[hotrod182]

"My point is for the consumer using each car the same, the Volt provides 42% better total range with only a 27% weight penalty; to me that's pretty good engineering."


It's almost like you have no concept of physics or something. What does the comparable weights of the cars have to do with your range calculations?
So if the i3 held 8 more gallons (10.5 total), it could conceivably go 400 miles on petrol. Besides the tank (modern plastic tanks are very light), that extra 8 gallons of gas would weigh around a whopping 49lbs!!!

So even with 400 miles of fuel, the i3 is in a whole different ball park of weight compared to the Volt. Plus roomier inside, whole different ball park in acceleration. More efficient, better handling, etc, etc. Who are you trying to kid here? If we all wanted 400 mile fuel range as a priority, we would get a Prius over a Volt. A Prius gets almost a whopping 35% better fuel economy than the Volt. AND is more roomy. Must be a better engineered car! And a Plug in Prius can go about 11 miles compared to the Volt. But who cares about the 11 mile electric range when the Prius outshines the Volt in gas performance. Can you see the same useless argument applied there?