Chevy Volt leapfrogs Toyota's Prius to become mpg king

Chevy Volt leapfrogs Toyota's Prius to become mpg king Toyota has long held the top spot when it comes to hybrid gas mileage. Hybrid cars from the likes of Honda and BMW may sport cool lines, but they couldn't beat the mileage that the Prius offered. According to the EPA, the Chevy Volt has now eclipsed the hybrid king with an estimated 60 mpg rating.

The problem with new hybrid or EVs is that the technology behind the cars isn't well known to many consumers. The EPA hopes to sort out the issue by creating fuel economy ratings that represent battery-only, gas-only, or a gas and battery combination. In the case of the Volt, that familiar black and white sticker will say that the car can get 93 miles-per-gallon-equivalent (mpg-e) and 37 mpg from the gas motor.

While these numbers may not top the Leaf's electric-only 99 mpg, the Volt's gasoline engine may sway many car buyers. Chevy has been pushing the fact that the gasoline motor can relieve range anxiety in drivers because there simply isn't a reliable nationwide network of charging stations. If there's no network drivers may stuck within a small radius of their home charging station. In fact, Chevy is so obsessed with the range anxiety issue that they've investigated copyrighting the term.

Another coup for Chevy may be the combination rating of the battery and gasoline engine. The EPA has issued a 60 mpg-e estimate for the combination, a number that tops the 2011 Toyota Prius that gets 51 mpg in the city and 48 mpg on the highway.

While these are official numbers from the EPA, expect them to change a bit as soon as the general public gets a crack at the American made hybrid. Motor Trend magazine developed a battery of tests for the Volt which resulted in a rating of 127 mpg, or a "freaking amazing" 2.36 gallons of gas for 299 miles. Hypermilers and tuners will no doubt make it their mission to obliterate the magazine's numbers.


Ah, How can it get better mileage
for the consumer when no one has one?
Volt is still imaginary. There are cartoon cars
that get better mpg than the Volt.

How is the Volt the "MPG King", when the Leaf beats it?


The Volt is amazing blend of technologies and for all the naysayers, the first production Volts have already rolled off the line and will be available at dealerships in the next 2 weeks.


The Volt is the MPG King because the Leaf doesn't use any fuel and has a limited range of 73 miles.  With charging times upwards of 8 hours, it's not a real vehicle and can only be compared to other pure EV's.  I'm not a Leaf hater, but it's purely for urban dwellers that have a second car.


The Volt on the other hand can be used as your primary vehicle, that gives you electic, gas free driving for most of your needs while seemlessly able to travel any where in the country at any time.

The extra $ you paid for the Volt will buy you gas to drive a Carmy for 10 years.

You couldn't be more wrong about that.... then again, ignorance is bliss.

Funny - that's just what naysayers said when I bought my 2007 Prius - that I'd NEVER recoup my "hybrid premium" - Of course they all shut their mouths during the 2008 gas crunch when diesel at my local pump topped $5 per gallon and gasoline over $4 and they all stayed home or took the bus to work!

BREAKING NEWS - Current political unrest in Libya may send gas over $4 per gallon by March says AP. Isn't driving that Camry worth it now? How about the tens of billions of subsidies the US gov'mt. pays Big Oil companies each year? Worth it? Or how Big Oil companies record those record profits each new quarter - or...How much do you pay to keep 3 full carrier groups floating around the Persian Gulf to protect U.S. access to Middle Easter Oil.  Libya, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia...Such friends of ours, huh? When the Chinese, Indians and the rest of the developing world fighting and posturing over a diminishing amount of a non-renewable resource force even worse tragedies over oil - will you still brag up your 24 mpg Camry?!!!



Any car, electric or hybrid, that gets our kids out of the middle east and cuts the Exporters' death grip on the US is great technology.

The feds should cover even more than the $7,500 tax credit for these, in order to get us off imported oil sooner.

50% for 2011

40% for 2012

30% for 2013

20% for 2014.

As vehicles are responsible for the highest percentage of imported oil use, it is simply imperative for the US to find any means possible to get imports as close to elimination as possible.



Think twice - you're comparing apples and oranges.  You will need to compare the Prius EV with the Volt.

The current Prius hybrid gets 50 mpg overall all the time.  The Chevy Volt, once off batteries, is around 37 mpg.  If you're taking a longer drive, the Prius very quickly becomes the far less expensive car regarding fuel costs.

