Quote:
Originally Posted by elhigh
Are you sure you didn't get those exactly backwards? As I understand it the Volt is essentially an electric car that happens to have its own power generator under the hood, while the Accord is what the Prius would be if it had power, conventional styling and a teeny tiny battery.
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Nope, what I said is correct.
Gen 2 Volt Transmission Operating Modes Explained - GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site
^ Very clearly an orbital gearset, but that's not a bad thing. It's really a great design.
Explaining the Honda Accord's Shrewdly Designed New Hybrid System – Tech Dept. – Car and Driver
The Accord Hybrid has no transmission as such, but it does have a clutch which allows the engine to be directly connected to the wheels through a fixed gear, allowing direct connection to the wheels when above a certain speed.
Arguably, the Volt's setup can be more efficient in certain circumstances (low speed cruising), but the tradeoff is size and weight, and the Accord's engine is simply a lot more thermodynamically efficient. Supposedly the weight saved by going with a set of simple, fixed gears in the Accord just about accounts for the weight of the battery and electronics.
EDIT: Chevy got a lot of negative press when the press realized it wasn't really an "EV with a range extender".