Comments on: The Volt and Leaf, One Year Away

By: Roy

Roy — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:40:29 +0000

Alex, What?? Did you think that GM with almost 100 years experience in building car engines, would go out and buy somebody else's 2 stroke lawnmower engine for the Volt? They use their smallest, high tech CAR motor for the Volt. It is a 75 hp generator, try finding that much power at your local Home Depo.

By: Alex Martin

Alex Martin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:01:02 +0000

My key question involving the Volt is what type of gasoline-powered generator are they using? If it is a typical generator, it will end up producing more air pollution than a gasoline-powered vehicle ever would. They would have to create a more efficient generator if they are going to sell this effectively.

In addition, electric vehicles will put more strain on the power generation circuit which relies heavily upon coal-consuming electric generation.

By: ex-EV1 driver

ex-EV1 driver — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:36:39 +0000

Anonymous,
If you like noise, I'll give you a playing card and a clothespin to hold it in your spokes to make a real cool sounding engine noise.
Shines,
Good question about the volt's ability to climb a mountain. Digging into my freshman physics books:
Assuming the Volt has a 16 kWh battery, weighs about 5000 lbs, consumes .25 KWh/mile at 60 mph and is climbing a 10% grade at 60 mph; it will need 2.36 kWh to climb 1000 ft. This means it can climb about 6,700 ft elevation on a full battery alone.
Now, how does this work with the ICE? Can it sustain the climb?
Assuming a 75 hp = 55 kW engine. At this rate, it will generate about 1.8 kWh for every 1000 ft of climb. Since the Volt is using 2.36 kWh for every 1000 ft of climb, it will only generate about half (1.8/2.36=0.75 which I round down to half) of the necessary energy to sustain this 60 mph climb without using the battery. This would mean the Volt would with a half full battery could climb about 6,700 ft with the ICE running.
To climb higher, you'd have to slow down in order to make it.
Think about it though: The opportunities to climb a 10% sustained grade for 6,700 ft at 60 mph are very rare at best. There may be a few places in Colorado where this is possible but I wouldn't bet on even that. For reference Donner Pass in CA is at 6,000 ft. but a Volt could make it if my computations are true.
PHEV manufacturers talk about using GPS to predict optimal charging for trips as well. This would allow the car to ensure plenty of battery charge to make it at a desired speed or it could warn you on those rare occasions where you had to slow down a bit. The good news with the Volt is that you're not going to destroy your transmission as I did once in Wyoming driving an overloaded station wagon under conditions as you describe.

By: Shines

Shines — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:04:30 +0000

The generator kicking in and revving up reminds me of climbing a long hill with a crumby transmission. As the car slows down on the steep grade the trans downshifts and the engine revs and the car picks up speed and then the trans upshifts and the car begins slowing down again untill the trans downshifts again. this becomes annoying when the hill is long enough (think getting over a mountain pass). Makes me wonder how well the Volt will do on a journey over the mountains with a full load of passengers and luggage. Will the generator engine provide enough charge for the batterty to make it over the pass or will I have to pull over and wait while the engine charges the battery enough to allow me to continue?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:39:26 +0000

Quote:
But a few hundred yards later, the state of charge dips again, causing the engine’s rpm to sharply rise. “The sound is disconcerting,” Brooke writes.

I know!! It's so annoying how disconcerting the sound of todays extremely quite gasoline engines are!!

Gotta find something to complain about!! Maybe he'd prefer a old muscle car V8 engine in there! Or get some good after market exhaust and lets get some good engine noise going!

Me? I like a little engine noise... and I don't like how quiet some modern cars are. Boring! I especially like the soft purr of VW's TDI engines. I guess this guy is a prime candidate for an electric car since he can't stand the sound of a running engine...

By: Annie

Annie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:04:42 +0000

Someday over the Rainbow!