Game Changer on the Road: 230 Miles Per Gallon

230Mysterious ads have been popping up around DC recently, featuring “230 8-11” with a smiling outlet for the 0.

We just found out what all the fuss is about:

The Chevy Volt, GM’s much anticipated electric car, will be a sipper, not a guzzler, getting an astounding 230 miles per gallon in the city, the company said.

The Volt runs on a battery that can be recharged by its 1.4-liter gasoline engine. That will allow it to top Toyota’s vaunted Prius by more than four-fold, sources told Bloomberg News. The Volt is due out next year and will cost around $40,000. […]

The Volt will be able to go 40 miles on a single charge before the gasoline engine kicks in to recharge the battery. When parked, it can be recharged at a household outlet.

This is the most concrete evidence to date in what National Wildlife Federation President & CEO Larry Schweiger has called a “transformational change … for everyone in this country who uses electricity in any way.”

Think about it. If you never drive more than 40 miles in a day … and you plug in the Chevy Volt every night … you may never have to go to the gas station. Ever.

Clean energy advocates have long compared the opportunities of a transition away from polluting fuels to the moon landing. That’s really the first thing that comes to mind for me today. Where were you when you heard humans had created a car that hardly ever needs gas?

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Published: August 11, 2009