April is not the Cruelest Month

May 1 2013

Happy May Day!

I took very little in the way of English classes in college, but T.S. Eliot made an impression on me with his April is the cruelest month start of his poem "The Wasteland". Of course this is a Northern Hemisphere observation as I am sure residents in Sao Paulo LOVE April!

http://www.voltstats.net/Stats/Details/672

Anyway I am here to report that April was not the cruelest month for my gas mileage.
Yes I am talking about the award winning Chevy Volt. According to Voltstats.net (uses GM Onstar satellite to track us, yes Aldous Huxley Big Brother is watching you!)  I drove 528 miles in April in the Volt. Of those miles, 508 were on Electric only. I was in Electric mode 96% of the time. CRAZY! That means only 20 miles in gas mode. This means that I used maybe 1/2 gallon the entire month. This calculates out to an astronomical 888mpg!

Total Cost
1/2 gallon gas @ 4.00 per Gallon = $2.00
508 miles/ 3 miles per KW = 160 Kw hours used = 169 x 15 cents per Kwhr = $25

Added together $2.00 + $25.00 = $27 dollars for 528 miles of driving.


Lets compare:
Chevy Volt      3 miles per Kwhr x 528 miles = 160 Kwhr x 15 cents = $27 per month

Toyota Prius   50 mpg x 528 miles = 10 gallons x $3.50 = $35 per month

VW TDI        45 mpg x 528 miles = 11 gallons x $4.00 = $44 per month

Ford Taurus    25 mpg x 528 miles = 21 gallons x $3.50 = $73 per month

Toyota Highlander    15 mpg x 528 miles  = 35 gallons x $3.50 = $122 dollars for month driving

Of course I can drive my cost down further by switching to Central Maine Power offers off peak rates as low as 10 cents per Kwhr which means it would cost only $16 for this. In addition as better weather comes, I can nudge up my miles per Kwhr from 3 to 4. This would drive price down even more to
508/4 = 127 kwhr used x 10 cents per kwr = $12 per month!


Please note that your situation may vary, but it certainly is exciting to think about slashing fuel costs!

Peace

Tom