Finally the U.S. government has rated the much hyped GM's electric baby Chevrolet Volt.
Though the EPA fuel economy label is going to look a little different from the ones used on other cars since, it can run on electricity, gasoline, or a combination of both.
Because of the complexity of how the Volt operates, the fuel economy label will contain a host of other numbers so consumers can at least try to figure out what their own fuel economy will actually be.
The Volt, according to a preliminary Environmental Protection Agency label presented by GM, will get an estimated 93 miles per "gallon-equivalent" when driving under electric power only, 37 miles per gallon when burning gasoline and, over the long term, is estimated to get 60 miles per gallon in combined gasoline-powered and electric-powered driving.
According to the EPA label, the Volt can drive an estimated 35 miles on electricity stored in its battery before a gasoline engine comes on.
The 60 mpg figure, however, combines the miles-per-gallon figure, when running on only gasoline, and miles-per "gallon equivalent" number, when running on only electricity. Depending on how and how much they drive, consumers could actually be using considerably less gasoline than the 60 mpg figure would indicate.
GM executives said the label that will appear on early versions of the Chevrolet Volt is preliminary. The way the figures are displayed on the label may change in the future.
Src: [CNN]