Argonne Natl. Lab - real world mileage of hybrids & plugins

[Dr Mordrid]

Conventional vs. standard hybrid vs. plugin standard hybrid vs. series hybrid (like Volt) using real world drive cycles....

Green Car Congress article here.....

PHEV = pluig in electric vehicle
Split = combined ICE + electric with mechanical drive (electric assists ICE, mostly at low speeds)
Series = combined ICE + electric with electric drive (ICE assists full-time electric when battery is low)

Basic conventional vehicle: 6.6 L/100km - 35.6 mpg US

Hybrid (HEV): 4.69 L/100km - 50.2 mpg US

Split PHEV hybrid (Toyota style) 4 kWh: 3.27 L/100km - 71.9 mpg US
Split PHEV hybrid (Toyota style) 8 kWh: 2.32 L/100km - 101.4 mpg US

Series PHEV hybrid (Volt) 12 kWh: 1.50 L/100km - 156.8 mpg US
Series PHEV (Volt) 16 kWh: 1.23 L/100km - 191.2 mpg US

Note that the Voltec systems real configuration is a 16 kW battery of which only 70% is used in order to lengthen its service life to >10 years by only discharging below 30% during emergencies.

As such Volts performance would approximate that of the 12 kW system: 156.8 mpg

[Brian Ellis]

The figures are totally meaningless. An all EV would obtain 0 l/100 km. The only valid comparison would be CO2 and other polluting emissions assuming a typical low-efficiency coal-fired (eg as in China, India, USA, UK) power plant, through a non-smart grid and its losses, were used to charge the batteries after two year's use, when their efficiency had dropped to a plateau. With these criteria, the fuel-only hybrid would win hands down.