Revolutionary fuel efficiency, but at a steep cost

General Motors said yesterday that its Chevrolet Volt electric car could get 230 mpg in city driving, making it the first American vehicle to achieve triple-digit fuel economy if the figure is confirmed by federal regulators.

But when the four-door sedan hits showrooms late next year, its efficiency will come at a price: $40,000.

Still, the Volt's fuel efficiency in the city would be more than four times the figure for the popular Toyota Prius hybrid, the most efficient car now sold in the U.S.

Most automakers are working on similar designs, but GM would offer the first mainstream plug-in with the Volt, which will seat four.

"I like the technology, but the market has to show it's ready for it," said H. Carter Myers III, president and CEO of Carter Myers Automotive, which owns Heritage Chevrolet in Chester.

Myers said that initially there will be some demand for the Volt from people interested in the technology, but it won't be a long-term success until gas prices begin to rise.

"If gas isn't over $3 per gallon, people aren't going to pay [$40,000] for this car," he said. "I don't think it's going to be what gets GM well."

Unlike the Prius and other traditional hybrids, the Volt is powered by an electric motor and a battery pack with a 40-mile range. After that, a small internal combustion engine kicks in to generate electricity for a total range of 300 miles. The battery pack can be recharged from a standard home outlet.

Hybrids use a small internal combustion engine combined with a high-powered battery to boost fuel efficiency. Toyota's Prius, which starts at about $22,000, gets 51 mpg in city driving and 48 mpg on the highway.

GM is touting the 230 mpg figure after early tests that used draft guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency for calculating the mileage of extended-range electric vehicles.

"We are confident the highway [mileage] will be a triple-digit," GM CEO Fritz Henderson said.

It was not immediately clear how GM reached the 230 mpg in city driving, but industry officials estimated that the automaker's calculation took into consideration the Volt traveling 40 miles on the electric battery and then achieving about 50 mpg when the engine kicked in.

Henderson said charging the Volt will cost about 40 cents a day, at about 5 cents per kilowatt hour.

J. Theodore "Ted" Linhart, chairman and CEO of Dominion Auto Group, which owns seven Richmond-area franchises including two Chevrolet stores, said the technology will change the conversation from miles per gallon to the total cost of owning a vehicle.

"We're moving from an era of talking about miles per gallon to the future, which is cost per mile," he said.

Linhart believes the focus will now shift to how much it costs to operate a vehicle for the long term, as opposed to emphasizing one variable.

"No one complained about cars that got 10 miles to the gallon when gas cost 50 cents per gallon," he said.

Chrysler Group, Ford Motor Co., Daimler AG and Nissan Motor Co. are all developing plug-ins and electric cars, and Toyota is working on a plug-in version of its gas-electric hybrid system.

The all-electric Tesla Roadster, a high-end sports car with a range of 224 miles, costs $100,000-plus.

Times-Dispatch staff writer Louis Llovio and The Associated Press contributed to this report.