If you’re an avid Naturalbuy reader, you’ll remember our post on the Nissan Leaf, a fully electric car that can go about 100 miles on one charge. The kicker is, what if you have to go more? The answer for that is the Chevrolet Volt.
This is going on sale late next year for about $40,000 (minus probably tax credits up to $7,500), which is pretty expensive, though it’s not undoable. The fuel savings should pay it off in about a decade of use. The car is expected to make it about 230 miles per gallon in city driving, and surprisingly less on the highway.
How it works: For the first 40 miles of a trip, the car is entirely electrical. Afterwards, a small gasoline motor starts working to recharge the battery, giving the car a range of 300 miles, which is three times the Leaf’s. It plugs into any outlet.
40 miles means two good pieces of news. One, if your daily round trip commute it less than 40 miles, you don’t have to use any gas whatsoever. Two, if you’re round trip commute is less than 80 and you have an outlet to plug into while you’re at work, you still don’t have to use any gas whatsoever.
What about the electricity costs? GM said it expected the Volt to consume as little as 25 kilowatt-hours of electricity per 100 miles of city driving, or about 3 cents a mile on average. Probably a bit more, but still way, way cheaper than gas.
I wonder who’s next in the electric car game? We’ll keep you on your toes and find the next one for you when it comes out.
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