230: BS or utter BS?
 

Having seen the Chevy Volt 230 ads and having read the news articles, I was curious what people thought was a good way to compute actual MPG equivalents for electric vehicles. I haven't settled on one yet, but here are some initial thoughts:

1) miles per watt (gross, so power generation efficiencies are accounted for)
2) miles per CO2 emissions (so dirty fuels like coal are accounted for)

Discuss. :D

Miles per dollar. That's how I roll. I ran the numbers, it might be closer to 210 or 215 than 230, but 230 is realistic.

Miles per dollar works for me, because MPG can be converted to MPD easily so you can truly compare between vehicles.

-Jay

Going with MPD, I'd have to factor in the cost of the vehicle as well.

Well... probably splitting hairs, but for me anyway the cost of the vehicle, and ALL the extraneous expenses, are included when I do cents/mile calcs.

But MPD... why factor in vehicle cost there, do you do that between gassers? That's only fair.

I use MPD as a variable in TCO, but I do not use purchase price as a factor in MPD. Purchase price and MPD are probably the two largest variables in TCO.

totally off topic, but worth mentioning none the less...

i understand that when toyota releases their plug-in prius, it will match the volt's claim but be ~half the price!!!

I suppose a mostly electric vehicle's repair cost might be less over the long haul.

Oh, and I've only done the more complete cost adjustment for hybrids vs gasoline cars (and when deciding which car to buy last summer). Usually the price difference between normal vehicles either isn't that much, or isn't related to differences in efficiency (often seems like the more expensive cars are worse as they are frequently higher performance or bigger). The volt is an odd case so I think it makes sense if cost is what you care about.

If that's true, it's an example of free market capitalistic competition at its best. Consumers have been begging Toyota for a plug-in Prius since it came out, but Toyota wasn't seriously interested in selling it until they got a credible threat from what GM is bringing to market...

I'll be glad to see two plug-in hybrids on the market.