Understanding the 2011 Chevy Volt's Fuel Economy

[cdoftx]

I wish she wouldn't say "Scientists and engineers." As one myself my jaw dropped when I saw the formula they used to calculate the 93 MPG. Isn't it criminal to give someone the impression that they'll save 3x on gas when they'll probably end up paying a little more?

What they do is convert the heat content of gas directly into electricity. They ignore all inefficiencies in the conversion process. To really know the cost, you have to look at the kWh per mile and your local electric rate.

[rastaboogie]

superfluous really. These things are starting at 40k in Canada. A person can buy a brand new Hyundai Accent ($9,999.00 new) and fuel it for 10 years for the same price as this car.

[Thunderchicken1997]

I'm sorry Chevy, but I'm just stuck on the concept of an electric having NO gas engine. That's why it's call electric. The Volt is a Hybrid, just in reverse of a Prius.

The electric motor in a Prius supports the gas engine. In a Volt, the gas engine supports the electric motor. Why not look into the incredible storage batteries that come in a Tesla? 300+ miles. Expensive, yes. But if you leave out the gas engine, this should offset the cost of the batteries.

[dinero747]

they should have some kind of solar power panel mold to the top of the car and run on solar and use car electric batterys at nite... what you think?

[MrEnergyCzar]

The 2012 has a 94 MPGe rating now....

[cdoftx]

@MrEnergyCzar Please look into the math. There's some really slick tricks going on to get that 94 mpg number. To get your cost of operating the vehicle, you need the miles per kWh and your local electricity cost. To get your CO2 emission reductions you need to know where your electricity comes from. The 93 "mpg" figure tells neither. I smell a lawsuit over this in the next 5 or so years.

[MrEnergyCzar]

@cdoftx Nah, no lawsuits. It's based on energy equivalents. A gallon of gas has the same energy as about 33 KWH. You easily get 3 - 5 miles per KWH so 94 MPGe is somewhat conservative, if not very conservative. The Mitshubitshu I-mev has 112 MPGe because it's lighter and it averages 4 miles per KWH probably.  Tesla is highest at 119 MPGe because its fiberglass and basically all battery....

[cdoftx]

@MrEnergyCzar The "energy equivalent" business is the problem. Due to the laws of thermodynamics, combustion engines can only convert 40% or so of their fuel's heat energy into work or electricity. Its not physically possible to get much above this. The government's MPG figures assume that 100% of this heat energy gets converted. Totally bogus.

[MrEnergyCzar]

@cdoftx That's what makes electric traction motors twice as efficient, they convert 75% of the energy, only lose 25%....

[cdoftx]

@MrEnergyCzar But where does the electricity come from? Today, 70% of the US's electricity comes fossil fuels, where 60 to 70% of the fuel's heat content is lost. Why give people the impression that you're tripling your fuel economy when your overall fuel and vehicle cost may jump up? On energy costs, they need to base what they tell consumers on regional energy cost data. Continental US, gasoline prices vary about 20%, while electric prices can vary by 200%+

[MrEnergyCzar]

@cdoftx because to get the gasoline to market, exponentially more amounts of energy are used and wasted compared to stateside power plants and their fuel sources... Just think how much energy the Navy's 5th fleet is using just to patrol the Strait of Hormuz. 50 military bases in the middle east region etc.. We don't get coal from there.

[cdoftx]

@MrEnergyCzar Still, even if gasoline is pure evil that doesn't justify misrepresenting things to people.

[sawink]

The worst polutant is methane. The reason why the Volt is not selling more is the price. I believe there is a 7,500$ tax break? In 2012 the Navigation and something else is gone standard so...the base price is going down. 99.9% of people don't care about the planet until they are on fire! It all comes down to MONEY which, is the source of everything. Not religion, not power...it's money. They know this and I agree. If this car was 15k everyone would be energy conscious all of a sudden.

[cezardoborn]

they really need to put a diesel engine for the generator....you could easily get over 50mpg ....my vw tdi gets about 48mpg on the hwy

[egcroan]

@cezardoborn The original plans before GM went into bankruptcy, and sold off Opel in Germany was to have the European version be powered by a Diesel Engine. The plans for developing more diesel Products for the US market I believe have been put on hold for now because the initial push was to be trucks because lets face it they are the worst offender so it would have been wise to start their. The government intervention unfortunately placed a hold on trucks.

