CarSeekBlog

General Motors has announced that when the Chevrolet Volt goes on sale late in 2010 it’s going to have a government mileage rating of 230 mpg. CEO Fritz Henderson kinda went for the understatement on the statement, “Having a car that gets triple-digit fuel economy can and will be a game changer for us.”

Of course critics are tempted to wonder at the math mojo that goes into determining fuel economy on an electric car. In the case of the Volt, drivers will be able to go about 40 miles on pure electric power before the gas engine kicks in. The allure of the Volt is that three out of four drivers tick off less than 40 miles a day. I know I do. I could probably go several weeks without ever burning any gas, which means in theory, my personal mpg with the Volt might even be higher. Is that tempting? Yeah.

(CNN kicks that math around in a lengthier and more complicated fashion. Click here for the article.)

What isn’t so tempting? A $40,000 price tag on the Volt. (Henderson admits, “The cost of the vehicle in the first generation is high.”) Even with a potential $7,500 tax credit, I doubt I could justify the upgrade from a vehicle that’s paid for and has less than 25,000 on the odometer. I think Chevy has a technological winner, but that “first generation” price is going to be a hurdle to widespread adoption.

Filed under: GM, Going Green, In the News by Shorty