Driving on the Sun

In September of 2015 we bought a Chevrolet Volt.   It's a plug in electric car which also has a gas engine.   On a charge, we go about 45 miles.   When the battery is drained, it automatically switches over to gas.   The range on a tank of gas is about 350 miles.

Most of our local trips are fully electric.  During the winter months we average about 2 gallons of gas/month.   We charge the car at home.   If we are buying electricity to charge the car, the equivalent cost is a about $1/gallon.   We try to time the charging with sunny days to consume the power we are producing from our panels for free.   

For long trips, we just stop at gas stations like any other car.  The gas MPG is 37. 

As of February 2021, we've put 83000 miles on the car.   The lifetime average MPG is 66.3.  The electric miles have improved our MPG by almost 30.