Consumer Guide's Week with the Volt

[msirach]

Individual editors averaged 56.8-168.1 mpg

Jennifer Geiger - HOWSTUFFWORKS - March 28, 2011

The Volt is proving to be an auto that most can climb into and get much better mileage than their normal daily driver. --Ed.

After years of auto show concepts and media hype, Volt is finally here--literally--plugged into the wall of our suburban Chicago parking lot. During a one-week test of Chevrolet’s extended-range electric vehicle, we put it through its paces as both an urban commuter that required no gas, and a long-trip cruiser that dipped into the fuel tank as needed. How was the transition from the electric motor to the gas engine? Could this be an everyday car for most Americans? Do Volt’s benefits outweigh its relatively steep sticker price?

Our test week answered a lot of questions and resulted in a surprising conclusion: Volt feels like a regular car, plain and simple. Its comfortable cabin holds 4 passengers and a small amount of cargo without a problem, and despite its complicated powertrain, it drives just as you’d expect a car of its size to. It’s no fireball, but Volt holds its own on the highway, delivering adequate power for passing and merging. When the battery is depleted, the gas engine kicks in almost imperceptibly. We hardly even noticed the vehicle’s regen brakes, which characteristically have a very firm pedal feel.

True, it’s hard to miss the telltale hybrid iconography and tech gadgetry that fills the cabin (the futuristic tones when you shut off the car, the large power display screen on the instrument panel, the eco gauges, the iPod-like machinations of the climate and audio controls…etc), but for all intents and purposes, Volt functioned like, well, a typical compact car. As such, we treated Volt like any other test car, using it to commute to work, run errands, and carry our families on outings. The only difference is that instead of shutting it in the garage at the end of the day, we plugged it in first.
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[WriConsult]

Originally Posted by ConsumerGuide

Individual editors averaged 56.8-168.1 mpg

Unfortunately they're probably not counting the electricity used, and only the gas.

It's important to recognize that the numbers most people are going to report for PHEVs aren't going to be mpgE, and won't account for the electricity. I don't see an easy solution to this problem.

[ksstathead]

Easy solution = standardized instrumentation?
Have the car report in a meaningful way.

[WriConsult]

The car would have to actually meter the kWh coming in through the charging port. I haven't heard that any EVs or PHEVs actually do that.

[herm]

I believe the Leaf does, but you have to use the carwings remote web site to see it.. much easier is just to use a Kill-a-watt where you plug the charger to keep track of the electricity used.

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Only problem with the Kill-a-Watt is that it doesn't handle the 240V chargers and 120V is less efficient.

[xcel]

Hi INATM:

120 is more efficient from an energy in/out at the outlet perspective but it takes longer.

Wayne

[ksstathead]

Might just be a software upgrade to track kwh inputs.

[PaleMelanesian]

I wish for a 240V kill-a-watt. My all-electric house has some big energy hogs, and all the big ones are 240V. Oven/range, water heater, dryer, HVAC - all 240V electric and my "house scangauge" can't measure them.

[herm]

I'm not sure the 120v "charger" of the Leaf is less efficient, last I heard it was not definite. From an electrical engineering point of view its not likely but perhaps since the charge takes longer the housekeeping loads have more of an opportunity to eat power.

There are inexpensive devices to monitor your home's power consumption at 220V, usually in 6 zones but it must be hardwired-in unlike the killa-watt.

Killa-watt:
http://www.amazon.com/P3-Internation.../dp/B000RGF29Q

Whole home monitoring:
http://www.powermeterstore.com/c628/...nitor_kits.php

It would be a good idea to keep an eye on the electric water heater, a leak would show up instantly on the logs. Not sure about the AC, perhaps it would detect a drop in freon or dying motors.