NPR: Can Electric Cars Help Automakers Reach 55 MPG?

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/21/142464818/can-electric-cars-help-automakers-reach-55-mpg

Can Electric Cars Help Automakers Reach 55 MPG?

by Sonari Glinton

November 21, 2011

First in a three-part series

Under rules announced by the White House this summer, cars will have to get an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 — nearly twice what the current average is. Reaching that goal will take not only feats of engineering but also changing how Americans think about their cars and how they drive them.

The electric car is one of the ways carmakers expect to lower their average fuel consumption and get to the 55 mpg average. The problem is, people aren't buying, whether all-electric or plug-in hybrid.

General Motors is struggling to sell 10,000 Chevy Volts this year and Nissan has sold just over 8,000 Leafs. For context, about 13 million cars are expected to be sold in the U.S. in 2011.

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What Brockman doesn't say is you're only going get reach the 100-mile range on cool spring days doing about 40 mph, when you're not using the AC and car is going downhill. Consumer Reports, which tested the Leaf, said it gets an average of about 65 miles on a charge.

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(Audio and full transcript at the link.)