New EPA Ratings May Cripple Volt And Other Hybrids

It's amazing that the domestic auto industry has survived as long as it has with unions, gov't bureaucrats and and the legal system all working against it.

That's a tough one. I think they really need to come up with a whole new system if we're really going to get inundated with electric vehicles. Just because it doesn't burn gas during those 40 miles doesn't mean it doesn't burn coal, etc at a power plant. But it's also not painting a realisitic picture of actual fuel efficiency if they go by that 48 mpg model. Same goes for emmissions...the actual vehicle doesn't emit anything for 40 miles but that shouln't mean it gets a 0g/100km rating either (ya it'll have something for those 40km but you get my point). But I'm just not sure what the new metrics would be.

I agree. A new standard(s) will have to be developed for series-hybrid cars like the Volt and all-electric cars like the Tesla roadster.

Maybe 2 scores on a scale of 0-100 for cost to fuel and environmental impact? It'd take some time for consumers to get used to and you'd have to use it to compare vehicles rather than something as tangible as mpg.

According to the article:
"Reports suggest the Volt can make it through the EPA test cycle -- which from 2008 includes high speed running, air conditioning load, and cold start tests in addition to the city and highway cycles -- with the internal combustion engine running about 15 percent of the time."

Why not use the standard test with a disclaimer explaining how the car works.

I would just put it in a general Hybrid class and use the standard testing. But that's just me.

Leave it up to government agencies to once again squeeze GM and the American industry out of existence. People will look at a $30,000 hybrid that gets 48mpg according to EPA and then see a Prius for less or a Insight that does that. Well there ya go, death of the Volt.

I also do agree we need a new testing method for hybrids, but then again you would need to probably redo the way the Prius and other hybrids are calculated. Considering the Prius' engine is running pretty much all the time unless you are going 5mph in traffic or a neighborhood, or at a stop light. Which in 5 years all cars will have an auto shutoff feature when stopped for more than so many secnds.

Basically I can see GM really fighting this to the point that they would maybe take it to court if it came to it because they invested so much in this car and to get it to production so early that they cannot lose this fight.

add the amount of electricity used (put it in gallon equivalents) to the amount of gas used. And together you get miles per gallon.

Any one know how to calculate the cost of the plug-in charge?

Its not like that power is free, but of course is defined by many variables such as electricity rates and the needed charge.

makes it hard to know what your actually getting for cost per mile