Chevrolet Volt: What does MPGe mean on the EPA sticker?

General Motors produced this video to explain the two different MPG ratings on the Chevrolet Volt’s EPA sticker – MPG and MPGe. The Volt is officially rated at 93 MPGe and 37 MPG (combined rating about 60 MPG), so this may create some confusion amongst American consumers, so I think this video is quite a good move by GM as it is quite informative and easy to understand.

Chevrolet Volt: What does MPGe mean on the EPA sticker?

Even though the Volt is not on sale in Malaysia and probably not likely to go on sale anytime soon, everyone should watch this video as it will provide a good understanding of how Range Extender Electric Vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt or even our very own Proton Exora E-REV functions.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • ekspresiruang on Dec 27, 2010 at 5:40 pm

    malaysia should have electric charging stations for electric vehicles like what honda had developed because we have an abundance of wasted energy from IPPs that supplied to nowhere. TNB has to subsidised the energy to those IPPs for nothing using the citizens money. gvmnt should think about that.

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    • chevolt on Dec 27, 2010 at 11:09 pm

      Sir, do u even know how an IPP operates in this country? IPP’s are very efficient power plants and they make sure they always operate in the highest efficiency possible. Power is only wasted when u switch on ur air-cond 24/7 even without anyone in the room. Don’t be ignorant and give uneducated comments.

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      • TNB customer on Dec 28, 2010 at 6:23 am

        chevolt,

        TNB have to pay for every single unit of electric produced by these IPPs. They don’t have to worry about unpaid bills, unused units, dealing with the Rakyat, subsidy’s etc .

        IPPs only have one customer that buys all and pay cash (guarantee) for the next 50 years!!!!

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      • kozekx on Dec 28, 2010 at 8:58 am

        chevolt, ekspresiruang is talking about a different thing then what you are talking about. You missed his point.

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        • chevolt on Dec 28, 2010 at 1:48 pm

          My point is, i would just like to clarify that enegy is not wasted by the IPP as commented by ekspresiruang but rather the energy is wasted by consumers like us who do not know how to conserve energy since the electricity tarriff is low…..well, TNB is building up more power plants now to replace the IPP’s in the future, let’s see who else they can blame for their high operational costs.

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  • 35 miles = brapa KM?
    our kW how many ringgit if full charge?

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  • 4561336 on Dec 27, 2010 at 6:11 pm

    lotus E-REV better …. because the car run can recharge like hybrid but Chevrolet Volt cannot recharge when running

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNeExGwphzc <<< Lotus Range Extender

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  • wow. nice video

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  • Cowabunga! on Dec 27, 2010 at 7:22 pm

    WOW…and where does electricity come from?…
    Clean energy or burned from fossil fuel in Malaysia?…

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    • littlefire on Dec 27, 2010 at 9:00 pm

      We have plenty of sunshine in Malaysia, but it seems our G prefer Nuclear to Solar power?!? WTF? Another North Korea in the making?

      I would recommend car manufacturers to install solar panel on the roof, engine bonnet and even rear boot to improve charging while moving. This will help even better millage for electric car… Nice idea right? We have plenty of solar power car prototype, but why never implement?!?

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      • biggerfire on Dec 27, 2010 at 11:34 pm

        solar panel is expensive.. a 30k viva will cost double or more with solar panel..

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      • eVilsin on Dec 28, 2010 at 12:48 am

        Dear api kecik do have you any idea that solar panel/solar tower(steam turbine) cost more money and area to produce electricity compare nuclear power plan for the same output… Please don’t bloody bash the gov if you do not have the knowledge. God/”higher power” give you brain to think not bark like a dog.If not why most of the advance country in using this technology. If you said they do not have enough sunshine how about israel that located semi-arid desert with alot of sunshine choose nuclear power rather than the other option.

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        • squawk on Dec 28, 2010 at 8:59 am

          Uh dude, Israel is actually one of the forerunners of solar technology and research. They have running solar farms and towers for energy and have the world’s largest solar dish.

          Even the Germans are wondering why we, the people who live with a lot of sunshine, don’t use solar energy while they, who only get strong sunshine for 2-3 months in a year, do.

          But it’s true that solar panels aren’t as efficient even though it’s clean energy and costs have come down significantly.

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          • Armchair critique.. on Dec 29, 2010 at 11:21 am

            Quote :” Even the Germans are wondering why we, the people who live with a lot of sunshine, don’t use solar energy while they, who only get strong sunshine for 2-3 months in a year, do”

            Those Germans were misguided. Malaysia do have strong, intense sunshine but we do not have the consistency. We have approximately 12 hours of sunlight every single day of the year, but, for significant portions of it, we are under cloud covers. Thick heavy cloud covers frequently made worse by intense thunderstorms. Our weather is best described as “wet season” and “very wet season”. Solar energy in industrial scale here is not as attractive as it first appear.

            Out of topic, but another illustration on how misguided those Europeans can be. When British first came to Malaya, they thought our land was very fertile. Everywhere they look, even at the top of the mountains, all they can see were thick jungles. They thought agriculture should be a breeze here and they were amazed to know that the local Malays were a seafarers society and not an agricultural one. When they tried it, they quickly learned why. Soils here are relatively poor in nutrients. This is made worse by year-round plating season which rob the land a chance to replenish itself with nutrient. To top it off, we do not have great river systems (such as Irrawaddy or Nile delta) which can annually flood the plains with nutrient rich sediments. Agriculture in Malaysia, without copious use of fertilizers, simply won’t work.

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          • squawk on Dec 29, 2010 at 9:10 pm

            This is off topic but If the Germans can supplement their energy consumption with only 2-3 months of good sunlight (even under some cloud cover some of the time), we can’t?

