GM-Volt Chevy Volt Test Drive in Extended-Range Mode

[msirach]

Extended Range-The effect

Lyle - GM-VOLT - December 01,2009

The efficiency of the extended range mode is a controversial subject but it should NOT be viewed as a stand alone operational mode. --Ed.

There are a few times in life when one’s hard work is rewarded, when one can get to see the fruits of one’s labor and the stuff of one’s dreams come true. Such was the day I drove the near-production Chevrolet Volt in both EV and charge-sustaining mode.
After nearly three full years of following each and every development, after discovering and discussing every detail imaginable, I drove for the first time the fully production-intent car that emerged from the back of Jon Lauckner’s and Bob Lutz’ proverbial napkin in 2006.

I may not have been the first to drive it nor the first to write about the experience, nor the least biased, but my voyage was the deepest of all.

The car was in its full production glory, with every gleaming detail full sculpted and bathed in its signature paint. It appeared far more aggressive and athletic than any show model I’d ever seen, gone the roughness notable in its integration vehicle brethren.

This car was also one of the 80 hand-built pre-production models assembled over the summer. It had reached a late stage of refinement though according to lead engineer Andrew Farah, some units were actually further refined than this one.

The refinements this car was still lacking had to do with acceleration, generator behavior, handling, and graphics and driver interface functions.... [Read More]

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I'd like to know the mileage at steady Interstate speeds since longer trips are likely to have more high-speed driving.

[WriConsult]

Originally Posted by Lyle

He instead explained to me about how when he used it for a weekend, driving a total of 200 miles and charging the car every time he came back home with it at 240V, he used a total of .2 gallons of gas for an overall efficiency of 1000 MPG.

NOT!

That doesn't count the electricity used! The EPA requires that EVs be rated based on the energy equivalent (~34kWh/gal) of the grid electricity used to charge the car. GM needs to stop doing this at once! I need to look into what it takes to file a citizen complaint against GM. This kind of deception has to STOP. NOW.

Edit: Here it is: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

[jimepting]

Nice report.

It is going to be very difficult to bend this cars FE into the conventional system. For one who drives 100 mile/day, the number will be much different from someone who takes long highway trips. Perhaps the EPA could design a special system for BEVs, Plug-in hybrides, etc. Such a system might rate the FE for the BEV mode, along with the speed/range, and the gas only FE. That would make more sense.

Still, a nice report and hopefully a nice car shaping up.

[msirach]

+ 1 on the 100 miles per day. My commute is 96 miles rt.

[WriConsult]

jimepting, you're right that figuring out the conditions under which to test will be difficult. You'll probably need multiple ratings based on short electric only trips, medium mixed trips and long extended-range drives.

However, once the testing protocol is fixed, reporting the energy consumed while doing so should be easy. You add up the miles driven and divide it by the "gallons" of both liquid fuel and electricity (at 34kWh/gal) used. Period.

The problem with the 1000mpg claim is not the conditions under which the car was driven. It's that bad math was used, completely ignoring the electricity input.