It looks to me like they are doing exactly the same test as the Prius, which makes little sense for a Plug-in Hybrid. A non Plug-in needs to keep the battery at near fully charged. If one trip ends with a deeply discharged battery and high mpg, the next cycle will have to make up for that with lower mpg to make up for the previous excessive uses of the battery.
However, on a Plug-in Hybrid, it makes sense to use up the battery and get higher mpg so that you can supplement your energy use with electricity. That's what the plug is for. As for what the EPA is thinking, who knows? There is perhaps, some sort of convoluted thinking that says, if you want the comparison to previous non-Plug-in Hybrids to be fair, the Volt should end each cycle with a near fully charged battery. This then leads to the previously stated question, What is the plug for? Requiring the Volt to be fully charged at the end of the cycle is not fair to the Plug-in Volt. I never thought I would be supporting the Volt side of an argument. Cheers, Al Lococo www.evprogress.org Think Globally, Act Locally! Plug-in, we have the technology, the NiMH powered RAV4 EV is the proof. ----- Original Message ----- From: " James Loriol" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'FLEAA Mailing List'" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2008 3:34 PM Subject: [FLEAA] Bye Bye Volt > Hello, > > Why did the EPA decide to certify the Volt differently then before? Is the > EPA certifying the Volt like the way they did with the Toyota Prius and > Honda Civic? Im just curious as to why they decided to certify the Volt > differently than the regular certification. > > James Loriol > > _______________________________________________ > Florida EAA mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.floridaeaa.org > > _______________________________________________ Florida EAA mailing list [email protected] http://www.floridaeaa.org
