[rawhide]

The Chevrolet Volt, on other hand, runs on electricity that comes from two sources -- a battery as well as a gasoline engine.

When gasoline is providing the power, the Volt might get as much as 50 mpg. But that mpg figure would not take into account that the car has already gone 40 miles with no gas at all.

So let's say the car is driven 50 miles in a day. For the first 40 miles, no gas is used and during the last 10 miles, 0.2 gallons are used. That's the equivalent of 250 miles per gallon. But, if the driver continues on to 80 miles, total fuel economy would drop to about 100 mpg. And if the driver goes 300 miles, the fuel economy would be just 62.5 mpg.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/11/autos/volt_mpg/?postversion=2009081108

[meyer]

And if the driver goes 300 miles, the fuel economy would be just 62.5 mpg.

That's a little better than the real-world mileage of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI wagon (Deisel). Not bad for a car with half the interior room and 1/4 of the driveability.