General Motors says that its Chevrolet Volt (half electric/half gasoline) car could get 230 mpg in city driving. Yeah!

The end of all our economic woes! Just run on electricity for less than 3 cents per mile, instead of about 15 cents with gasoline.

Only problem is...

• Battery pack has only a 40-mile range. After that, a small internal combustion engine kicks in to generate electricity for a total range of 300 miles.
• Some studies show that the creation of the electricity to run a car actually pollutes the air more than the gasoline combustion engine would for the same number of miles.
• The Volt costs about $40,000. So you have to drive 233,000 miles (saving 12 cents/mile) to just break even over the cost of a $12,000 car.

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