Michigan wllz

Karl Brauer, editor in chief of Edmunds.com raises an interesting point here.

Time for a do-over on how we show energy use in vehicles. MPG was never perfect, but with alternative energy coming it’s officially useless.

The upcoming Chevy Volt will be the first to essentially mock fuel economy standards which have been a staple of new car marketing for decades. GM expects the Volt to carry a fuel mileage sticker of 230 mpg. How is it possible to reconcile that number with other cars, none of which can muster even a quarter of that number? Is it really possible that the Volt is more than four times as efficient as a Toyota Prius?

It will get even harder in the near future. How do you quantify the mileage of a hydrogen-powered car? Pure electric? If ethanol requires more energy to produce than it provides as a fuel, should it be penalized?

So what’s the answer? That’s for people smarter than me to figure out.