2011 Chevy Volt : Fill 'er Up. With Premium.

Sounds legit to me. I would like to drive one of these things.

Non story. Never get why people still bring up the cost of premium v. regular. At $3 for reg and $3.20 for premium the cost difference is negligible.

Maybe from an engineering standpoint it makes sense, but from a marketing standpoint it's a disaster.

I know there are people out there who will refuse to buy a car that runs on premium (my wife and one of her friends to name two). Gearheads may not understand that kind of thinking, but it's out there, and there are plenty more who think that way.

Subaru learned that lesson the hard way. Their 3.0L H-6 required premium, and they sold very few cars with that engine. The newer 3.7L H6 runs on regular, and sales of cars equipped with that engine took off. I've spoken to many Subaru sales people who confirmed switching from premium to regular gas made all the difference in the minds of their customers. GM is likely to find the same to be true with the Volt.

It is not supposed to be a luxury car, so that (if you pay that much for a car gas does not matter) line of reasoning is total BS and pure spin. It is supposed to be a high tech economy car with awesome MPGs.....not a corvette. And high tech really means more performance with less octane. Most cars today that use 87 still have 10-1 comp ratios or more.......My 1970 Buick 455 Stage One with factory 10-1 needed 91 just so it would not diesel when turned off! (93 to run really good) So it is total BS that GM is requiring 91 for this car........nice try GM....another waste of taxpayer money.

I don't see this as a non-story. it's a stupid story. The angle is flawed as the final sentence points out.

A better approach would be to find out why the US is still saddled with less efficient unleaded as the standard. The grade that is sold to us as premium is considered regular in Europe, where even higher octane options are available. We're finally catching up with low-sulfur diesel, it's time the same higher standards were applied to petrol.

@Bodyblue: New cars may have a THEORETICAL compression ratio of 10-1 or higher, but the actual is much lower, due to variable cam timing. The timing for your old buick probably left the intake valve open longer than optimal to reduce the overall compression. This is inefficient.

This isn't to say that there isn't a stigma (albeit a false one) against using premium because it is "too expensive/a waste."

Since they are trying to extract the most mpg efficiency as possible, using premium fuel is not a mistake. It will just make GM educate buyers.

Remember, they may "require" higher octane fuel, but it doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to run lower octane in it.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

It will be interesting to see what the difference in efficiency between using higher and lower octanes, compared to the cost of running higher octane fuel.

For example: A fill up may be 10% more expensive to use higher octane, but the gain in efficiency is 11% (compared to lower octane). In this case, the longterm cost would be lower than using regular fuel.

I would like to see some numbers GM!

I'll reserve judgement till I see/read real world figures.....

@markedwards: What do you mean "less efficient" petrol?

Octane rating does not relate to energy content of fuel at all. It only relates to the fuel's ability to resist detonation. Encouraging "higher" standards? Why? All you'll be doing is increasing compression ratios, which will mean higher HP for same engine volume, but won't increase mileage unless you're seeing a broad move away 4+ cylinder engines to smaller engines.

Auto-manufacturers do just fine producing high efficiency engine on 87 AKI gasoline. There's no need to increase octane content for the American lifestyle.

If someone wants to maintain power output with a smaller (or same) displacement engine, you cant always use 87 octane fuel.

and the tally keeps on going...

$15,000 too expensive (if you could even buy it)
$100 too expensive for a lease
2 octanes too high

what else....

+1rsholland.

It's just plain dumb. There's no other way to put it. Would premium fuel be okay in a Malibu? Did Toyota require premium in the Prius? No & no. Seems to me that if GM is in any way was targeting families, then this is a blunder of major proportions.

PS - Edmunds should be scolded for pointing out the $41,000 price when their own folks are quoted saying that the low lease price will likely skew sales in that direction.

Whats wrong with premium? I use it in my Lincoln LS but i guess that's something that I'm glad to use it in. Still 41k for a stupid car is ridiculous. I'd way rather spend it on a truck or a fast car that's even worth 41k.

Whats wrong with premium? I use it in my Lincoln LS but i guess that's something that I'm glad to use it in. Still 41k for a stupid car is ridiculous. I'd way rather spend it on a truck or a fast car that's even worth 41k.

For $41K and premium fuel, there are way more better options then this POS Chevy.

"It is not supposed to be a luxury car, so that (if you pay that much for a car gas does not matter) line of reasoning is total BS and pure spin. It is supposed to be a high tech economy car with awesome MPGs.....not a corvette. "

Its a $41k car. Everything else you said is irrelevant once you digest that fact.

"For $41K and premium fuel, there are way more better options then this POS Chevy."

Exactly, there are tons of electric cars with 350m of range on the market. Thanks for pointing that out.

"Still 41k for a stupid car is ridiculous. I'd way rather spend it on a truck or a fast car that's even worth 41k."

