Comparo: 2012 Chevrolet Volt vs. Cruze Eco

Electric cars may be the future, but how do they stack up today? Read my electric-Volt versus gas-Cruze Toronto Star Wheels comparo, or after the jump.By John LeBlanc If you take to heart the unmitigated hype over the electrification of the car, you’d be hard-pressed not to think that the days of the internal combustion engine are numbered. Electrically aided gasoline hybrids and pure-electric cars are the darlings of the auto show circuit, environmentalists and politicians who want those environmentalists’ votes. Advertised as “The Electric Car That Goes Farther,” the plug-in gas-electric hybrid 2012 Chevrolet Volt has been one of the most-hyped new cars in recent history: parent General Motors’ “moon shot” at re-establishing the U.S. automaker’s engineering prowess. As you may know, though, the Volt is only one solution to “driving green”. Right beside it in Chevrolet showrooms is the Chevrolet Cruze Eco, a similarly sized compact that also gets fantastic fuel economy via the old-fashioned way, on fossil fuels alone. Gee-whiz technology aside, which one is the better car?

SECOND PLACE: 2012 Chevrolet Volt

First off, the Volt isn’t “just” an electric car. When fully charged, its primary propulsion comes from two electric motors powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. But unlike a pure-electric car, when the Chevy’s batteries have been drained, an old-fashioned, four-cylinder internal combustion engine (in fact, the 1.4-litre from the Cruze) kicks in to power the electric motors using fossil fuel. However, if your driving needs fall within the Volt’s EV range (between 40 and 80 kilometres, GM claims), in theory, you could drive this car and never stop for gas. During my week in the Volt, I managed to drive “gas free” for the first few days around town, during short hauls within the car’s 40-kilometre-indicated EV range. But a Toronto-to-Ottawa round trip exposed the Volt for what it is after its batteries run dry: a pricey, slow, cramped, compact car. After all of 38 kilometres (or 35 minutes at 100 km/h) of electric-only power, the $41,545 Volt (not including the Ontario government’s $8,231 plug-in hybrid rebate) reverted to its gas engine for the remaining 410 kilometres and four hours of highway driving, effectively turning it into a gas car, averaging 6.6L/100 km in fuel consumption. After 1,119 kilometres of city and highway, in gas-only mode, I averaged 7.3L/100 km. Factor in gas-free mileage, and my overall fuel consumption dropped to 5.9L. Fully charged, the Volt’s gas-electric combo is rated at 150 hp and 273 lb-ft. — 12 hp and a whopping 125 lb-ft more than the Cruze Eco. Yet that doesn’t equate to better performance for the hybrid. With an optional automatic transmission, at 8.9 seconds, the Cruze is about one half-second quicker from zero to 100 kilometres than the Volt. Note my six-speed manual gearbox Cruze Eco press car shaved about one second off that time. The extra curb weight the 1,715-kilogram Volt carries over the 1,365-kilogram Cruze (with which it shares a platform) means the hybrid feels very solid in a straight line. Only in sharp turns do you feel its heft. However, the Volt’s electronic steering is relatively numb and nonlinear when you turn the wheel. And like all regenerative braking systems, they can seem grabby upon initial use. I liked the practicality of the Volt’s rear hatch over the traditionally truncated Cruze. But here’s another “but”: Due to the 2+2 passenger Volt’s 16-kW/h battery pack that resides where the rear middle seat should be, and its sloped-for-aerodynamics roof profile, rear passenger and cargo room are better in the five-passenger Cruze sedan. I think the 2012 Chevrolet Volt is a good start. In a so-so economy, though, it may be hard to justify its nearly 40 per cent price premium over its Cruze Eco sibling. Especially if you do a lot of highway driving. Like most hybrids, you’ll be saving gas with the Volt, but not pennies.

FIRST PLACE: 2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco

I already like the new-last-year Cruze compact sedan a lot. It’s well made and feature-filled, roomy and comfortable, and offers a level of driving refinement its Chevy compact Cavalier/Cobalt predecessors could only dream of. And if you like to save fuel, there’s little hype when GM Canada says the gas engine car offers “hybrid-like fuel economy without the price. How? Firstly, Chevrolet engineers decided to forego the base $14,995 Cruze LS’s 138 hp and 125 lb.-ft. naturally aspirated 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine. Instead, the $19,495 Cruze Eco employs the more sophisticated 1.4-litre turbocharged four (with 23 more lb.-ft.) found in the identically priced Cruze LT Turbo. Secondly, in addition to using a six-speed manual, they shaved the Eco model’s aerodynamics by 10 per cent (like the Volt, it has a movable shutter in the lower grille that closes at high speeds, underbody panels behind the lower front air dam, and a rear spoiler) and made 42 changes to make the Eco model weigh 97 kilograms less than the 1,462-kilogram Cruze LT Turbo. Finally, “ultra-low rolling resistance” 17-inch Goodyear all-season tires and lightweight wheels are used. With its manual gearbox, the Cruze Eco model scores a 7.2L/100 km rating in the city, and 4.6L on the highway. The $1,450 optional six-speed automatic is rated at a slightly less frugal 7.8L city, 5.1L highway. During my lead-footed week with the manual Eco, I got 6.8L. Based on driving 20,000 kilometres per year, split between highway and city, and a $1.25/litre gas price, filling up a Cruze Eco will cost about $1,700 annually. So even if a Volt driver never uses a drop of gas, I’m already over seven years ahead financially with the Cruze Eco. And I’ll arguably be driving a nicer car. Because unlike fuel-sippers from the past, the Cruze Eco isn’t a penalty box to drive. In town and on the highway, the Cruze is quiet and comfortable. Its steering is light, but gives more feedback than the Volt. And it corners more tidily due to its overall lightness as well. In the end, I’m calling the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco “The Gas Car That Goes Farther.”

Comments are closed.