EPA Ratings
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If the idea of measuring the efficiency of an electric car, which burns no gasoline, in miles per gallon still irks you, spare a thought for our green car expert John Voelcker who goes to some length in this previous article to try and explain why the EPA deems it fit to do so. While that previous article looked at the EPA sticker for the 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car, now we’re putting the sticker for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt under the spotlight. As we all know, the Volt is a range-extended electric car, which essentially means it can drive on electric power alone for short distances...
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Ford Will Be First Major Carmaker To Offer Start-Stop In U.S.Start-stop systems, which shut off car engines when the vehicle comes to a stop, have been offered in Europe for several years. But until now, no automaker other than Porsche has offered them on U.S.-market cars. That's about to change. Ford said yesterday it will offer the systems on some of its...
John Voelcker -
40-MPG Cars Are Better Than Ever; Too Bad They're Not Selling
Today's small cars are better than they've ever been, even if few of them are among the EPA's all-time gas mileage champs. And spurred by tighter fuel-economy laws, 40 miles per gallon on the highway is becoming the new target for subcompact and even compact cars. There's just one little problem...
John Voelcker -
Why Are Few Of Today's Cars Among The Most Fuel-Efficient Ever?
Every now and then, readers write to grumble about new cars and their gas mileage. The gist is usually something like this: You wrote that the new 2011 [Make & Model] gets 40 mpg highway? Well, big whoop-de-doo. I always got at least 45 mpg in my 1992 Geo Metro, and it was a whole lot cheaper...
John Voelcker -
How To Enjoy Your Compact Car: A 455-Horse, 6.75-Liter V-12
Compact cars are pretty much a known quantity, and hence easy to visualize. Many are headed for 40-mpg highway ratings, and Hyundai recently threw down the gauntlet in saying it would start to report sales of 40-mpg vehicles--and challenged other makers to do the same. Imagine a compact car,and...
John Voelcker -
2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Delayed A Month, Misses Tax Credit
The U.S. launch of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid has slipped a month, just enough to preclude buyers from taking advantage of a $1,300 Federal tax credit that expires December 31. According to Hyundai, the first cars will now reach dealers in January or perhaps later, rather than in early or mid...
John Voelcker -
Just a month ago, we suggested that 40 miles per gallon is the new bragging threshold for subcompact and even compact cars. Now, Hyundai has dropped the gloves (or thrown down the gauntlet) with a clever marketing campaign to contrast it with other makers: It will start breaking out the sales of its models rated at 40 mpg every month, and challenges the other carmakers to do the same. "For us," said John Krafcik, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, "leadership isn’t how many low-volume special-edition 40-mpg models we offer, but rather how many 40-mpg vehicles consumers actually...
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Why the 2011 Chevrolet Volt EPA Rating Sends Mixed Messages
If like us, you were waiting with baited breath for the official EPA rating for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt you’ll have heard that the day before Thanksgiving Chevrolet announced the official figures were back for its first plug-in range-extended electric car. But unlike the 2011 Nissan...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Journalists Start To Question EPA Testing of EVs After Nissan LEAF Results
Over the past couple of months AllSmallCars.com and our sister sites have published a lot about electric vehicles. In fact, AllCarsElectric.com is completely dedicated to electric car news, events and reviews. Earlier this week, I reported on the 2011 Nissan LEAF and the official EPA rating in...
Jonathan McGrew -
2011 Chevrolet Volt Gets 93 MPGe EV Rating, 60 MPG Combined
The shenanigans continue. Just this week the Nissan LEAF was rated at 99 mpg-equivalent by the EPA, raising the ire of our own John Voelcker--and justifiably so. Today, the Volt gets similar treatment and a similar rating, but only in EV mode. Add in the gas-only mode's 37 mpg rating and the...
Nelson Ireson -
Why The EPA Is Wrong about the 2011 Leaf Range And Nissan Is Right
Earlier this week Nissan announced that it had finally received its EPA official ratings for the 2011 Nissan Leaf. Earlier this week our John Voelcker had a lot to say on its 99MPGe figure, indicating the equivalent miles-per-gallon fuel consumption of a car which runs on electricity. Yes, we know...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
EPA Rates 2011 Nissan Leaf at 99 MPGE, 73 Mile Range
Just how fuel efficient is an electric car? That’s been the question facing the EPA for months as it has battled the ratings system to give consumers a realistic and useful way of comparing electric cars against gasoline counterparts. Now we know. The EPA has decreed that the 2011 Nissan Leaf...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
So it's come down to this, has it? The U.S. car-buying public is apparently so stupid that the Environmental Protection Agency has to rate the efficiency of an all-electric car that burns no gasoline in ... miles per gallon. [facepalm] That's the only possible reaction to the news this afternoon that the EPA has approved a "fuel-economy" label for the 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car showing a rating of 99 "miles per gallon equivalent." The ratings for the gasoline the Leaf doesn't burn in the city is 106 "MPGe" and the rating for the fuel it can't use in highway travel is 92 MPGe. There is...
