Chevrolet is putting a new car on the market sometime in late 2010. So, what’s new about the Chevy Volt? Well, it doesn’t get your average 20-35 miles per gallon. The Chevy Volt gets an estimated 230 miles per gallon in the city! The Chevy Volt is an electric powered car and can run on its lithium-ion batteries for about 40 miles, which means you only need gas after the first 40 miles you drive to recharge the batteries. If you drive less than 40 miles, you won’t need to use gas at all.
The Volt gets plugged in while you sleep at night to recharge for your first 40 gasless miles the next day. It is estimated that overnight recharge (about eight hours) will only cost about $1.00.
Some critics argue that the Volt’s mpg is misleading, because it is difficult to calculate how much gas an electric car uses. ABC News reported on August 12 that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not yet verified the Volt’s 230-mpg figure. However, GM says that they used the EPA’s revised methodology for electric cars to compile this figure.
Either way, it is clear that the Volt is a major innovation in fuel-efficient hybrid cars. The Toyota Prius only receives 50 mpg which is less than a quarter of what GM estimates the Volt receives. Other hybrid cars like the Prius use gas from the moment you start it up, whereas the Volt runs for 40 miles before it needs to use gas.
Unfortunately, GM will only be making about 60,000 Volts by 2013. Luckily, Nissan is also planning to unveil its all-electric Leaf sometime next year. Nissan used the same formula as GM to calculate that the Leaf gets an estimated 367 mpg. The Leaf has no gas engine or tank, runs about 100 miles on a full charge, and has zero emissions. Nissan also plans to sell the Leaf at a more affordable price than the Volt. However, neither Nissan nor GM has announced a price yet.
