Plug-in Ratings: Both Congress and the EPA confused
What's the value of plugging in?When tax credits for plug-ins become available, neither electric range nor fuel economy will matter, only battery capacity - a move that appears to strongly favor GM's Chevy Volt versus the Toyota Prius.
However, when it comes to the EPA and CAFE, it's fuel economy that will matter. And that is the standard that Congress will judge automaker fleet fuel economy.
So why the double standard? Shouldn't there be just one way to judge plug-ins?
Dan Foley, of the Automotive X-Prize has been suggesting MPGe as a better rating "MPGe is a measure that expresses fuel economy in terms of the energy content of a gallon of gasoline, asking how much energy was delivered to the vehicle, and how far did it go."
Labels: CAFE, fuel economy, hybrid tax credits, plug-in hybrid vehicles



