And I know what I'm talking about regarding the current Prius as I own a 2010.  It truly does get 50 mpg overall.

If gas prices should raise dramatically within the next year, I highly suspect Priuses will be flying off the shelf, especially with the addition of not only the EV model, but the Prius v and the smaller version to come.

For 2010, worldwide sales of the Prius was somewhere around 475,000.  GM no doubt wishes they're thought of the Prius first.  Even Toyota had no idea their Prius would be so popular.



I own a 2007 Touring model Prius - and you may use top numbers for your example - but you and I both know NIMH and lithium batteries perform worse in cold climates. In winter, my usual 43 mpg goes down to around 35. Your 2010 Prius also suffers from lower efficiency in winter. Volt's battery pack is heated and cooled. Also no Prius can pre-condition it's battery pack from your PC or smart phone. This saves a ton when starting off to work on that cold day.

Volt is an electric car with gasoline assist. Prius, HSD Toyotas and Ford HSD spinoffs are essentially gasoline cars with electric assist. Even the not-yet-extant Plug-In Prius has proven inferior to the Volt. Check out Motor Trend's side-by-side comparison ( MT has a pre-production Plug In Prius for 3 months ). PIP has a very small lithium pack and requires babying ( not much better than a standard Prius ) to keep it in the EV sweetspot. Over 62 mph and bang, it's on the gas. PIP still uses proprietary HSD programming and requires babying to stay in EV mode. MT came away after a week saying Voltec technology leapfrogs EVEN the 2012 Prius with a plug.

I'm not knocking Prius or Toyota. Prius succeeded because, like Voltec, HSD was unmatched for years. Everyone with a Prius is pissed at Toyota for crapping on them over their HID headlights - which Toyota finally relented to class action lawsuits upping the warranty - over 3 years later - and my Toyota service mgr. admitted 2010 Prius suffer from the same headlight flaw. I love my Prius for what it is - a flawed but effective first salvo at getting off fossil fuel. Volt one-ups all HSD technology unless you regularly drive long distances. 80% of us don't travel over 50 miles per day - so the Prius fanboys will have a very weak argument. While that Volt whizzes by us on all electric - you're essentially feathering away, babying your car trying to eek out eco efficiency.

Volts will be strong sellers - and as battery tech improves and price points decline due to economies of scale, the Volt and future Voltec derivatives will leave HSD Prius in the dust. Toyota better be working 24/7 to keep up.

Go to Volt blogs and read how Volt owners have travelled 9-10 days straight w/o using a drop of petrol. Also, I've driven new Prius, my Prius, a LEAF and Volt. Prius owners have to admit it is built as a mileage machine. Prius do not handle well - not even as well as a stock Camry. Prius slip and slide in poor weather. Prius come down on the tinny side with lightweight everything - to get 40-50 mpg. Volt is so vastly superior in driving dynamics - it's a world ahead. Volt is solid, planted and firm. It handles rain and even icy snowy roads like no Prius can dream of.


Lastly - as a Prius owner who loves to work and work and work at pulse-and-glide, coasting, using momentum and has bragged about 63 mpg every once in awhile....No Prius owner alive can argue that those short trips ( post office, grocery store, picking up the kids, local runs for recreation ) are the main uses of the family car. In that, current and former Prius stink. New 2010 + Prius have EV mode. My Prius does not. You start the car and 45 seconds later the gas engine kicks in. You leave a parking lot and crawl to the speed limit - gas engine kicks in, even with a full battery. You "pulse" and speed up past the speed limit and coast to EV mode and if you don't concentrate like a bastard - you guessed it - the gas engine kicks in.  Chevy's Volt has zero of these issues. Even EV mode fitted Prius pop the ICE on intermittedly to condition the battery or insure aluminum cylinder head temp... Even in CS mode, the Volt goes 15 mph in FULL ELECTRIC MODE! 

Once a person experiences both Volt and Prius - it's a no brainer. This is coming from a Prius owner.

If all this isn't convincing enough - My future Volt is MADE IN USA by American workers.*




* if anyone gripes about the S. Korean LG battery ( to be made in USA after 2012 ) or the German-designed ICE - just remember, it beats Japanese or Korean manufacturers who avoid domestic content as much as possible and obstruct importation of U.S. goods to their countries.




Drive A Hybrid - Starve a Terrorist