EPA confounded by Chevrolet Volt's Electricity

Whenever new technology is introduced, it tends to shake things up. Take the Chevrolet Volt and the Environmental Protection Energy (EPA).

It is the responsibility of the EPA to come up with the fuel economy ratings for new cars. They have been making their estimates on gasoline engine vehicles for years.

But with the Chevrolet Volt, which runs on electricity, how do you determine miles per gallon when per gallon isn’t really an issue?

Determining the mpg of hybrids could fit the old standards because ultimately a gasoline engine is used in the powering of a hybrid vehicle. So per gallon has a meaning.

Not so for an electric car. Although it is true that the Volt includes a gasoline engine along with a battery, the gas engine is used to recharge the battery when it has reached its limit. So whether the gasoline engine is even used depends on how far the car is driven.

The long and short of it is that the Volt travels 40 miles before any gasoline is burned. So let’s say that the ratings test is based on traveling 50 miles. That means 40 of the 50 miles is traveled via electricity only and 10 miles involves the use of gasoline. That could allow a rating of 250 miles per gallon. If the car is driven for another 80 miles, more gas is consumed and fuel economy could drop to about 100 mpg. And if the car is driven an additional 300 miles, then the fuel economy rating would be 62.5 mpg.

The EPA finds itself with the need to create new standards, something the conservative agency is reluctant to do.

Our take? Sort of like a Rubex Cube, isn’t it?

via CNN