GM has announced the EPA has issued draft guidelines for the Chevy Volt – and it’s going to list the Volt as having a 230 mpg rating.  From the Huffington Post:

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.

GM came up with the 230-mile figure in early tests using draft guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for calculating the mileage of extended range electric vehicles, said Tony Posawatz, GM’s vehicle line director for the Volt.

If the figure is confirmed by the EPA, which does the tests for the mileage posted on new car door stickers, the Volt would be the first car to exceed triple-digit gas mileage, Posawatz said.

CEO Fritz Henderson said the swift trip through Chapter 11 showed that GM can move fast, and added that GM will work hard to repay trust, not to mention the money committed to the struggling company by the U.S. and Canadian governments.

“Today marks a new beginning for General Motors, one that will allow every employee, including me, to get back to the business of designing, building and selling great cars and trucks and serving the needs of our customers,” said Henderson.

This comes on the heels of Energy Secretary Chu throwing the Obama Administration support behind efforts to spur E-85 development:

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in Des Moines Monday that all cars built in the United States ought to be able to run on E85, the ethanol-blended fuel.

But Chu said the idea could face resistance from carmakers, despite the federal government’s financial stake in the beleaguered auto industry.

In fact, manufacturers said that they are already promoting ethanol-friendly vehicles and that the government has no place in design decisions.

Chu suggested that it would cost the industry little to enable all new cars to run on E85, the blend of 85 percent of ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
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Iowa is the nation’s leading producer of ethanol. The secretary was in Iowa to award the state a share of its federal stimulus money.

As the auto industry restructures Iowa has much to gain from a vehicle fleet that is fueled by E-85.

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