[egcroan]

@cezardoborn why not go one better, and have the GENSET powered by American natural gas !

[sawink]

The Volt was created because GM was forced to innovate. Oil lobby controls it all. No one buys the Volt to save the planet,it's all "cool, look at me" technology and money cost of gasoline.The Volt is still a little too expensive for what it delivers. Tax right off BS included. They don't mention on any of these "battery" included cars...what pollution and transportation and mining goes into producing one of these. The ignorant population in the world is a joke and they love it. Life is all "me"

[egcroan]

@sawink All the talk about the pollution involved with mining is just propaganda from the likes of the Pro-Oil Lobby and companies like Exxon and BP. Are you going to try to even argue that oil isn't the worst pollutant and hold companies like Exxon who destroyed the ecology in Alaska as example of better than mining costs associated with the battery material ? really a sad argument given the recent events in the Gulf Of Mexico with BP. Get Real !

[40172]

Should I get a Chevy Volt($44,000), or a Honda Civic or Prius hybrid(around $22,000). Honda or Prius savings over Volt..$20,000!!! $20k in savings @5%=$1,000 a year interest if invested. I drive 10,000 miles a year using less than $1,000 in gas, this equals free energy vs Volt no matter what mileage the Volt gets. Both gas and electricity pollute so eviromental issue is same. No brainer..get the Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid and ride for free! And there is property tax x2 on Volt

[sawink]

@40172 Good stuff. You should discuss the Pious and the Hindsight! The farts if these drivers need to be snorted and enjoyed. -South Park I guess. The batteries and manufacturing are never discussed on this. A Prius causes more pollution over a 20 year life spam than a Range Rover. -Top Gear (the only real and good one on England). It is all about me and cost of vehicle and gasoline or operating expenses.

[compukenny]

Electricity cost money. Electrical generating plants use coal. Doesn't that deplete natural resources. Perhaps there is a way to mine and transport coal without using oil in the process? I don't think so.

Nuclear power generation plants? They still have no proven method of storing nuclear waste.

sudenly its the year 2015 and we have thousands of of these 'lectric lemons running around and in need of charging 2 - 3 times a week. Our power grid can't handle that kind of load

[ACEDcomputers]

@compukenny

"Electrical generating plants use coal"

-Not all, Nuclear is the second largest method of power generation and it is clean, as for doing something with the waste various methods are currently being tested including converting the waste into more fuel.

[egcroan]

@ACEDcomputers Actually nuclear although a significant contributor at 20% is not the 2nd place generator of Electricity, but actually Natural Gas at 35%. Coal unfortunately is still the most efficient and commonly used method to generate electricity. The argument could be made that if Coal is regulated on pollution content such as a Carbon Credit system such as Cap & trade then it would no longer be the most cost efficient which is why the owner operators are refusing to do so.

[flightwriterNG]

Funny how no one is barging down the doors of their local Government Motors store, desperate to shell out 2x the cost of a (far, far, FAR) superior Hyundai Elantra -- that actually makes its posted mileage numbers -- on a bloated Cruze with the battery pack installed backwards.

[egcroan]

@flightwriterNG would you please save all your lies for the next Tea Party or KKK meeting! The comments like far, far, are clearly subjective to your bias, and not based in the evaluation of many in the automotive industry clearly because you still needs GM to be a failure because the government bailed them out after Wall Street Bankers made it impossible to get loans to purchase new cars. It was George W. Bush who used Government Money to tide them over until the Obama Administration.

[egcroan]

@egcroan The point I was making about Bush being involved in Phase 1 of the 2 phase program to save GM, and his transition team briefing the incoming administration is that the saving of GM was bigger than rd vs. Blue, and that both Presidents had a hand in this very successful venture. I may not be a fan of many of the thing Pres. Bush did, but his saving GM as well as a few initiatives such as rebates for Hybrids and Fuel Cells are some of the positive he can be remembered for.

