Since its 2010 launch, the Chevy Volt has driven more than half a billion all-electric miles, according to the latest figures from GM. The company made a study of 300 California Volt drivers for over 30 months, and found that many are exceeding the EPA-rated electric range of 35 miles. About 15 percent of the drivers are surpassing 40 miles of range, according to GM.

“The fact that most of the folks who purchased the Volt at launch are still enjoying EV range performance on target with when they took delivery is testament to the attention to detail our team paid to delivering on our promise of most people driving all electrically most of the time,” said Pam Fletcher, Volt Executive Chief Engineer.

GM also found that Volt owners who charge regularly typically drive more than 970 miles between visits to the gas station, and that Volt owners are doing more than 63 percent of their driving in EV mode. Figures from the EV Project tell a similar tale – in a 2013 study, participating Volt drivers logged over 1,198,000 vehicle trips, of which 81.4 percent were completed without the use of the Volt’s gasoline-powered generator.

The father of the Volt, Bob Lutz, has said that he was motivated less by environmental concern than by competition from Toyota. He must be grinning at the latest news, because the new GM study also found that the Prius is the most frequently traded-in vehicle for a Volt.

Source: GM