 1,000 miles per month
- 100% UF (I never do more than 40 miles or 65 km in a day, and when I take long trips I'll use one of my other vehicles).
- BC Hydro Step two rates (max you'll ever pay for electricity) is $0.0827/kw
- My monthly costs to drive the Volt are only $18.80 (235 kw x $0.0827/kw).

That would buy you about 4 gallons of gasoline. So for me the Volt would get an equivalent of 250 MPG.

Big difference when you consider our cheaper electricity, our more expensive fuel, and don't use the SAE "example" of 62% usage. I mean, cmon, do you think people will buy the Volt to do road trips? This is a commuter car and the 40 mile range was picked because the majority of American drivers don't go more than 40 miles in a day commuting.

+1. I'm sure a big chunk of our driving population doesn't go 64km (40mi) in a day. If you did indeed use this as a daily driver to/from work only and didn't have to hit up job sites, I'd actually be afraid of the gas in your tank going bad. AND.. your MPG would skyrocket.

With that said, the main reason why nobody except tree-huggers drive hybrids is because it'd take you something like 10 years on average to get your money back. You're basically giving Honda or Toyota a $10k interest-free loan just so you can feel good.

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by ericthehalfbee

I used my monthly mileage driven for work and weekends and came up with these number for the Volt:

- 1,000 miles per month
- 100% UF (I never do more than 40 miles or 65 km in a day, and when I take long trips I'll use one of my other vehicles).
- BC Hydro Step two rates (max you'll ever pay for electricity) is $0.0827/kw
- My monthly costs to drive the Volt are only $18.80 (235 kw x $0.0827/kw).

That would buy you about 4 gallons of gasoline. So for me the Volt would get an equivalent of 250 MPG.

Big difference when you consider our cheaper electricity, our more expensive fuel, and don't use the SAE "example" of 62% usage. I mean, cmon, do you think people will buy the Volt to do road trips? This is a commuter car and the 40 mile range was picked because the majority of American drivers don't go more than 40 miles in a day commuting.

I still think the Volt is just another miserable failure from GM.

The Prius gets like what? 50mpg?
ok, so that's roughly 5x better than Prius.

I can't remember the exact number, but when you go to the dealership, the label will show you the Transport Canada(or was it DOT/SAE?) estimated fuel cost/year.
The cost was well below $1,000. so let's say about $800/year for Prius.

$800x0.8=$640.
so you would save approx $640 on fuel by driving Volt instead of Prius.
Which means, the Volt will cost $160/year on fuel. (in your specific case)

and here's the problem, the Prius is like..what? $22 or $23k US? and the Volt is like $40k?
Let's say the price difference is roughly $20,000 Canadian.

$20,000/$640 = 31.25 year
so you would have to spend 31+ year just to break even in the fuel price.

This is not the end of story, don't expect the insurance cost of $22-$23k US car to be the same as $40k US car.

Assuming the difference of insurance rate is like $320(which I would think is more) then you would have to spend 62+ years to break even in the fuel price.
If you're new driver or have a bad driving history, the difference would be more than $640, which in this case, Prius would be a lot cheaper than Volt to drive. Because the insurance cost will just make up the fuel price.

I know this is a rough prediction and I should be predicting fuel price changes or other factors, but still, you get my point.

Also the resale value, let's say you would sell the car in 5 to 10 years, I mean who would actually keep it for several decades right?
I bet the prius will give you better resale value (how much % of original price you bought) than Volt.

Keep in mind that this is your specific case, not everybody in Canada or USA get cheap electricity rate like you do.
and in the end, at $40,000 price tag, how many people can afford it? there is a huge difference between the market size for Volt and Prius/Insight.
The number of potential buyers GM has, compare to Toyota/Honda is not even comparable just because of their price.

[Mancini]

Originally Posted by Mugen EvOlutioN

if its ur time, its your time. Live to the fullest

Could you write that in my highschool annual? It would fit right in.

I'd be curious to see an environmental impact study comparing gasoline and electricity.

[Timpo]

Originally Posted by Mancini

Could you write that in my highschool annual? It would fit right in.

[hk20000]

the Volt makes as much sense as the Hammerhead i-Thrust. Even the charge system is similar.

[godwin]

AFAIK Prius battery is part of the car.. Volt the battery is leased and can be upgraded over time.. if you keep a car that long Volt will be an obvious choice.

Originally Posted by Timpo

I still think the Volt is just another miserable
Also the resale value, let's say you would sell the car in 5 to 10 years, I mean who would actually keep it for several decades right?
I bet the prius will give you better resale value (how much % of original price you bought) than Volt.