[Captainbob25202000]

chevy volt a good solution to a problem! sure its not what people expected,and everyone raves the nissan leaf but keep in mind you forget to recharge oops. you're screwed on the highway on the city looking where to plug in.Volt uses mostly electricity , oops forgot to charge at least it has a small 1.3 or 1.4 L direct injected small 4cyl engine found in the chevy cruze at least it gets you there or somewhere to charge sure its not wonderful people but it shows at least the USA is innovating !

[baldhippyrecords]

Everyone needs to watch the movie "Gashole" (available for free on Hulu)

Sheds a lot of light on the relationship between the auto and oil industries. Car companies could be building cars that get a lot better mileage but, because they are in bed with the oil companies, they won't.

[MegaDeathwarrant]

so can you make the electric mode work with the engine just like the prius so i can get over 50mpg if i want to travel?

[RamonaSteam]

Let's get real: 33.7kWh =1 gallon of gasoline. If your cost for electricity is 15 cents per kWh, 33.7 kilowatts of electricity will cost you $5.05, for the equivalent of 1 gallon of gasoline.

[AlRoderick]

@RamonaSteam The EPA conversion is raw energy content, not how much useful energy you get when you burn it. When you burn gas in an engine, any engine, 66% or more is lost to heat, friction and noise. The best engines in the world might convert more than a third of it into useful work, but they aren't good for cars - bad power-to-weight. So while the comparison is kind of apt, you don't get what you pay for in gasoline either. Batteries + motor delivers 70%+ of the metered power to the tires.

[emforty2]

the Taxpayers is again bailing out $7500 for every Volt Sold wether you buy one or not

[40172]

@emforty2 Hopefully, Congress will kill this, yet another, YoBama scam that makes it unfair competition among car makers! We have no money for these rebates! Stop it and see how fast, GM drops the price by more than that amount. Just a scam involving YoBama, the CEO of Government Motors!

[egcroan]

@40172 Again your supreme ignorance of the subject matter shows. The rebate on the Chevy Volt was established under President Bush II when he signed a previous energy bill that also covers fuel cells & solar panels. GM isn't even making profit at the current cost because of the huge start up costs of the battery packs which will come down over time as volume increases. Please try to educate yourself on a subject matter before your start spewing your lies & hatred.

[egcroan]

@40172 BTW the President of the USA was never the CEO of General Motors, and the existing debtors got to have some say in the pick of the new CEO as well as the US Government which never owned at anytime the majority of the GM shares even if they were a major share holder. Stop the racial insults to the President, and try to educate yourself. Ron White put it best when he said "You Can't Fix Stupid" so if you are just ignorant that can be fixed by education. If want to rant just go to the KKK.

[heartlessvietboy]

The President of the United States was a Law School Student. There he studied under Law School Professors who work under a Supreme Court System. That Supreme Court System writes it's own Laws. They work for Corporate Law Attorneys.

[chadberry75]

VOLT IS A HYBRID.....WAIT TILL GET YOUR ELECTRIC BILL''' BYE VOLT....HAVING A HUMMER IS CHEAPER........

[jakegambino]

@chadberry75 um... $1.50 a charge is about 60 dollars cheaper than my friends h2 for the 50 miles that i have been getting. i own a volt.

[djnikel]

35 MILES???!!!!! WHAT THE FU#K AM I GONNA DO WITH THAT? I HAVE TO CHARGE 4-8 HOURS SO I COULD GO 35 MILES??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL 35 MILES!! JUST PUT YOUR CAR THAT YOU HAVE NOW IN "NEUTRAL" EVERYTIME YOU GO DOWNHILL...YOU'LL GET THE SAME RESULTS. WHAT A JOKE!

[ACEDcomputers]

@djnikel

90% of americans, or 87% in our city drive less than 40 miles a day. 35 Miles is A LOT.

[heartlessvietboy]

Our City? What City are you talking about?

[Zigazgman1]

@heartlessvietboy In LA it's about 30-40 miles in a workday and about 50-60 in a weekend. At least to my mileage.

[heartlessvietboy]

You just said 40 miles a day? How can someone drive 50-60?

[Zigazgman1]

You have to switch to gas. Besides many people drive 50-60 miles in LA in the weekend, in Saturday and in Sunday, people tend to drive a little less and tend to walk a little more. I don't mean 50-60 each day, but as an added whole for the weekend.

