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Hybrid Vehicles Chevrolet Volt Article Comments - 2011 Chevrolet Volt First Look
46 messages, Last post on Oct 22, 2008 at 4:38 AM
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2011 Chevrolet Volt First Look - The 2011 Chevrolet Volt is both more conventional than you might have been lead to believe and quite a bit more advanced than most potential buyers will know. (more)
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Replying to: KarenS (Sep 23, 2008 5:39 am) Electrifying Performance GM estimates that the Volt will get to 60 mph quicker than the 10 seconds it takes a Prius to get there and then reach 100 mph. For extended battery life (GM will put a 10-year warranty on the pack) and to reduce heat, the batteries will never be charged to greater than 80 percent of their maximum and will never be allowed to drop below 30 percent of their capacity. Total power from the electric motor equates to about 150 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. (Remember, the gas engine does not contribute its power to moving the car.) Not that the Volt will be tuned to generate maximum range, according to Bob Lutz. Or in his words: "This is about people who want to drive electrically for 40 miles. To hell with ultimate range." What this means practically is that the gas engine (a version of a GM four-cylinder that sees duty in other parts of the world) isn't cycling on and off keeping the batteries topped up from the moment a driver sets off. Instead, according to Lutz, it will power up the batteries at the beginning of a trip, and then once the lithium-ion cells are depleted to the 30 percent of a full, charge them up again. Essentially the engine is meant to give the car 40-mile chunks of electric-only power. In fact, GM has been able to fit a very small gas tank into the Volt. How small, the company won't say. It wanted a large enough tank to get a total cruising range of 600 miles, but the actual range is more like 200 to 300 miles. Reducing the overall range from the expected 600 miles down to only 200 to 300 is a BIG PROBLEM for this car. That means it will really REALLY only be a "commuter car" and not something people can take on a long trip. So basically, it will be the "electric version" of the Honda Civic CNG, only, it would lose a 600 mile race with the Honda by about 8 hours. Disappointing for sure. Come on, PHEV Prius. You will slaughter the Volt.
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Replying to: larsb (Sep 23, 2008 6:57 am) If they are now stating that the Volt's range is 200-300 miles that tells me it only has about a 6 gallon gas tank. You can fill that up in less than 2 minutes. Probably faster than you can refill the Civic CNG's tanks. Once you've refilled the tank your back on the road. I don't know where you are getting this 8 hours from. I also don't understand Lutz's comment about how the ICE powers up the batteries at the start of a trip. That's the whole reason you plugged it in so you could drive 40 miles without using any gas. Now when the ICE kicks in at 30% state of charge I don't know when it will shut off again but if it stays running until the battery pack is fully re-charged to 80% then that seems pretty wasteful. Why would you want to get to your destination with a full charge? That kind of negates the benefits of being able to plug in. I would be surprised if the ICE charges the battery pack past 40% before shutting off.
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Replying to: tpe (Sep 23, 2008 11:10 am) I'm still trying to wrap my head around the "newness" of the Volt's setup and trying to completely understand the way it works. If the range is 200-300 miles on a full charge, and the batteries are good for 40 miles, that means the gas engine will power the batteries for 160-260 miles. Didn't we hear at some point that the Volt was supposed to get around 50 MPG with the gas generator running? If the gas tank is 6 gallons, that means 26 miles per gallon to 43 miles per gallon should be the efficiency, considering the 160-260 mile range after 40 miles of battery juice is depleted. There are still important unanswered questions. Owner #1 uses the Volt only for a 20 mile one-way commute. How long will the generator run during each half of the commute? Five minutes? How much gas will be burned? We don't really know how much of the initial electric full charge is going to help in achieving MPG. Will you get 70MPG? 100 MPG? We have a lot to learn about the Volt in two years.
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Replying to: larsb (Sep 23, 2008 12:02 pm)
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Replying to: tpe (Sep 23, 2008 2:33 pm) Well, what about this statement, which you pointed out earlier: Instead, according to Lutz, it will power up the batteries at the beginning of a trip, and then once the lithium-ion cells are depleted to the 30 percent of a full, charge them up again. Essentially the engine is meant to give the car 40-mile chunks of electric-only power. Like you, I would wonder why the generator would come on at all in the early stages of a trip? For me personally, I could go three months without driving more than 40 miles at a pop. Does that mean I could buy a Volt and run it "gasoline free" for three months or more?
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Replying to: larsb (Sep 23, 2008 2:59 pm) I have no idea what Lutz meant by that statement. The only thing that I can think is that if a person had not recharged the battery pack and had left the vehicle undriven for awhile then the ICE might start up initially to recharge the battery pack to above 30%. If you never drove over 40 miles between recharging then you'd never use any gas. However I suspect that GM will recommend that Volt owners deplete the battery pack on occasion to intentionally run the ICE . |
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I ad mire Chevy for putting the Volt in production, but I wonder, is 40 Miles enough ? With the generator that doesnt even fill the battery, i dont really get it. Smaller companys like Tesla have sport cars which have a 240+ mile capability, on a smaller charge. So a big company like GM can only do a car which is good for 40 miles ? Next morning, calculated exactly how many miles you do in a day, from going to work and back, then doing your groceries. Im sure youll do more than 40, and if its the case, its not for you.So who is the Volt for ? 
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Replying to: madofcars (Sep 24, 2008 4:54 am) GM could do a 150 mile range Volt, but it would have so many batteries, it would cost $80,000. Cost is the limiting thing here. Very important factor. "Im sure you'll do more than 40, and if its the case, its not for you.So who is the Volt for ?" If you do, say, 60 miles in one day, then the on-board engine only has to run during those last 20 miles, not the whole day. Your gas mileage would still be great, probably something like 70 MPG that day. Pretty good. If you do 200 miles in one day, a bit high mileage but some people drive that far, then you would probably drop down to 40 MPG for that day only. Still OK. Most days most people will do around 40 miles total in a day and use zero gasoline.
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Replying to: coldcranker (Sep 24, 2008 9:36 am) If a 200 mile trip resulted in 40 mpg then you would have burned 5 gallons. And that would have occurred during the last 160 miles. Meaning that at this point you're now only getting 32 mpg. I think that's low. GM is estimating 50 mpg when driving in this mode. That might not be accurate either but it certainly seems reasonable for an aerodynamic car that has regenerative braking, low roll resistance tires, a small engine (1.4L) tuned for max efficiency that will only operate at it's most efficient power level. If the 50 mpg figure is correct then a 200 mile trip will result in 3.2 gallons burned or 62.5 mpg. For a 100 mile trip you'd only burn 1.2 gallons resulting in 83.3 mpg. People considering the Volt should definitely take into account the kind of driving they do. If you routinely drive very long distances then you'd probably be just as well off with a Prius or Honda's new Insight and save some money. But for the vast majority of us who's annual mileage consists primarily of short trips the Volt is going to deliver significantly better fuel economy.
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Still wondering.........Anyone have opinions on this question: For someone who buys a Volt and drives 20 miles round trip every day, will the car EVER use gasoline? Could a person technically buy a Volt and have a tank of gas last a YEAR and still drive 5,600 miles during the year, paying for only a couple hundred dollars in electricity?
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