Carmakers vie for Most Asinine EPA Figure (Nissan 367mpg claim)

[wtmusic]

"In response to GM’s announcement that the Chevy Volt would return the equivalent of 230 mpg, Nissan tweeted that its upcoming all-electric Leaf will go 367 miles on a gallon of gas.

Except, uh, it doesn’t use any gallons of fuel. Doesn’t an electric car get infinite miles per gallon? Technically, yes.

The problem comes from how the Department of Energy wants to rate fuel economy for all-electric vehicles. According to an article from the Society of Automotive Engineers, this should be kilowatt-hours per 100 miles. But as consumers aren’t used to this measurement, the Department of Energy calculates an mpg equivalence figure. The DOE number is based on how much energy is contained in one kWh of electricity and in a gallon of gas. Based on this formula, the Nissan Leaf uses the same amount of energy as a car returning 367 mpg."

http://blog.caranddriver.com/nissan-leaf-bests-the-volt-with-367-mpg-fuel-economy-estimate-or-does-it/

Oh, and it also has 100% torque. Sounds good to me! :silly:

[Schema Thing]

1. if these are cost equivelants, then they are valid attempts

even if not perfect assumptions for all drivers.

If not, then yeah, they are asinine.


And yeah, electric motors have 100% of their torque available at all speeds. It's one of the reasons all vehicles will be driven by electric motors 20 years from now.

[wtmusic]

3. If you mean that the torque is linear with respect to hp

it's closer than an ICE

http://www.evparts.com/img/mt2119torquecurvenofan.PDF

"100% torque" is meaningless.

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. How much does a 367 mile long electric cord cost?

These claims are getting pretty weird...........

[kristopher]

4. A little less than a 367 mile long hose for a gas pump. nt

[IDemo]

5. They should at least use MPGe

The e for "equivalent" makes it evident it is a relative measure, not about literal liquid gallons. I'm all for kilometers/megajoule or miles/kWh, either of which would still make perfect sense if applied to liquid fueled vehicles as well.