[40172]

@heartlessvietboy SIMPLT: In a much better deal, a Honda Civic Hybrid or a Toyota Prius at half the price of a Volt!

[heartlessvietboy]

You can go 40 miles on Battery with the Volt. Gasoline costs $4.00 / gallon. Electricity only costs $.02 cents a mile. 40 miles would only cost $1.00. You save $3.00. Multiply that by 7 days a week. That's $21.00. Multiply by 4 weeks a month = $84.00. Multiply by 12 months a year = $1,000. You save $1,000 dollars a year compared to the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid. Plus you get overall a better vehicle.

[pdavid24]

@heartlessvietboy But wait, 1k a year? cool, you are paying 20k more for the car. Uh oh, you are 20k more in debt then a civic owner. Good luck getting that 20 years of service, oh and i doubt service will be cheap..You are going have to replace that big battery someday...

[heartlessvietboy]

In my opinion, $1,000 a year doesn't sound like much but it adds up. In 5 years it would be $5,000 dollars.

[egcroan]

@heartlessvietboy Actually your range if from 25 to 40 miles, and electricity is about $.14 a kilowatt hour, and since the Chevy Volt has a 16KWH battery it would cost 16 x $.15 or $2.40 to drive 40 miles which is still cheaper than any gasoline or diesel car available. i said to charge the pack if it were completely drained which it never will be which is a subject for another post, so for sake of discussion it would actually be better than this.

[heartlessvietboy]

Kilowatt Hour is Balogny. You do not calculate electricity by the Hour. You calculate it by the electricity used. For Example it's a 16KW Battery. That Battery will lose about 1KW per year.

[egcroan]

@heartlessvietboy Kilowatt Hour is not baloney, and you do calculate electricity by this method. Where do you get this stuff, and do you stop to even question how foolish your comment sounds. I suggest you ask either your parents, spouse, or roommate who pays the Electric Bill to show one to you so you can see how the cost is calculated. The usage is based upon Watts used for what time period which is commonly called Kilowatt Hours. This is to say that it 16KWH battery or 16 hours @ 1000 watt

[egcroan]

@heartlessvietboy That battery will ,lose 1KW per year is also a fact you got wrong. The 16KW is guaranteed for the 10 years lifespan of the battery so they are actually taking this into consideration when sizing the battery. I and the many others who were on the independent blog rang by a doctor listen to this kind of mindless ranting for years before the introduction of the Volt by people like you who thought they were smarter than the hundreds of professional engineers who works for GM.

[egcroan]

@40172 They are both always a gasoline engine vehicle, and never a pure electric vehicle so the Plug In concept they can not address. The Chevy Volt like a Nissan Leaf is capable of at times being a Zero Emission Vehicle or Z.E.V. which ultimately will become of more interest as the urban centers look for ways to clean up their air quality. If the Chevy Volt Technology substituted a Fuel Cell for the GenSet then it could easily become the next generation vehicle President Bush was talking about.

[heartlessvietboy]

Electricity is the way to go.

[egcroan]

@heartlessvietboy When and if the recharing infrastructure is built, and you are willing to get out of your vehicle every few hours for extended periods of time while the battery recharges. I am very interesting in seeing improvements in our transportation infrastructure, but unlike many of the purist I understand the reality of a slow migration. Beleive me we heard all this stuff on the Chevy Volt blog rang by Lyle a few years back, and there is always people looking to argue.

[heartlessvietboy]

So far, I think a Magnet Utilization Electric Generator is the best Generator to Build. It doesn't require any energy to run. It's much cleaner than other forms of energy used to run generators such as Nuclear, Geo-Thermal and Coal. Maybe one day re-charging the Elec. Vehicles will be a thing of the past.

[seaplaneguy1]

INSIDE SCOOP. A coal plant is 33% efficient and uses 1.8 cent/kw-hr x 33.7 wk-hr/gallon = 60 cent/ kw-hr with 3gallons of coal equivalent ... 20 cents/ gallon. What if coal cost $2.9-3.5/gallon instead of $0.2/gallon? Would this make sense? Clearly no

Assume 5.7 cent/kw-hr total cost and 1.8 cents fuel (3 "gallons"...31.5 lbs of coal) fixed capital costs of 5.7-1.8=3.9 cents.kw hr. Coal at 2.9/gal would add (2.9/.2 x1.8)-1.8=7.5 cents to each kw-hr. Electrucity would be over $7/gall !

