Hello -
dcb's
series-hybrid thread led me to find this :
GM Explains Why the 1.4 L ICE Range Extender was Chosen For the Volt - July 26th, 2008
Quote:
... why GM went with the 1.4 L non-turbo 4 cylinder engine and found out some other interesting things.
For one thing, per Nitz, "the 1.4L NA four has better brake-specific fuel consumption than the 1.0L turbo when used in steady state mode, as it will be in the Volt application."
Also Nitz claims the four cylinder engine will provide for a smoother transition from EV to range extension saying "the objective is to keep the engine off and when the engine comes on, you don’t want to know it’s on. You want it really smooth and four cylinder is smoother than a three."
Nitz also noted that the four cylinder has a lower cost and that when the turbocharging architecture is added to the 3-cylinder engine, the non-turbo four cylinder engine setup is actually lighter.
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CarloSW2