Prius tops out around $35k and HS250 starts at $35k and hits $48k fully loaded. Plenty of cheaper cars are faster than both. do you really think this is aimed at people who are interested in great performance?

How am I the first to point this out:

The Difference in cost between the national averages of Regular and Premium fuel is 8.8%
"The use of premium fuel in the Volt increases fuel efficiency by five percent or greater over the use of regular fuel"

It's a wash out... seriously how are people that irate over using premium fuel? $2 a tank... I loose more money from change falling out of my pockets each week.

I didn't realize I had accidentally gone to Consumer Reports when I started reading about all the old grandpas (or youngsters who've never had real jobs) complaining about paying for premium gas. This is the biggest non-issue of all time.

You guys really get a deal on premium. It's 13 cents a litre more then regular in British Columbia (or about 52 cents a gallon). With the price of gas at $1.20 litre that makes premium more then 10% more then regular.

Using it to get 5% better mileage makes no sense in our case. It's also going to remind owners everytime they fill up that they are paying more then they should.

I stand by my original assessment, people who don't drive a lot everyday will really like this car and those who do will be disappointed.

Of course if you don't drive a lot why do you need a car that gets super high mileage?

Where I live 93 octane fuel costs only 10 cents more than 87 octane. The fact that a car uses premium is a total non-issue for me. An extra $2.00-$1.50 per tank?
Who cares?

What I see here is a ridiculously overpriced Honda Insight. And premium fuel? That's 3.10 average in the heart of California.

"roadburner says:

06:47 PM, 07/29/10

Where I live 93 octane fuel costs only 10 cents more than 87 octane. The fact that a car uses premium is a total non-issue for me. An extra $2.00-$1.50 per tank?
Who cares?"

You mean you don't care and if I lived where you do I likely wouldn't care either.

However like I said it's 52 cents a gallon more here or about $4.10/tank on that tiny tank so I care.

we live in the US. Gas is cheaper and premium is about 10% more or around .27 at current prices.

(1) $3.018 / $2.774 => 8.8% more expensive for a 5% efficiency boost.

(2) High octane is about detonation resistance, but low octane happens to contain slightly more energy per unit.

(3) This comes down to human psychology and marketing.

(4) I don't get the gas engine -> generator -> battery -> electric motor -> wheels thing. That's about three more inefficient steps than a Prius has when it uses its gas engine. Undoubtedly the generator is another significantly heavy chunk of metal, wire, and magnets, in addition to the battery pack.

@markedwards

Your post evidences what might be a misunderstanding about what octane is.

The Europeans use a different method of calculating octane. The "95 octane" sold in Europe is equivalent to 90-91 octane in the USA.

This wikipedia article on the subject is a good place to start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

"Its a $41k car. Everything else you said is irrelevant once you digest that fact. "

Are you saying you can't buy a luxury car for 41K?

"Prius tops out around $35k"

But the Prius starts out around 25K...and it is not exactly stripped down. Just like most cars the most equipped models dont sell the most. The tonnage models are usually the mid-priced ones.....more like around 30 K which is faaaaar less than 41 thousand.

"I started reading about all the old grandpas (or youngsters who've never had real jobs) complaining about paying for premium gas. This is the biggest non-issue of all time."

It is indeed an issue....at least for hard working responsible folks who find it an incredible waste to spend even a little extra money on fuel.....especially on a FAMILY car. I have met several folks who look at buying premium as being a status symbol.....kind of like buying an expensive car....it is BS. Several of the richest people I have known are the most frugal I have ever known....they were not cheap, they were frugal. There is a big difference between the two. Spending money on something when you dont have to is stupid....but its your money and your right to spend it like an idiot. When you have to work hard for your money you tend to respect it more. I dont mind spending more on food and clothes and things for my kids, but fuel????? give me a break.

@bodyblue,

Prius starts at 23k.

There plenty of hard working people who see nothing wrong with blowing three whole american dollars more per week on gas.

Do you flip out on them for having cable tv too? Or a home telephone? Maybe for running the AC in their homes? Everybody picks different ways to spend their money - usually not a good idea to attack them for making pretty small decisions that have no bearing on your life.

Who is flipping out? I simply said there is no heroics or glory in spending more money on something like fuel when you dont have too. A sports car that costs 100K is something else......I was the one who was attacked for saying that paying more is dumb. When you drive a lot, that 3 dollars makes a difference over a year. Why put it in your tank when you can pay for something like cable tv or food or the telephone when you dont have too. Average American is really struggling right now and when that average American goes to the Chevy dealer that fuel requirement may be the final deal breaker in this tough economy.

"I started reading about all the old grandpas (or youngsters who've never had real jobs) complaining about paying for premium gas. This is the biggest non-issue of all time.""

Only a fool or a punk would make a statement like the one above....talk about stereotyping. That is what I was attacking. Oh and watch your rear view mirror....one of my relatives in that CHP cruiser is following you.