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Will the Chevy Volt Succeed?

1015 messages,  Last post on Dec 09, 2012 at 8:21 PM

You are in the Chevrolet Volt Forum.

What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Volt, Automotive News, Hybrid Cars, Coupe, Hatchback, Truck, Sedan, SUV

Messages Page 100 of 102

#986 of 1015 Re: Don't hold your breath [gagrice] by jimparr

Apr 12, 2012 (6:15 am)

Replying to: gagrice (Apr 11, 2012 1:18 pm)
My sticker says the engine was built in Austria. Transmission (electric drive uint) - United States.

#987 of 1015 Chevy's reputation abroad? by Stever@Edmunds HOST

Apr 13, 2012 (10:33 am)

A reporter wonders about Chevy's reputation abroad. If you did not grow up in the US, email predmunds.com by 4pm Eastern today, April 13, 2012, to share your thoughts on Chevy's reputation back home.

#988 of 1015 Volt clunk noise by kevin2020

Apr 28, 2012 (12:19 pm)

Has anyone experienced a clunk noise when clicking on the brites in a 2012 volt?

#989 of 1015 Volt engine power by kevin2020

Apr 28, 2012 (12:21 pm)

I am experiencing a loss of power from what I have when using the battery when my 2012 volt switched from battery power to fuel. Is anyone else experiencing this? Also when I switch to fuel the engine seems to run very fast and noisy . Thanks

#990 of 1015 Re: Volt engine power [kevin2020] by dmathews3

Apr 28, 2012 (4:40 pm)

Replying to: kevin2020 (Apr 28, 2012 12:21 pm)
I just got mine Tuesday and the couple times it switched from elec to gas the only way I could tell was by the dash display. With radio off, there was no difference that I could feel or hear. Now maybe at 70 I'm sure I would hear the engine.

#991 of 1015 Re: Volt engine power [dmathews3] by igh

Apr 28, 2012 (8:13 pm)

Replying to: dmathews3 (Apr 28, 2012 4:40 pm)
dmathews3 congrats on your new Volt. Did you get a good deal?
 
I also cannot tell most of the time when the engine switches from electric to
gas. A loss of power should not happen unless you are going up
an extended incline and forgot to switch to Mountain mode 30 mins before
the climb. Any other loss of power should be very short lived - the time
it takes the gas generator to charge the battery for depleted reserve power.
 
So far 1980 miles on 10 gallons. I charge using the 120v outlet for 10 hrs
every night. Most night do not need to charge full as charge remains from
previous day.
 
The scenarios for using gas are:
1. airport pickup/drop off (70 miles round trip)
2. Going to a party/get-together on Friday night after battery depleted
    on commute
3. visiting some of my local friends/relatives outside the 20 mile radius on
    weekends
 
Looking to reserve the Focus electric next. By using the combined
electric range of 120 miles for the 2 cars, I think I can cut down on gas
further.

#992 of 1015 Re: Volt engine power [igh] by pf_flyer HOST

Apr 29, 2012 (6:29 am)

Replying to: igh (Apr 28, 2012 8:13 pm)
Having never driven a Volt, but understanding that the gas engine is simply there to generate electricity when the battery is low, you shouldn't feel any difference when the engine switches on should you? And the engine is simply going to run at the speed it runs at to move the vehicle and (I assume) supply some recharging capability to the battery, correct? The wheels are driven by electric motor and as long as there's juice, there's power. It's not like you step on the gas and the engine revs go up, is it? That would border on extremely silly.
 
Just some inquiring mind questions

#993 of 1015 Re: Volt engine power [pf_flyer] by igh

Apr 30, 2012 (7:58 pm)

Replying to: pf_flyer (Apr 29, 2012 6:29 am)
Actually it is a little bit more complicated than that.
 
You see from the specs: Volt Motor - 149 HP, Volt Gas Engine - 85 HP,
Volt Generator - 74 HP, Volt Battery - 16 KWH.
 
Now if the battery is depleted completely, one question that puzzled me was how do you drive a 149 HP motor at full power with only a 74 HP generator? The car it bound to lose power if that is the case.
 
The answer lies in the complicated but sophisticated Volt battery charge management. The Volt battery has 3 charge zones:
1. 10.6 kwh is normal EV driving zone
2. 1.4 kwH is power boost reserve
3. 4 kwh is unusable to keep battery sustainable
 
This power boost reserve does the trick once EV drive is exhausted. You see even though the motor is 149 HP, you seldom need full power to drive the motor. Even when going at 80 mph on flat road, the Volt only needs about 54 hp to overcome friction and aerodynamic drag. When sudden bursts of power is needed for passing etc, the battery reserve supplies the rest of the power over the 74hp the generator can supply.
 
When you go back to steady state, the extra 20 hp that the generator has over the 54 hp, is used to recharge the battery to top off the loss in the power boost charge.
 
The above scenario works well in most cases until you need more than 74 hp in a sustained manner - like going up a long incline at high speeds. One example is the Grapevine area on I5 before entering LA. Another challenging climb is the Pikes Peak in Colorado.
 
In such cases the power boost will be depleted in no time, the generator does not have excess power to recharge the power boost and car will ultimately lose power.
 
To address this scenario, Chevy devised the "Mountain Mode". When you know you are about to climb a mountain, before the climb, you should switch the car to that mode by a button on the dash.
 
In that mode the EV charge is reduced to 5.6 kwh and the power boost
is increased to 6.6 kwh. The generator revs up to build up this extra reserve. This extra reserve is sufficient to carry the Volt over any extended climb in the US. This was experimentally determined by the Volt engineers by actually driving the car over those challenging terrains.
 
The control circuitry for all these and fine tuning the parameters for best performance must have taken years but the Volt engineers pulled it off for which I am really in awe of them.
 
Only one question remains - why not just use a 149 HP generator? It will
be more bulky, will not fit inside a compact, and off course have much worse gas mileage. 74hp was sufficient with some clever engineering.

#994 of 1015 Press request by Karen@Edmunds HOST

May 10, 2012 (1:16 pm)

If you own a Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf, a reporter would like to talk with you. Email PRedmunds.com by Monday, May 14, 2012.

#995 of 1015 3 month update by igh

Jun 02, 2012 (7:10 pm)

Miles traveled - 3127
EV miles - 2720 (87%)
Gas Used - 10.7 gallons
Gas Only Mpg - 38
Electric Only KwhM - 32Kwh/100 miles
 
It is performing as expected so far, no issues.

Messages Page 100 of 102

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