[pbhs07]

when are ya'll selling it in florida?!?

[1msmarymac]

I think this is awesome...we've been loyal to Honda and Toyota, waiting for America to make a quality car...the time has come and we are so excited to say our next vehicle will be American. Now, it's just deciding which one. We went to our Chevy dealer and they didn't have one for us to look at...kind of disappointing, and while the dealer was friendly, I knew more about the Volt than they did...

[40172]

@1msmarymac Sucker!

[fuel20]

With my calculations I'd be paying around atleast $13.50 a week if I had a prius that's if gas was $3.06 a gallon. If I had a volt where I tend to drive 28 miles a day on the weekdays around 6 dollars if it was $1.20 per charge, plus weekends I usually go over on both days that'd be $3 of energy plus about an extra 2 dollars of gas used. So $11.00 a week with a volt. Then there's insurance, gas hikes, car price difference, possible savings w energy, etc. This is worse then picn a cell plan!

[Raith83]

@fuel20 plus, a Prius starts around $23k and the Volt is at $40k, so figuring that in you probably are better off with the Prius. I say $40k because of this, directly off the Chevrolet website "with federal tax savings from $0 up to $7500" so you COULD get $,7500 off....wtf?

[Anubis78250]

@Raith83 No, that's not the whole story.

The real story is 'the government will take up to 7500 dollars from your fellow taxpayers and give it to you towards this car'.

I'm sick of this socialist economic slavery.

[heartlessvietboy]

The Chevrolet Volt has somewhat of a complicated drive train.

[MsPeakOil]

If you drive 45 miles per day you'll get over 500 mpg....

[heartlessvietboy]

How can you get 500 mpg? You are not using gasoline!!!

[MsPeakOil]

@heartlessvietboy If you get 40-43 mile electric range you'll use gas. When it's below 25 degrees outside and you have a full battery, the engine will come on for about 90 seconds, if you always drive on electric (very short trips), the gas engine will come on every few months to lubricate the engine. If you override that mode, after a year, it will burn the 9 gallon tank to lubricate the engine.. Every volt driver will use some gas, albeit very little unless you drive 50+ miles a day.....

[n0morehate]

Volt is NOT an electric car

[heartlessvietboy]

The Volt is a Plug-in Hybrid.

[Avantime]

Ignore those tree hugger kumbaya stuff, here's a reason why you should buy a Chevy Volt or some other plug-in hybrid:

Someone's going to drop bombs on Iran soon, and that will send the whole of the middle east up in flames. The world may yet see another major oil crisis in the near future.

[inc2000glw]

it has a small gas tank..u still will end up paying about the same.

[KE61090]

@sawink profit is extremely short term. got to think about the future unless we all plan on dying within a 100 to 200 years from the lack of oil and global economic collapse. I mean you seem pretty adamant that we depend very highly on oil, no?

[heartlessvietboy]

General Motors is building a clean car for customers and fans. They did not build it for profit.

[KE61090]

@sawink I don't know what your hell bent on putting us in a category that's a waste of time. what Chevy's doing is practical and not idealist at all. if everyone thought like you nothing would ever get done.

[sawink]

You on the other side of the screen...if you want to keep your job...profit is what is important. I'm not being sarcastic. Go home to your 2.2 children. Keep the world equilibrium. Idiot idealistists don't know how the world really works. Market onward!

[sawink]

Also GM employs countless people, oil employs countless people and the people that service the industry. World Economies count on this.Trillions...not Billions are at stake. You going to give up all your money? I don't think so. Why should they? ...  Right GM? Business is Business. How are you doing? How's it going? Great IPO...let's do lunch. Say hi to your investors for me. Great car....uh...Ummm ... Marketing could be better...but you might not want it 2 B that good..remember the big pic

[sawink]

The Volt is actually a hybrid/electric whatever that is practical and can be driven like a car!!! It was forced by bankruptcy but...it is a good practical CAR! Not a plastic, unreliable, unsafe, uncomfortable, impractical, ugly mess like others. Chevy/GM did a great job finally!

