Good news about the Chevy Volt – 127 MPG in the real world

Motor Trend took the Chevy Volt out into the real world, and over the course of 300 miles got 127 MPG. With the Air Conditioner on:

127 MPG: This Volt Story Must Be Told

Here’s why I’m so geeked on the Chevy Volt and why you should be, too. In normal, everyday driving we got 127 miles per gallon (fine, 126.7 mpg). Which is pretty amazing. Broken down, over the course of 299 miles on Los Angeles highways, byways and freeways, the Volt burned 2.36 gallons of gasoline (fine, 2.359 gallons — we rounded up). Most other cars use up a tank of gas going 299 miles. The Volt, to reiterate, used 2.36 gallons over 299 miles. That’s freaking amazing!

A test drive last week:

Popular Science is also giving the Volt great reviews:

Never Mind the Naysayers: The Chevy Volt is Excellent

The Volt launches from a stop with a punch that makes the car feel faster than its 0-to-60 time of 8.8 seconds would suggest. Around town it is solid, silent, and quick. At 85 mph it feels unshakeable, with plenty of passing power to spare. (Top speed is limited to 100 mph.) It is not light by any stretch, but its low center of gravity (which comes the 400-pound lithium-ion battery situated underneath the center console and back seat) makes it feel nimble. We squealed the tires on hard turns a few times, but never did it start to slide. Steering is silky and precise.

But PopSci’s mileage experience is completely different, which makes you scratch your head:

Charge-sustaining mode exposes one of the car’s few disappointments: weaker-than-expected gas mileage once the battery is down. I had long expected this mode to deliver some 50 mpg on average, and it’s possible to get there, but you have to earn it. My co-driver did a 10-mile stretch of aggressive hypermiling—windows up, no AC, slooooow acceleration, coasting whenever possible—and got above 51 mpg. Driving normally, I got 37.1 mpg over a 38-mile stretch that included some two-lane highway.

But these mid-30s mpg figures are misleading on their own. Remember, the first 40 or so miles come gas-free. If you drive 40 or so miles a day during the work week and charge the battery completely every night, you could theoretically never use gasoline unless you take the Volt on a longer trip.

How can the two experiences in the same car be so different?

The EPA should be able to supply a definitive answer. What is the official EPA MPG number going to be? It’s still unknown, even though the Volt is supposed to appear in showrooms in November:

How fuel-efficient is the Chevy Volt?

Although the Chevy Volt is expected to hit dealerships in late November, the auto world is still waiting on the EPA’s official fuel efficiency rating.

Should be interesting…

How to recharge the Volt: