Nissan LEAF EV does 367mpg!

Well I’m glad it’s not just us who saw GM’s claims for the economy on the Chevy Volt at 230 mpg as stretching credulity. It seems the guys that run the NissanEV Twitter account were equally sceptical. So they’ve announced that they’ve worked out that the Nissan LEAF EV will do 367mpg!

As we said, it’s all pretty meaningless. Like comparing apples and oranges. But I think GM are going to take a fair bit of stick over their claims from every quarter, not just us and Nissan.

But it’s not the first time – and probably not the last either – that GM has come in for some ridicule over their claims on the Chevy Volt. When GM first started touting the Chevy Volt / Vauxhall Ampera around as the saviour of GM – it’s ‘Future’, no less – an unofficial spokesman for Toyota was quoted as saying the the whole Chevy Volt project was predicated on ‘Vaporware’. In other words, the Chevy Volt was relying on technology that didn’t yet exist to substantiate its claims.

Which if you’re staking much of your future on the project is pretty shaky ground to be on. It’s one thing someone like Mercedes announcing what their SLS AMG eDrive will manage in five or six years time, but it’s quite a different thing announcing a car that doesn’t really exist will cost peanuts and do a million miles to the gallon in the next year.

But that’s the problem with all this new direction. A lot of it’s based on hope rather than certainty. A bit like Tesla’s claim that the new Tesla Model S electric car will cost less than $50,000, when experts reckon that it will cost 50% more than that to build. Minimum.

It would be nice to get past the hype an hyperbole – not to mention the downright wishful. Maybe then motorists could make realistic decisions on their future car direction.

Some hope, when there are cars to be sold and companies to be saved.

Source: Autoblog