[40172]

@sawink Apparently you have not driven a GM car in a LONG time!

[sawink]

@40172 Yes, I have. The US car industry has made great strides but...people (including my family and relatives) won't even look at or consider an "American" car. Hyundai has way more credibility than the once bloated lazy US automotive industry. People buy by brand and what their social network considers "good". A 4x4 should have never been considered a non-commercial vehicle by the US government...can't see around them, can't handle and drivers drive like idiots because it's 4 wheel drive.

[Keleus]

@sawink clearly you dont live in an area like some of us where if it doesnt have 4wd theres no point in buying it, Waking up in the morning with 3ft of snow on the roads and the plows arent out yet doesnt get you far with your 2wd imports

[egcroan]

@sawink Your point about 4X4 is a good one I suggest you look into a little further to see the reasons behind this. The aftermarket lobby has kept lift kits available even when all the data involving lifted vehicles in accidents with standard height vehicles shows they are dangerous. I would support a little moderation i that area when it comes to the actual height of the bumpers.

[sawink]

It's not cars, it's coal and methane and your debating this on a chevrolet marketing video. The Earth doesn't care about you, it will be here. Toxic waste is made from the Earth. Money is all! END

[KE61090]

@sawink no one ever said the earth cares about you, the earth will be here but you definitely won't and if you plan on having a future generation you can kiss them goodbye . so i guess you're right, who cares if it's not you? i mean just because coal and methane contribute to emissions doesn't mean we shouldn't diminish the other sources of the problem? what type of thinking is that?

who cares where we talk about this, it's an open forum and this is relevant.

.

[sawink]

@KE61090 @Tamayo1980 When are you going to get it? It would be great to have everyone get an electric car or zero emission exhaust and zero emission car to produce. It is not cost effective-world economies would crash..oil will not rum out for a long long time and when it does and let's say it is electric?? WTF do u think electric prices will go to? It's all these idealists. You don't think I want zero cost and emission cars. They are great! NEVER! Let me repeat that-NEVER will it happen-.EVER!

[sawink]

We know these are all marketing videos but...stop the marketing emissions BS...it's all COST...MY MONEY! (and yours) and overall everyones. It sells based on cost(both fuel and vehicle), them comes practicality, reliability, performance and safety. Notice how I didn't include emissions or pollutants produced in manufacturing these cars. The all mighty dollar is what this is based on and I wouldn't have it any other way!

[mjazzguitar]

Why don't they just make all the roads downhill, and then you could just coast to where you are going?

[KE61090]

@mjazzguitar ?

[mskz06]

LEAF, Chevy Volt, Ford Focus EV (hopefully in the near future), I think OPEC's time is running out.

[sawink]

It really is a good car and styled well. GM did a good job! (forced...but good)

[sawink]

What do you do in an urban cit with this plug in? Nice calm and easy....Dumbed down (but not so dumbed down to offend their target market) Ahhh the thrill of good marketing wen you see it. You can tell ..(oh... the board meeting dicussions that must of went on) that GM-Chevy-You were not thrilled with this MPG rating and having to explain it. I can just hear the...holy crap...WTF....in those meetings. Sally Houscoat and Joe Sixpack...(ok, Chelsea Organic) are not goingto understand this!

[IamJustinM]

Now I just need to convince my employer to install an EV charging station!

[monez14]

Volt is a steaming pile of crap. Rejoice green nazis!

[KE61090]

fossil fuels are running out, humans are making global warming much worse, and Chevy is making something so things are cleaner and better for everyone. What do people do? Complain about it.

[mjazzguitar]

@KE61090 If global warming was worse the South wouldn't be freezing two years in a row and Europe wouldn't be having the worst winters in history. You still believe that crap? Didn't you read how they faked the studies?

Even if the world got warmer, that would mean you could farm further north. If the ocean got an inch higher in a hundred years I think we could figure out how to deal with it by then.

