This week a friend of mine in Arizona took a new Chevy Volt on a 300 mile trip & only got 35mpg. So I did a little checking & this is what I discovered. The Volkswagen Golf, Rabbit & Jetta TDI cost half as much as a Chevy Volt & gets from 47-59 mpg in the real world driving & test. The phrase your mileage may vary has reached a new level of meaning and importance.
EPA Rates Chevy Volt at 93 MPG, or 60 MPG or 35 MPG, Depending
58.82 MPG World Record set by Jetta TDI
261mpg Volkswagen XL1 to see limited production for the US
EPA Rates Chevy Volt at 93 MPG, or 60 MPG or 35 MPG, Depending
One day after the all-electric Nissan LEAF received its 99-mpg (equivalent) rating from the EPA, General Motors announced the Chevy Volt will carry a rating of 93 mpg while running purely on electricity, and 37 mpg in so-called charge-sustaining mode.
While the EPA tries to pin 60 mpg as a single composite number for the Volts efficiency, the amount of energy consumed will greatly depend on how you drive, the distance of common commutes, and how often its charged. "If you try to boil it down to a single number, it gets quite difficult," said Tony DiSalle, Chevrolet product marketing director. To make matters more detailed and confusing, the EPA also said the Volt has a 35-mile range on electricity alone and a range of 379 miles with gasoline and electricity.
58.82 MPG World Record set by Jetta TDI
The most fuel efficient car across North America is not a hybrid. Its a diesel. A Volkswagen Jetta TDI Clean Diesel, to be exact. Set under real world conditions with a completely stocked Jetta TDI... Making its way across the nation and into a world records, a Jetta TDI recently achieved 58.82 MPG during a successful 9,419 mile bid for the lowest fuel consumption across the Continental United States. Despite being officially rated at just 30 MPG city and 41 MPG highway by the EPA, the Jetta TDI managed a whopping 14 percent improvement over the previous record of 51.58 MPG.
261mpg Volkswagen XL1 to see limited production for the US
Volkswagen is calling their XL1 Concept the most fuel efficient car in the world and while there is no guarantee that the production version will retain the exact drivetrain from the concept, the XL1 that debuted at the Qatar Motor Show is powered by a 0.8L litre, two-cylinder turbo diesel aided by an electric motor/lithium ion battery pack and a 7-speed dual clutch transmission. This drivetrain installed in the slippery yet distinctly modern VeeDub styling affords the XL1 an amazing 261 miles per gallon.