Automotive Trends

       To say that your mileage may vary seems to be the understatement of the decade. The Environmental Protection Agency has finally finished the math it needed in order to produce what you see above, the offical EPA Window Sticker for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. A bit confusing, eh? It actually isn’t so bad when you  break it down. On the left you have what the Volt is capable of using only its on-board electric motor and battery pack charged up via the grid. On the right you have your standard MPG once the battery pack has been drained of its nuclear or coal fired electro juice. You’ll note that beside each MPGe or MPG figure there is a per 100 miles figure, which calculates just how much energy it takes to move the vehicle 100 miles. And at the bottom there are some charts for estimating how your mileage will vary with charging and how the Volt compares to other vehicles. What does this all mean? Well, on electric power alone it will get the equivalent of 93 MPG for roughly 35 miles (according to the EPA offical number) and 37 MPG after that. We were hoping for a bit more fuel miserly once the battery drained, but considering that the curb weight is more on par with a full-sized sedan we’ll call it impressive nonetheless and report back our real-world fuel economy and driving impressions once GM tosses us the keys.

Photos courtesy of General Motors