Volt owners averaged 1000 miles between fill-ups in March

I'm at 195.

Any of those guys go through EPA emissions certification?

 

Isn't that all relative?

Would a plug in Prius that is getting 100mpg and an un-optimized converter exhaust more pollution than a 20mpg car going the same distance?

The rub in that claim is there is NO equivalent non hybrid vehicle.

 

Yes you did the calc correct. In letters to EPA and Consumers Reports, I have tried to argue that the EPA MPGe is not fossil fuel burning equivalents. Using 50/50 coal/gas power mix, I would preliminarily calc about 26 MPG fossil fuel burning equivalents in your case (for the plug-in component). However, since you live in clean green California, your power mix is much better than national average, so you are quite clean, maybe not 64 in my calc though.

 

Parse every word if you like (in the context of the statement, he obviously meant "equivalent hybrid") but the person I quoted is an OEM fuel economy/emissions calibrator. It's not a "claim".

 

When we were in NY the Tdi cars were not sold there because they didn't pass CA emissions with the diesel of the time.

Do you think a car that gets 35mpg combined 8 years ago puts out more pollution than the 13mpg Explorer we drove at that time?

 

Okay, I finally filled up again today, I got 1231 miles on the last tank.

Total miles to date: 3787
EV miles to date: 2547
CS miles: 1240
Total dollars spent on gas: $136.86
Avg cost of premium purchased: $4.126
Total gallons purchased: ~33.17 gallons
Displayed fuel economy: 117 mpg
Calculated CS economy: 37.4 mpg

As for electricity, I've only gotten one month's bill so far (April) and it went up $4 from March (bought car Mar 30).

 

Your MPG is very close to EPA 37 MPG rating. If we use EPA electricity consumption (36kWh/100miles), you have consumed 917 kWh. That's almost one mega watts-hour.

That amount of electricity can power a refrigerator for the entire year. You did save 51 gallons of gas (compared to 50 MPG midsize Prius) but you also consumed the resources used to generate electricity (coal, gas, oil, nuclear or renewal).

 

I was a bit surprised by the CS mileage, I was doing a good bit better than EPA last month, but it was probably increased A/C usage.

Very true about using other resources, but that is kind of the point for me, I'd prefer to be buying and using a variety of domestic power sources rather than oil, and once the PV system gets installed I'll be all kinds of green and renewable.

 

Well its been exactly one month and I just filled up again, I got 1101 miles on that tank on May 28, 2011. I didn't get the total EV and CS mileage data close enough to when I filled up so I'll post that again next tank (probably early August).

Total I've spent $165.36 on gas over the last 5000+ miles, with an average price for the premium fuel at $4.04. Looking only at miles traveled and gallons consumed my lifetime mpg is now 132.9 mpg.

I still have not noticed a discernible increase in my power bill, and neither has my employer (where I charge half the time).

 

I think you found a way to get free energy.v

Imagine if you have the Leaf instead. You could drive it without noticeable increase in your power bill and zero gasoline bill and zero maintenance cost.

 

Hadn't thought of that. If he charged the Leaf at work he'd pay nothing at all for electricity, nothing for gasoline. But I think special deals people get are beside the point.

 

I agree, I am just giving my facts.

I am finding though that most businesses put very little value on their own electricity. Every single time I have asked to plug into a stray 110v outlet, every business I've encountered said it was fine, from parking garages to restaurants. You'd be amazed where you can find outlets if you really look (hint: park near the illuminated signs).

 

There's a lot of outlets in the top of the parking garage where I work. They are also all attached to the supports for the light posts. Granted, not every light has an outlet associated with it, but I could map it out and know where to park so I could plug it in. Considering they leave the exposed top level garage lights turned on 24/7 (which ticks me off because it's extremely wasteful) I doubt they'd notice any increase in the electricity - then again, it's a 3 building complex for my company so they are using so much as it is they'd never have a clue.