Hello -
I thought this was interesting :
2011 Chevrolet Volt - Chevy Electric Midsize Sedan - Automobile Magazine
Quote:
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(Page 3) ... In Sport mode, the electric motor turns the front wheels with 149 horsepower through a single-speed gear reducer (versus 121 horsepower in the Regular mode). The 71-horsepower engine doesn't match that so the battery is allowed to drain a bit below the normal minimal state of charge threshold to assist. When regen is available, that 'borrowed' charge is restored. However, the battery is never fully replenished during driving because it's cheaper and greener to draw that power from the electrical grid by plugging in the charger. In pursuit of a 10-year, 150,000 mile service life, the strategy is to treat the 400 or so lithium-ion cells with kid gloves. That means charging the battery only after it's heated to room temperature by a system that circulates warm anti-freeze through its confines. Also, only half of the battery's full 16 kilowatts of energy is ever intentionally used. While GM has not specified the exact limits, the guess is that the state of the charge is never allowed to drop below 30 percent or rise above 80-percent in the interests of battery longevity.
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Does the Prius or Insight try to keep the batteries warm during recharging?
CarloSW2