2011 Chevrolet Cruze LT – Click above for high-res image gallery
The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze is no slouch in the fuel economy department. In fact, the six-speed manual transmission-equipped Cruze Eco scored an official EPA rating of 28 miles per gallon city and 42 mpg highway. Those numbers put the Cruze Eco near the top of the fuel economy heap in its class.
Improving the Cruze's fuel economy required some innovative thinking on behalf of General Motors, and one solution The General dreamt up was to reduce the energy consumed by the vehicle's alternator. Officially, GM calls this patented technology Regulated Voltage Control (RVC) and here's how it cuts down on fuel consumption:
With RVC, the power that runs from the alternator to the battery is reduced from 14 volts to 12.8 volts under normal driving conditions. This allows the alternator to focus the power on the vehicle's electrical loads and avoid charging the battery with current it doesn't need.
When the voltage to the battery is reduced, the demand on the alternator is reduced. That in turn reduces the alternator's pull on the engine, allowing the engine to run more efficiently. With the engine running more efficiently, fuel economy is improved. The operation of RVC seems simple but its impact on gas consumption is nonetheless measurable. According to GM, RCV boosts the Cruze's fuel economy by 1.5 percent, allowing drivers to squeeze eight more miles out of a single tankful of gas.
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