Consumer Reports 7/10/12: Volt owners tell us they use even less gas than we do

[AZ EV Driver]

Just hit 2475mpg today. Our Prius is at about 45.

All due respect, but you can't really believe 2475 mpg - can you? This kind of BS is exactly why Voltstats should have significant changes made to how hey report the numbers. Or you can still invest in my bridge in Brooklyn, just send me a personal message and I will send you my bank account number in the Cayman Islands for direct transfer of your life savings.

VIN # B0985

[BillD]

All due respect, but you can't really believe 2475 mpg - can you? This kind of BS is exactly why Voltstats should have significant changes made to how hey report the numbers. Or you can still invest in my bridge in Brooklyn, just send me a personal message and I will send you my bank account number in the Cayman Islands for direct transfer of your life savings.

VIN # B0985

I can believe it. For 7 years I had a little 2000 Honda Insight hybrid -- a 2-seat coupe. I used it for commuting to my office, 10.6 miles from home. The lifetime average was 63.5 MPG. For the same use, a Volt would never burn gas except for fuel maintenance cycles.

However, my wife didn't like the Insight because it was cramped and uncomfortable. We had a series of Infinitis for her use and for trips.

I traded in a 2007 Acura RDX on my 2012 Volt, which currently is at 212 MPG. My wife died of cancer a few years ago, but she would have loved the Volt. It's quiet and comfortable, a pleasure to drive on the twisty roads in our hill country, and a very stable Interstate cruiser as well. The Acura averaged 19 MPG for usage similar to the Volt's -- so I'm using less than a tenth of the amount of gas required by the Acura.

[tboult]

All due respect, but you can't really believe 2475 mpg - can you? This kind of BS is exactly why Voltstats should have significant changes made to how hey report the numbers. Or you can still invest in my bridge in Brooklyn, just send me a personal message and I will send you my bank account number in the Cayman Islands for direct transfer of your life savings.

VIN # B0985

At 99.5% EV, I don't see why not. that means of the 2475 miles, only 125 or so were on ICE. And his MPG_CS, at 13mpg.. suggests, as one would expect, his mostly maintenance burns, were not efficient use of the ICE.

My driving patterns don't allow me that high MPG.. but I've tracked my data by hand an on voltstats.net, and found it to be dead on.

We do know there are games people can play to keep the "miles on a tank" and other stats from seeing the maintenance burns, but the overall MPG is always impacted as its based on lifetime MPG in the car which is impacted.

[jbfalaska]

The Volt is an incredible car to help ween this nation off imported oil. I applaud all of them.

[ari_c]

All due respect, but you can't really believe 2475 mpg - can you? This kind of BS is exactly why Voltstats should have significant changes made to how hey report the numbers. Or you can still invest in my bridge in Brooklyn, just send me a personal message and I will send you my bank account number in the Cayman Islands for direct transfer of your life savings.

VIN # B0985

Well, I will hit 2400 mpg tomorrow. Anyway, it's not Voltstats, those are just the numbers from Onstar. I think it's awesome how far we can go without using gas. My only gas I have used since Feb 12th has been maintain burns and this is almost 8,000 miles.

[AZ EV Driver]

Well, I will hit 2400 mpg tomorrow. Anyway, it's not Voltstats, those are just the numbers from Onstar. I think it's awesome how far we can go without using gas. My only gas I have used since Feb 12th has been maintain burns and this is almost 8,000 miles.

OK, then a pure BEV has as a minimum mpg of infinity. In addition, any other mode of transportation that doesn't burn petroleum fuel can claim the same mpg number. All because they didn't burn a single drop of petro fuel. Do you understand how using MPG is just dead wrong? If you use those kind of numbers with anyone who might be interested in the Volt but is a little skeptical, they will walk away thinking you have to be some sort of wacko. If you tell that same person the MPGe numbers you have a chance of looking somewhat believable. I still don't care much for MPGe, but at least it does sort of try to present a comparable number that people have become conditioned to use to describe "economy".

The reality is, using MPG is really just trying to express how much it cost to operate a traditional car. So I usually try to switch to talking about how much it is costing me to drive the Volt per month or how far I can go in distance for the equivalent cost of a gallon of gas. For example, I can do a full charge for approx. $0.60 and usually get between 45 & 50 CD miles/charge. This works out to roughly 250 - 300 MPGe (YMMV). Still some big numbers, but people will accept it, but they usually still look a little puzzled.

So it is Voltstats fault for presenting unrealistic numbers, and is a misuse of data that is collected from Onstar.

VIN # B0985

[Voltastic]

How much is that in rods per hogshead?

[petefoss]

OK, then a pure BEV has as a minimum mpg of infinity. ..... So it is Voltstats fault for presenting unrealistic numbers, and is a misuse of data that is collected from Onstar.

That's why I prefer $/mile traveled for "fuel" costs. Easy to track on a conventional car but harder on an EV until we can communicate with the grid better.

[Wolfman]

Why not use MPG? I've had my Volt long enough now to have an electric bill with the car's charging included on the useage. I find that I cannot really determine the cost of charging the car on the bill. It went up $9.20 over last month, and that also includes setting up and running the window A/C units at my house due to the increase in temps outside. How much did the window A/C units add to the cost of the bill vs. the car?

[dcsulkis]

All due respect, but you can't really believe 2475 mpg - can you? This kind of BS is exactly why Voltstats should have significant changes made to how hey report the numbers. Or you can still invest in my bridge in Brooklyn, just send me a personal message and I will send you my bank account number in the Cayman Islands for direct transfer of your life savings.

VIN # B0985

The "correct" metric to use depends on what you are trying to measure.

If you are concerned about total energy usage of the Volt, of course you must consider the electricity used.

If you are concerned about cost of operation, you must consider the electricity used and how much it costs.

If you are concerned about pollution, you must consider the electricty and how it is generated.

But I didn't buy a Volt to save money (although, in my particular case, I am).

And I didn't buy a Volt to reduce pollution (although, again, in my state, I am).

I bought a Volt for one reason: to reduce my purchases of foreign oil. And for that, mpg is the perfect metric.