Chevrolet Volt may get a 100mpg rating if the EPA approves of proposed testing formula...

The Chevrolet Volt may get a 100 mpg. rating, which would be a first in the world of mass produced vehicles. General Motors is requesting from the EPA, for regulatory purposes, to declare the Volt an electric vehicle. The California Air Resources Board has given the Volt preliminary certification as an electric vehicle, according to Rob Peterson, a GM spokesperson.

If given the 100 mpg rating, it would provide a strong and valuable marketing benefit for GM and be a boost for compliance and fuel economy standards.

Typically, a vehicle would be tested on a EPA test loop, that would consist of city and highway driving, to measure tailpipe emissions and pollutants and provide necessary data for calculating fuel economy. However for electric vehicles that have not emissions, the government uses a Department of Energy mathematical formula to translate energy use into an equivalent of miles per gallon of gasoline.

Using the above described formula, the all-electric Tesla Roadster, as an example gets a 244 mpg rating for the government's corporate average fuel economy program.

The Chevrolet Volt is a plug in electric hybrid, which GM describes as a "range-extended" electric. The vehicle due out in 2010 is designed to go 40 miles on all-electric power. Then a small internal combustion engine would engage to extend the range. It does not appear as reported that the test loop would provide an accurate measure of the Volt emissions and fuel economy.

A government official who wanted anonymity said that declaring the Volt an electric would not paint a true picture of the vehicle.

Rob Peterson, a GM spokesperson said that if the Volt would be certified as an electric, the GM engineers could fully utilize the powertrain's calibration for testing against that classification.

The Society of Automotive Engineers would not classify the Volt as a electric vehicle. The Society of Automotive Engineers classifies and defines a hybrid as having two sources of of energy, like gasoline and electric, of which the Volt has.

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