There are rumors going around detroit that GM and the EPA are having words about how the Volt is rated.  The Volt is an entirely new vehicle that the EPA hasn’t seen before.  Does the EPA consider the Volt a hybrid vehicle?  Or and electric vehicle?

What the EPA decides can have an important impact on how the Volt gets it’s ratings.  The Volt does have an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. That sounds a lot like the Prius hybrid.  The difference between the two is that the prius uses it’s electric motor at low speeds under light load and then kicks in the gas engine to turn the wheels.  On the Volt the electric motor is used exclusively to power the car.  The gas engine is used to power a generator to recharge batteries that will extend it’s range.

Some people have been saying that the Volt can make it through the current EPA testing with the ICE on only 15% of the time.  Using those numbers it would have an EPA estimate over 100 miles per gallon.  The issue GM has with the EPA right now is that the EPA wants the Volt to finish the test with it’s batteries at full charge instead of drained.  Under those circumstances the ICE would have to run constantly to recharge the batteries giving it a measly 48 mpg.

GM argues that since the Volt can be plugged into any 110 wall outlet that many people will never use gas on a daily basis.  Their main concern is that if the mpg rating is too low (lower than the Jetta and equal to the Prius) many people will not even consider the Volt since it’s price tag is in the mid 30′s right now.

Source: MotorTrend

I personally don’t think this will be an issue for the Volt.  It’s a car that is only powered by an electric motor, that makes it unique among the green cars (with the exception of the Tesla Roadster).  The EPA is doing a rating of miles per gallon, and electricity isn’t measured in gallons.  So if they’re going to crowbar the Volt into their current testing standards then this is what they have to do.

They probably should come up with something new though for cars like the Volt.  We’ll be seeing more of them in the future.