Chevy
Volt fuel economy in question
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Volt
fuel economy with the AC on?
How is the EPA going to assess the fuel economy of the Chevy
Volt? That's a good question, as the EPA doesn't have
a methodology yet for plug-in
hybrid vehicles. When they do, will it be accurate?
According to GM, the Chevy Volt will achieve 40 miles of
electric power before using gasoline to generate new
electricity to power the Volt. But, what happens if you
drive fast? Accelerate fast? What if you are a heavy AC
user?
Aymeric Rousseau, who analyses such problems at Argonne
National Laboratory, a government-funded research
center, told
a conference on lithium battery technology that fast
accelerations and speeding could significantly reduce Volt
fuel economy, especially in terms of electric range, down
to 28 - 32 miles of electric power. Add AC and that fuel
economy might drop down to even 15 or 20 miles of electric
power.
Is he right?
These are some questions that, hopefully, GM will address
today as it celebrates its Centennial and tells us about
its plans for the future, including a Volt update.
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