Arguably the big news of the day belonged to General Motors as the company announced that the upcoming Chevy Volt will get approximately 230 mpg for city driving. The rating is based on a draft procedure being developed by the EPA for electric vehicles and assumes a single charge each day.

With these new guidelines, the Volt is expected to achieve approximately 40 miles of “electric-only, gasoline-free driving in both city and highway test cycles”. With the majority of today’s commuters traveling less than 40 miles for a given work day, this translates to zero gasoline consumption with the Chevy Volt.  (heck, my commute is only 7 miles for a given day!)

What about costs to charge the vehicle? The Volt is rated at 25 kilowatt-hours/100 miles of electrical efficiency in the city cycle which translates to approximately 75 cents to $2.50 in costs – significantly less than the cost of gassing up at the pump.

Unfortunately with the Volt being a first-generation product, expect initial costs to be rather high. Rumors place the Volt at around $40,000 although the car will qualify for a $7500 federal tax credit. GM may also consider subsidizing the car initially.

[Check it out via CNN, CNET]

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