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          • Armchair critique.. on Dec 30, 2010 at 8:32 am

            We can and we should! Its a clean renewable energy and we should take advantage of it.

            I’m just saying that the amount of electricity generated from it isn’t as much as some people thought it would be.

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        • littlefire on Dec 28, 2010 at 9:37 am

          The concept is simple, you all can support EV/Hybrid car even it is expensive as u all know that in long run the parts will be cheap when mass produce. Same concept as solar panel right?

          Nuke power is good, but the problem is that do we have the suitable place to built 1?!? Most Nuke power are built in deserted area and have dangerous resedue or waste after some time of use. Go and check radiated rats not long ago, even US also cannot control the waste so efficient. How about our tak apa attidude.

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      • If they do a combined energy solution (just like what they’re doing at Europe and Australia) that is; to fully utilize Hydroelectric damps potentials, Solar Panel Hybrid, Wind Power Turbine, Wave, Geothermal and etc.

        But bear in mind, each of the energy solutions above will have its own Pros and Cons. It is not as easy as we thought it would.

        So far I do know few ambitious projects that’re going on in Malaysia.

        Geothermal Energy – 1 at Sabah.
        Major Hydroelectric (more than 100MW)- 2 at Peninsular and several more planned at Sarawak.
        Minihydroelectric (usually less than 50MW) – there are few all around Malaysia.
        Solar Panel Hybrids – only build at suburb area (kampung, rumah panjang and etc)
        Wind Turbine – I do know one at Pulau Perhentian.
        Coal Plant (our major power supply) – all around Malaysia
        Gas Plant (similar as above) – all around Malaysia

        Even with what we have above there, TNB (Peninsular) and SEB (Sarawak) and SESB (Sabah) predicted we will be running out of juice in less than 20 years. Building a major hydro the fastest would take 5 to 10 years (depending on size and other problems and by the time is completed, it will not be able to fullfill all the energy demands). Althought today, our energy requirement is not at its peak maximum yet (which is about 80% from national grid consumption for Peninsular) but its a different story at Sarawak and Sabah in which “blackout” always occurred. Thus, the ambitious project; Bakun-SCORE was implemented. At least the Sarawakians are going towards the right direction, build all the major hydros in one go as the cost building hydros now will be cheaper than building it 20 years later. Excess energy can be sold to Philipines, Brunei, Indonesia and etc. The bulk of SCORE energy will be used to further developed Sarawak region (as admittingly, they have been left out from “fair” development since formation of Malaysia).

        As we can see it is not that easy as it seems. The cost for the “green” technology are way expensive unless it is planned by professionals and managed properly by a “good reliable” government.

        I do have some reservation on Nuclear energy, but it came into the picture when other solutions have been considered. There’s nothing wrong with Nuclear, it is just that, are we going to let some local non-experienced company to run it? Heck another Chernobyl? The Nuclear tech is the cheapest and fastest solution. And yet it is very advance for out nation’s scientist and engineer.

        USA and (the likes of it) has the fastest way to solve their energy problems, by labeling people as terrorist and steal their oil for themselves. It’s quite a good idea except that stealing is wrong, don’t you think so?

        Obviously, Malaysia is not the only country facing this energy crisis.

        Welcome to the energy Crisis 101 class! If anybody can tap the full potential of power of the sun just like what those scientist in Gundam (if anybody had watch it), I think the world will still be in chaos. Haha.

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  • Wondergulz on Dec 27, 2010 at 10:36 pm

    While Proton are still developing their own RE, they should also not forget about the marketing drives such as this one by GM. It’ll help locals understand RE better and what Proton is up to. Educate the consumers one step at a time. At least generate some interest from the public. One does not expect Proton to launch an RE equipped model with all the hu-ha and expect the potential buyers to take a crash course to swallow all the technology behind it in a single day before they can make their own mind whether to buy or not to.

    just my 2 cents

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  • Instead of undisclosed mechanism in charging car duties solely on engine capacity, govt should use this kind of fuel efficiency test as basis to determine a fairer and transparent car prices.

    Ex-factory price + Fuel efficiency tax + 10 percent sales tax = Car price

    Govt must reward and promote fuel efficient cars or maybe offer zero duties just like the hybrid car treatment.

    Engine capacity means nothing for car duties taxes purposes if old outdated inefficient engine still being used like 1.6L Campro (10km/Litre) while 1.2L VW TSI easily 17km/L ratings. That’ll force all car companies to offer mostly fuel efficient cars be it diesel or petrol engines but at near-open market price.

    If govt still breastfeed Proton what to do, then just impose limit on car engines 1800cc or below to enjoy such low or zero car duties based on Fuel Efficiency Test but above 1800cc govt can charge RM1 million price for Merc C200K 1.8L turbo. It’s ok since not many makcik will drive S350 AMG or M5 to pasar sayur anyway.

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  • ^pomen_GTR^ on Dec 28, 2010 at 9:36 am

    lotus range extender any day over this common hybrid type….

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  • budleee on Dec 28, 2010 at 2:35 pm

    i agree this is definetly a informative video on how to calculate fuel economy on extended range electric vehicle..

    can’t wait for our own extended range vehicles too…

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  • Looks like GM has a good trump card under his sleeve (after the great bailout). I’ll may put my money on good import ext-EV. Which means, I will have the freedom to charge the car using my house electricity (in which I will plug it into my solar panels power source), office is very near which my fuel combustion will never be used (or at least minimize to boot) and if I ever forgot to charge it overnight, the car can still use its combustion engine (and charge the battery in the same time). That’s great! Obviously, the bulk of the people will not even consider protong in the buy list. More choices for us.

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