Replies

truthguy, are you saying that IBD lied about the true MPG in testing?
I think with as much unpaid whoring as you've done for this car and GM truthguy, you owe us a response on this question.
I mean, they're singing your praises over at DU:
One lone poster called "truthguy" is trying to talk sense into the others, but it ain't workin'.
IBD is claiming that not only are the MPG numbers for the Volt wrong as broadcast by GM and the administration, they almost constitute criminal fraud. Are Obama and GM correct in their claims about the Volt's mpg capabilities or not?

Ok, I have the time to respond to some of your questions:

Yes, IBD didn't state the facts correctly. Accessing the MPG on the Volt is difficult because it depends on your driving patterns. If you only use it as a commuter vehicle and you stay under 40 miles per day, then in theory you would get infinite gas mileage. But that's ludicrous. The 230mpg figure came from a formula given to GM from the Dept of Transportation. Using their data, they came up with 230mpg. So they didn't lie. It's all about driving patterns. The DOT is still struggling to come up with numbers for the Volt. It has them puzzled.

I have no control on what DU says about me. I've never been on their website till today when I was linked there from your post. From what I've read DU is scum. Leave it at that for now.

I'm not a shrill for GM and have never worked for them or any other Auto Company. I'm simply someone who has always been fascinated by electric drive. So to conclude I will leave you with a post I made back in July. This will explain my interest in electric drive and why I'm enthusiastic about the Chevy Volt. Lastly check out my postings and you will not find a bigger critic of Obama than me. Nov 5, 2008 was one of the worst days of my life. I've posted many times about Obama. Check it out. Here's my post from July explaining my views on the Volt:

Why your affection and support for GM?

I'm an electrical engineer and for all of my professional life I've been fascinated by and interested in electric drive. Electric Motors have always been more efficient than ICE. This has been know forever. They have instant torque. This is why many countries have them for their passenger rail system. Most other locomotive are diesel electrics. In a diesel locomotive the diesel engine generates electricity and the electric motor powers the drive. In this way you can get heavy loads moving at very slow speed. Anyway electric motors have tremendous advantages over ICE. But no one have ever solved the problem of a practical way of getting electricity to a motor in a passenger car. Batteries were heavy, and didn't last long. This is why electric cars never caught on. Even Thomas Edison worked on this but concluded that the battery technology wasn't there. You see a gallon of gasoline weighs 7 pounds. No battery in the world has as much energy for that weight. But now along comes Lithium Ion technology. Much lighter and much longer lasting. Much faster recharging. Bob Lutz (GM hero) had the idea that a battery that would satisfy most American commutes AND could also give you an extended range feature when you wanted to go farther just might have a market. So GM started working on this concept back about 2005-6. The Volt was the result of this. You can read about it in detail at GM-Volt.com. I get a lot of grief about supporting GM and also Chrysler. Many think I'm a Obama supporter in disguise. Nothing could be further from the truth. I despise this man and his administration as much as anyone on this site. But remember the Volt was conceived of long before Obama came along. I'll be damned if I allow him to take any credit for this without making a stink. I also hate the UAW with a passion. They are responsible for most of the problems in the Auto Industry. But we still need American Manufacturing and GM and Chrysler (and Ford) are a huge part of it. Obama and his people orchestrated a lousy deal for GM (and Chrysler) but what choice did they have? Do people think we would have been better off if both companies would have gone Chapter 7? Would any good come out of that? I don't think so. So I'm encouraged by the new EREV technology. I'm hoping the Volt is a sucess. I've been following it very closely for nearly 3 years so I have knowledge most of the posters here do not. Many of them are lashing out stupidly. They are angry and I don't blame them. GM should have been allowed to go through a standard Chapter 11. And remember this. GM was moving as fast as they could to make the necessary changes to their company when they got clobbered by this nasty recession. If not for this recession (government caused) GM would have been able to make it without a bailout. I hope this explains where I'm coming from.