Chicago (IL) – The U.S. Environmental protection Agency (EPA) has given the 2011 Chevrolet Volt a fuel efficiency rating of 230 mpg, General Motors announced today.
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The Chevrolet Volt has often been described as the vehicle that General Motors (GM) so desperately needs to survive. And despite being criticized for offering too little too late – it will be available more than a decade after the debut of the first hybrid vehicle in the U.S. (Honda Insight) – it clearly carries the hope of an entire industry.
GM today said that the 2011 Volt has been awarded a 230 mpg fuel efficiency rating by the EPA. The rating is based on the fact that the vehicle’s 16 kWh lithium-ion battery pack can provide enough energy for a travel distance of up to 40 miles and a U.S. Department of Transportation study which claims that nearly eight of 10 Americans commute fewer than 40 miles a day. Beyond those 40 miles, the Volt has a total range of about 300 miles, provided by a “flex-fuel engine-generator”, which is powered by gasoline.
“From the data we’ve seen, many Chevy Volt drivers may be able to be in pure electric mode on a daily basis without having to use any gas,” said GM chief executive officer Fritz Henderson in a prepared statement. “EPA labels are a yardstick for customers to compare the fuel efficiency of vehicles. So, a vehicle like the Volt that achieves a composite triple-digit fuel economy is a game-changer.”
GM expects the Volt to consume as little as 25 kilowatt hours per 100 miles in city driving. At the U.S. average cost of electricity (approximately 11 cents per kWh), a typical Volt driver would pay about $2.75 for electricity to travel 100 miles, or less than 3 cents per mile, GM said.
The Volt is scheduled to begin production to in late 2010 as a 2011 model. GM said that it will also be introducing a Buick plug-in hybrid compact crossover in 2011.