A 2016 Chevrolet Volt driven recently by Wayne Gerdes in Southern California returned 111.9 miles on a single charge and he said under ideal circumstances, 125 miles is possible.
The 2016 Volt is EPA rated for 53 miles electric range from its 18.4-kwh battery, so Gerdes extracted more than twice the federal estimate and even edged out the 2016 Nissan Leaf’s EPA rating for up to 107 miles from its 30-kwh battery.
But noting this without qualification might be like saying a man ran 100 meters in 9.58 seconds but neglecting to mention his name was Usain Bolt.
SEE ALSO: 2016 Chevrolet Volt Review
And so, it should be observed Gerdes is credited with inventing the term “hypermiler,” runs the website CleanMPG.com, and has long been known to get results far above an average careful driver.
A 2007 Forbes Auto report noted he’d already gotten 84 mpg from a standard Ford Ranger pickup, and 180.1 mpg from an early generation Honda Insight hybrid, and since then he’s set more records and high-mpg achievements.
For his part, and without giving too many details of his specific drive or technique, Gerdes on Dec. 24 calmly noted the 2016 Volt has potential.
“2016 Chevrolet Volt is good for 111.9 actual miles vs 111.0 miles indicated on a single charge,” he said. “The last 10 miles were nail biters of course. Afternoon lunch stop, numerous relief stops, a few pic stops, ton of lights and traffic to begin and even a few miles on the 5 for good measure round out a day in the life of GMs most efficient offering to date. The Spark EV notwithstanding.”
Images posted of his Volt’s info screen on his website verified the accomplishment.
And, Gerdes added, “A few final thoughts… I wish we had a lot less elevation delta’s here in Southern California as working the 100 to 200′ elevation delta’s again and again and again is a real bear with the Volt.”
In 2014 a 2012 model year generation one Volt rated for 35 miles EV range managed to squeak out 81.8 miles with no elevation changes, but Gerdes’ new number clearly eclipses that.
On a “nice lazy flat stretch of road,” in summertime Gerdes predicted, someone will crest past 125 miles in the new Volt.
Maybe he will be the one who eventually does it?
