According to the Government, the car with mileage higher per gallon on the market does not use a single drop of gasoline.
The 2011 Nissan leaf which should be delivered to its first customers in California this weekend runs entirely on battery. But according to the Environmental Protection Agency, that it can move 99 miles on the equivalent of one gallon of fuel.
Confused? You are not alone. Intended to help potential buyers to compare electric cars with others in their class, equivalent mileage ratings are befuddling some consumers who regard them as a vehicle to compare apples and oranges.
And this is just one of the enigmas shoppers will face when electric vehicles more begin to arrive in showrooms this month.
The EPA is not the only entity comparing fuel cars clean with cars that were traditional internal combustion engines. Their ratings will be displayed on the Windows of the car, can finally share space with stickers of the Federal Trade Commission and the automakers themselves.
This is some crowded glass.
"It is a whole new world that must be evaluated to", said spokesman Nissan Jeannine Ginivan. "This is some complicated, because there is really no gallon." For the moment, the consumer is going to have to decrypt all and see how to implement them. »
Traditionally, rating for vehicles with internal combustion engines fuel economy is calculated from the emissions generated during a series of tests.
Things are hairy with the sheet. The EPA has worked on a form in which an electric car to 33.7 kilowatt-hours of electricity was regarded as equivalent to a standard vehicle with a gallon of gasoline. Because there was physical any fuel step, the rating was renamed mile-by-gallon-equivalent or mpge.
Electric vehicle will be sold with a sticker saying it can reach up to 106 mpge in the city. The previous record-holder, the hybrid Toyota Prius was rated 51 mpg in urban areas.
The score sheet is simple compared with that given to the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid that switches to gasoline, when its electricity supply.
The v is not only an overall rating. In addition to a figure of 60 mpge umbrella Government gave a mpge 93 rating for when the volt is based only in electric mode and a 37 - mpg figure for when it uses gasoline only. But otherwise no pilot v will paste to a single mode. They are more likely to use gas and electricity in various reports.
And not everyone is in agreement with the analysis of the LFS. Last year, General Motors Co. predicts that the volt would reach 230 mpge, overall score of nearly four times by the Government.
The EPA for the sheet, which also includes far it could go on a single load - 73 miles - thumbnail may compete for space with a sticker of the FTC that exchange rate distance at 110 miles. Nissan, which used a slightly different test system explains the car can travel 100 miles on a single battery charge.
EPA figures also include expected exhaust gas. Since it has no need for exhaust pipe, sheet will publish no carbon dioxide, according to the Agency.
Some environmentalists are not happy with the prognosis and suggest to use what is called a wheels-while on the contrary analysis. The process will examine all gases greenhouse published from time that electricity is produced first until it is sent by lines of loading units.
In inspired by these measures, the map would rack up more than 250 grams of carbon dioxide and other emissions every mile, according to data from the Department energy fueled the Argonne National Laboratory petrol cars averaging release 450 grams per kilometre.
"Regardless of where emissions of greenhouse gases are emitted, because they you still affect climate change around the world," clean energy consultant Sandy Thomas said. "The fact that emissions from producing electricity in the Utah coal plant is just as bad as if they came from the exhaust.
But in some parts of the country, the volt could be responsible for emissions by more than a Toyota Prius. Electricity in California, with its strict regulatory environment and the abundance of solar panels on the roof emits a fourth greenhouse gas power plants fed with coal in the Midwest.
Then there is the cost. The purchase price of electric vehicles, which vary depending on the State based on local government incentive packages rates to distinguish between utility. The Ministry of water from Los Angeles and Southern California Edison Power each offer three separate charging electric vehicle plans.
Using an average price of 11 cents per kilowatt hour, the EPA estimates that the owners of the leaf will spend $561 on pricing. Volt pilots who depend on only the battery will spend $601.
Take, for instance, the journey of 400 miles to Highway 5 Los Angeles to San Francisco. V to 35 miles on the fully charged battery 16-kilowatt-hour and then a 344 other miles on its 9.5-gallon fuel tank bringing the total to approximately $32 with a demi-gallon refuel. Doing the drive in the sheet, with its 24-kilowatt-hour battery, go $14.50 about.
But that could change at a time where the next generation of the Leafs and Volt roll around next year.
EPA is considering a design updated for labels on fuel car, having recently wrapped up a 60-day public comment period that included hearings in Chicago and Los Angeles.
The options include a rank of letter for energy efficiency and a proposal to create a tool on-line to help consumers to calculate a number of programs customized for the cycle of production and distribution of electricity while.
Tiffany.Hsu@LAtimes.com
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