[KE61090]

@mjazzguitar Your comment is so unbelievably ignorant you deserve help. Educate yourself go to college and take environmental courses and learn about what is really happening. Don't watch discovery channel and proclaim yourself an expert and dismiss things. There are only a handful of scientists around the world that think global warming isn't actually occurring or more importantly isn't human induced. 2 winters don't mean anything. The worlds been around for longer than you possibly think

[mjazzguitar]

@KE61090 CO2 is not a dangerous gas that needs to be regulated. Plants breath it in and release oxygen. Chances are more cO2 would mean more plants able to accommodate it. There are too many variables to be able to pinpoint one thing as responsible for climate change.

[KE61090]

@mjazzguitar Never said it was a dangerous gas. It absorbs specific wavelengths of radiation that allow it to trap heat. When there's an unnatural amount of CO2 gas this creates unnatural problems. You see the correlation? When you change the temperature you alter the environment and the ecosystems where the animals live, if you change it too much the entire ecosystem collapses and everything pretty much dies.

Climate change is complicated, that is correct.

[KE61090]

@mjazzguitar I really don't want to across mean but please learn. People like you scare me.

[Raith83]

@KE61090 Well, G.E. is buying FIFTY THOUSAND of them because they are not cars that people want to buy. That's usally why cars are made, because people want to buy them. It's called bad buisness and it's coming from a buisness we bailed out. That's kinda the short of it. I'm sure somone could go on and on about how bad of a car it is, but that takes more space thank YouTube allows.

[savory68]

@KE61090 yea, chevy is just a pussy cuz they still wanna make money in this car, with this car it requires more parts equals more parts higher maintanice fees. Cuz it has gas and electric motro. Plus it makes the gas companies happy cuz it uses gas. This car is nothing like the ev-1. Ev-1 had higher range and it was created over 10 years ago. This is old technogoloy. At least ford and nissan are making a complete car that is 100% effcient and does not require gas.

[egcroan]

@savory68 We had to listen to you mindless purists who don't understand the reality of a consumer product which the EV-1 never was intended to be. The Volt is very large in comparison,and fits a much broader range of consumers than just about anything else such as a Nissan Leaf, or Ford Focus Electric. The TESLA is a really exciting product until you see the price tag, and the boys at Top Gear in England couldn't keep theirs running long enough to test it because it kept overheating.

[40172]

@KE61090 you been listening to Algore too much! You need to ask him why he is getting rich jetting all over the world and around in his Gass guzzling SUV telling people like you this BS! I think YoBama wrote the above piece on how much mileage the Volt gets, after all GM was his Company! Who can tell a taller tale, Algore or YoBama? Both have the lies down pat, dont they!

[egcroan]

@40172 Mindless Moron's like you are so much of the problem when it comes to change. I see the facts on pollution and it doesn't matter that Al Gore decided to become the spokesperson for the cause which is really all he is as many other people behind the scenes are the real heroes. Your choice of a racially insulting term for our President really speaks volumes to your ignorance. President Obama didn't write anything about the Chevrolet Volt which was clearly already being developed.

[egcroan]

@40172 GM was his company ? What are you saying here ? Usually this kind of remark implies the company's HQ was in his congressional of senatorial district which it wasn't since President Obama was the Senator from Ill. and not Mich. I guess people like you are calling Global warming a lie because you can't face the facts that pollution can be hazardous in more than one way. Unlike you many other American's believe in the ability of this country to not only solve this problem but be a leader.

[asswipe91]

this car is biggest peace of shit ripp off for dumbaases who think they are better then other people

[juxtapos99]

@xxmffxx it still gets 250 MPG. just drive 213 miles on electricity (over a few days) and then 37 miles on a gallon of gas.

[SharpAceMedia]

ITS NOT ONLY ABOUT SAVING MONEY GUYS, its about saving the environment.....

[hicksticks2001]

@SharpAceMedia

Actually.... it's about politics and making money.

[SharpAceMedia]

@hicksticks2001 im talking about the technology not the selling of the car besides the car is about saving and shit not only politics and money, who told you that anyways.....

[cowboy820]

ILL PICK A OLD SCHOOL CHEVY OVER THIS ANY DAY,

[Vair8]

You can keep it! price is to high...

[joshcs1]

this car is just a big hassle!

[HaroldoMontero]

stop thinking in yourself and your money, think in how this is saving the earth, if we buy a normal car we will die because of the pollution in the air.

