 In a similar comparison carried out by TrueCar in April 2012 for The New York Times , the analysis found that the payback period for the Volt takes 26 @.@ 6 years versus a Chevrolet Cruze Eco , assuming it was regularly driven farther than its battery @-@ only range allows , and with gasoline priced at US $ 3 @.@ 85 per gallon . The analysis assumes an average of 15 @,@ 000 miles ( 24 @,@ 000 km ) driven a year , a fuel economy of 34 @.@ 3 mpg @-@ US ( 6 @.@ 86 L / 100 km ; 41 @.@ 2 mpg @-@ imp ) for the Cruze Eco , priced at US $ 19 @,@ 925 , and a Volt price of US $ 31 @,@ 767 , after discounting the US $ 7 @,@ 500 federal tax . TrueCar also found that with gasoline priced at US $ 5 per gallon , the payback time could drop to about 8 years if the Volt were to be operated exclusively on battery power . The newspaper also reported that according to the March 2012 Lundberg Survey , gasoline prices would need to reach US $ 12 @.@ 50 a gallon for the Volt to break even , while the Nissan Leaf would be competitive with a similar gasoline @-@ powered compact car at US $ 8 @.@ 53 a gallon . 
