Today, General Motors released details about the new Chevy Volt, the electric car slated to begin production as early as late 2010 for a 2011 release. You can read the release here, but this is the gist:
Photo from engadget.com
The Volt will be the first mass-produced vehicle to claim more than 100 mpg composite fuel economy.
The Volt should be able to go 40 miles on a single electricity charge without having to use any other fuel.
The extended range of the Volt means that it should get at least 230 mpg city fuel economy.
According to GM, the typical Volt driver will pay about $2.75 for the electricity needed to go 100 miles, or less than 3 cents per mile.
Larry Dignan at ZDNet points out some other facts that might make the Volt less than perfection, among them the fact that people will have to remember to plug in the Volt each day, and that the gas-free mileage will vary greatly depending on cargo, distance, air conditioning use and the number of people in the car. He notes that range will be one of the main consumer hurdles that GM needs to clear, and that price will be another; with many reports expecting the Volt to push $40,000, it’s priced out of the range of many American households.
Other observers have their own skepticisms… The engadget blog notes that the new EPA mileage measurement system is “murky,” and that’s the system that gives the Volt it’s great mpg rating. A healthy dose of “wait and see” is probably a good thing with something that’s promised to be so amazing and so high-performing, but at least the Volt is a step in the right direction.
A gradual shift from dependence on fossil fuels to alternative energy sources is a positive move. Sure, the electricity that powers the Volt has to come from somewhere, but as we get better at generating power through solar, wind and water resources, we’ll do better by our planet overall. And eventually, the price of these new technologies will be reasonable even to the average person!
Want to learn what else you can do to save trees (and the rest of Mother Earth)? Sign up for the onemilliontrees movement, sponsored by Privacy Council. You don’t have to buy an electric car to do your part… Learn how you can cut your junk mail and save a tree every year! Every little bit helps.
