MPG/Missed Fillup Issue for my Chevy Volt

[wolf715]

I have been using this app for a while now but just had an issue yesterday when I filled up. I went 1,230 miles on 9.1 gallons which is about 135 MPG but is now says Missed Fuelup but I did not miss one. I work closer to home now and don't use nearly as much gas as before. Is there a cap on MPG that this app will work for? How do I get it to work? I have used this app for every fuelup since I got ithe car and really want to keep using it. Please help.

[golfzilla]

I'm having a problem with my Volt, too. I went 7988 miles on my first fill up and Fuelly is ignoring that tank. The car got 937 mpg, so maybe Fuelly is thrown for a loop when the computed mileage exceeds some preset maximum value...

[Airstreamer67]

I would think that considering just the MPGs of gasoline used by hybrids is misleading at best. What about the additional energy, i.e. the electricity used? Shouldn't that be counted too to get a realistic comparison.

It seems to me that a separate category is needed that totals the gallons of gasoline used and the units of electricity used (in KWHs?) to get a more realistic idea of comparing "fuel" units per car.

Comparing regular cars with hybrids is like comparing straight motorcycles with mopeds that are powered partially by their riders' peddling. What's the point, unless the extra calories consumed by the peddlers are considered too.

[trollbait]

Originally Posted by Airstreamer67

I would think that considering just the MPGs of gasoline used by hybrids is misleading at best. What about the additional energy, i.e. the electricity used? Shouldn't that be counted too to get a realistic comparison.

It seems to me that a separate category is needed that totals the gallons of gasoline used and the units of electricity used (in KWHs?) to get a more realistic idea of comparing "fuel" units per car.

Comparing regular cars with hybrids is like comparing straight motorcycles with mopeds that are powered partially by their riders' peddling. What's the point, unless the extra calories consumed by the peddlers are considered too.

I agree with what you said, but there is a distinction between a hybrid and a plug in hybrid(PHEV). The PHEV, like the Volt, is the one that gets energy from the electrical grid in addition to gasoline. A hybrid on the other hand gets all its energy from gasoline, like any other ICE car, and Fuelly tracks its consumption just fine.

[SSonnentag]

I am disappointed that I am unable to register my 3100 miles on 6 gallons of gas as well. I'm in favor of Fuelly removing this automatic blocking of "unreasonable" mpg figures and let the user manage their own data.

[SSonnentag]

As per an e-mail reply I received, as of this week, the staff is beginning to work on a solution for these types of ultra-high mpg and PHEV situations.

[golfzilla]

Originally Posted by Airstreamer67

I would think that considering just the MPGs of gasoline used by hybrids is misleading at best. What about the additional energy, i.e. the electricity used? Shouldn't that be counted too to get a realistic comparison.

It seems to me that a separate category is needed that totals the gallons of gasoline used and the units of electricity used (in KWHs?) to get a more realistic idea of comparing "fuel" units per car.

Comparing regular cars with hybrids is like comparing straight motorcycles with mopeds that are powered partially by their riders' peddling. What's the point, unless the extra calories consumed by the peddlers are considered too.

The government's MPGe (Miles Per Gallon equivalent) rating is supposed to accomplish an approximate equivalency when comparing the two types of vehicles. I can't swear as to its efficacy, as my '17 Volt is rated by the government at 106 MPGe...while I've seen as high as 131 MPGe, and coming out of winter am currently at 116 MPGe and rising.

I can say that the Volt replaced a diesel powered vehicle that was averaging 24 mpg. We've kept a spreadsheet tracking all of our expenses for years, so it was a simple matter to go back to the previous year and compare the Volt's first quarter with us to the previous vehicle's expenses in the same quarter a year earlier. The result: even when adding in the increase in our electric bill caused by the Volt, it still saved us $360 in that quarter...or $120 each month. The car handily out-performs both the government's and GM's claims for it. It's a definite leap forward in the evolution of everyday personal transportation.

[trollbait]

The EPA figures on the window sticker, are the most conservative in the world in terms of official tests. Beating them while trying to drive efficiently isn't surprising; meeting them for most people and drives shouldn't be either.

The issue with MPGe with plug in hybrids is the same one PHEVs have in tracking fuel economy; the ratio of the two different fuels used, gasoline and electricity, needs to be accurately recorded and can vary widely between users.

On the first year of the Volt, the window sticker did have a MPGe figure for the combined use of these fuels. It was determined by the selection of some trip length and calculated using from the from efficiency figures for EV and hybrid modes, assuming the battery was fully charged. It soon became apparent that Volt owners had a wide range of EV to hybrid ratios, and the figure was useless for potential buyers.

The EPA wisely dropped it after the first year and eventually put a more detailed calculator for PHEV shoppers on the Fueleconomy.gov site. NEDC(Europe) still uses this combined EV and hybrid figure for PHEVs, and finding official numbers for EV or hybrid mode can be difficult.