[hicksticks2001]

@HaroldoMontero - Wow, that is a pretty naive perspective. I thought we were going to die from drowning because the ice caps were going to melt.

[jmkovarik]

We're making it alot easier for people to calculate these costs at Cost2Drive.

Also - if you want to find out how much money you'd save driving an electric car to work we've built a Facebook app to calculate it. Just go to Facebook and type in Commuting Calculator in the search box

[WhiteGravey]

i would trade my 300+whp 09 wrx in heartbeat for one of these... hit me up chevy ill help you promote this car =)

[cowboy820]

i think these cars are useless and your really not saving anything so in 3 or 4 years the batterys will go bad and that will cost a good price to replace...

[Nebula1701]

@cowboy820

Actually the battery is expected to last well beyond 8 years, there is a built in buffer so it can never be totally depleted and so extends its lifetime. by the time the battery needs to be replaced it can be recycled for other uses outside the car because it will still have enough capacity for other needs. Also by that time battery costs should be way down...

[nickbuckeye]

@cowboy820 That could be true, except for the fact that the battery is warrantied for 8 years, meaning it's designed to last even longer.

[gt40x4]

@cowboy820 well that is true to some extent, you will save just a little more money on mpg than it costs to replace the batteries, so in the long run you do end up saving a fraction!

[SuzukiKid400]

@cowboy820 If everyone had that attitude, there would be no technological advancement on earth. For something as mainstream and investment intensive as a car, baby steps need to be taken. This is an amazing feat of engineering!!!

[kyle51895]

@cowboy820 In a car that relies on it's battery this much, I'm sure they've got the battery down to work better. It's different technology as far as I know than what the Prius has, and those batteries last 8-10 years usually so I've heard.

[mrjost55]

@cowboy820 Exactly, it's basically a civic with a battery pack. Without recharging, it's just another underpowered economy car with 30-40mpg.

[SaltCritters]

37mpg lol. Sad! The prius still wins! Unless you only drive 35 miles a day. But who does? The closest store to me to 40miles one way!

[Dieselolds]

@SaltCritters Not correct, you will run the 35miles on electric power and the rest on gas at 37 MPG.

[sebron98]

But for those of us in the Northern states, how does the Volt do starting up on below 0 degree days?

[XxMFFxX]

what happened to the alleged 250 MPG ????

[nickbuckeye]

@XxMFFxX The EPA changed their mind on how they were going to sticker these types of vehicles. 

[cowboy820]

@XxMFFxX YAYY... RITE??

[Deanzsyclone]

@XxMFFxX Motor trend just averaged 127MPG over two weeks of driving it. I'm not gonna cry about it.

[HareChevrolet]

@XxMFFxX that was under some different calculations. They just recently agreed on a more standardized calculation.

[raidandspam]

@XxMFFxX

That was because the old system of rating miles per gallon just plain didn't work for extended range electric vehicles. It was a short test, which was mostly done on electricity, which broke old system.

If you drive 40 miles, and only use gasoline for 5 of those miles, and ignore the fact that you had to use electricity for those first 40 miles, of course you will get a ridiculous number.

40 miles / .135 gal = 296 MPG, where .135 gal is the gas used in the 5 miles of gas driving.

[tinderinc]

@XxMFFxX gotta keep you coming back for a newer model try 2013-2014 it will go over 200 miles on just batterys

[nickeox]

@tinderinc you kinda do have a point, chevy made the car seem like it was the answer to everything 250mpbg(miles per battery gallons) only cost 12 cents to charge daily, never need gas(but has the option) and much more, Though the interior I'll admit is spiffy.

[egcroan]

@tinderinc The only car that has a 200 mile range currently the TESLA Roadster has a price tag that is three times the Chevy Volt, so I serious doubt anyone is tricking you by selling a watered down product with hopes of selling something else in two years. The conversation is actually going the other way with the Chevy Volt of selling a car with a more limited Electric Only Range in order to get the price tag lower by reducing battery cost. The Fuel Cell vehicle would probably be like this.

[Revomaxx88]

Suck this Prius!!

[redneck4runneroutlaw]

YEA!!!!! I'm The First Comment!!!