Chevy Volt driven by ABG (and good video on Jay Leno's Garage)
 

Hi,

The good folks over at AutoBlogGreen have driven a pre-production Volt, and they are the first journalists to drive it with the ICE running:

Quick Spin: 2011 Chevrolet Volt charges toward production — Autoblog Green

NeilBlanchard -

Neato. I like the air dam detail. It looks verrrrrry familiar :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-cf...lt-air-dam.jpg

It looks like it's in 3 parts. I wonder if it is spring loaded so it can collapse when you hit a curb.

CarloSW2

Hello -

This is an interesting blurb :

I was expecting a single-RPM engine.

CarloSW2

Our cars are starting to look normal again!

Now that this stuff is going mainstream, maybe my wife will let me put the airdam back on the Elantra...

http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/attac...1&d=1206395604

Well, it's a good news it's not fixed rpm. It allows to pick up the most efficient operating point for every load level.

Hello -

Accidently found this image :

http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/...urb-weight.jpg

This means the Volt is designed to ride about 2" lower than the Cruze.

CarloSW2

Yes, you're right. It's just that I've been hoping that the "ideal" would be viable in the real world, aka an engine designed to run at a single RPM. They also ditched the 1.0 V3 Turbo in favor of the 1.4 V4.

[EDIT: V3 and V4 are the wrong term, I meant to say I3 and I4]

CarloSW2

Popular Mechanics has now also driven the Volt, and they have a video that explains the reason for the change in the charging scheme: they want you to return home with an "empty" battery so you will charge it there, where it is the most efficient.

GM 2011 Chevy Volt Test Drive - 2011 Chevrolet Volt Pre-Production Test Drive - Popular Mechanics

I don't think that has anything to do with ride height. It's just that the center of gravity is lower, presumably because of the batteries mounted low in the frame.

More reviews:

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/b.../1201Volt2.jpg

The National Post (Canada) has a review:
Exclusive Preview: 2011 Chevrolet Volt - Posted Driving

So does the LA Times:
Chevrolet Volt: A sneak peek at GM's plug-in hybrid -- latimes.com

I've moved this over to the "Hybrids" subforum. As much as GM is fighting tooth and nail to convince people (journalists) to not call the car a hybrid, it certainly doesn't fit in our Fossil Fuel Free section! Series hybrid EV is probably as close as it gets.

Apparently we can expect to see a video on Jay Leno's Garage too.

Coincidentally, the ride height is also about 2 inches lower than the Cruze.

Not disagreeing about the effect of the pack on C.G.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-cf...volt-cruze.jpg

Of course these are both pre-production vehicles; no saying if their ride heights are definitely what consumers are going to see.

jamesqf -

[EDIT: NEVERMIND, now I get it, as Frank says below]

Maybe so. The pictures says "xx mm Above Ground", so I think they are talking about ground clearance. The picture may have it wrong though. It was an accidental google find on my part that is from here :

New Car Reviews, Ratings & Pricing, Auto News for New Models

I am trying to find the original article it was associated with, but I am having no luck.

CarloSW2

The 516/566 mm values (over 20") are for center of gravity height which is not an indicator of ride height.

*sigh* It wasn't designed for eco-nerds, it's been dumbed down for a broader audience. That also explains the "need" for a trunk.

Have they released specs on battery chemistry, voltage, and mass? And they're not really down to six miles of electric range, are they? A few years back, they were talking up 40mi, and later 32mi.

This car has been the subject of much hype for three years, and it had better live up to that hype.

The Popular Mechanics video was a bit lame. Talking head of the GM engineer. No, thanks! Show the car, please.

I'm counting on the Leno video being better.

Hi,

Do we know if the Volt's ICE is an Atkinson cycle? I wonder what the trade off in efficiency is between the way they have chosen to vary the ICE's RPM to match the requirements of the electric traction motor (and to NOT charge the battery, so that you will need to charge it with the plug) VS running the ICE at a fixed RPM where it is running at a peak efficiency and just charge the battery?

In other words, they chose to only run the ICE to power the traction motor in order to force you to charge the battery only with the plug. The alternative would be to run the ICE more efficiently, and then use the plug to "top off" the battery.

Which way will yield better FE?

My guess is for shorter trips, that require only a little bit of the ICE, the way they have done it might be better -- the shorter (over the battery's range) the better. But for longer trips, say driving all day and using the whole tank of gas in one trip, I would guess that the alternate would have been much better.

If the alternative method is the more efficient way to use the gasoline, then it seems like they have made a poor choice. Because in the current set up, you will use more gasoline AND more electricity...

recharging the battery completely from the ice makes zero sense efficiency wise. If you want best FE, drain the battery and don't put any energy back in it till you get home.

Though they probably do borrow a little capacity just to smooth out the engine cycles. Anyone who defeats that to recharge completely with the ICE should suffer the full ire of the EPA.

Remember, this is an electric car primarily. It's meant for the vast majority of the US population that drives around 40 miles or less per day, with a series generator for the atypical excursions beyond that.

Anyone who buys a Volt and regularly drives long distances is sort of missing the point, as far as energy efficiency goes. (And may even get better mileage from a Prius or TDI - we don't know yet).

Hi guys,

I was speculating -- if it gets better FE running the ICE at a constant RPM to power the electric motor AND charge the battery, than it does just powering the electric motor, then what is the point?

I want it to work which ever way gets the best FE.

NeilBlanchard -

I agree with you in principle, but I understand "range anxiety" :

From my POV, I just want to see this "different solution" to compete in the market with the Insight and the Prius dirvetrains.

From an MPG-for-my-money POV, I will compare the Volt to the Prius :

BASE Prius II retail = $22,400 MRSP
Volt (speculated) = $40,000
=> The Volt costs 78% more than a base Prius

From our POV, that would mean the Volt needs to deliver the comparable benefit in MPG :

Prius = 51/48 MPG
Volt = 91/85 MPG

Is this a lofty target based on the Volt tech? I don't know. Depends on distance/speed driven, right?

CarloSW2

Jay Leno's video look at the car is up:

Green Garage: 2011 Chevy Volt - Hybrids - Jay Leno's Garage

ABG drives the Volt again.
 

Well, they've driven the finalized versoion, and the result is far removed from the initially claimed 230 mpg.

Review: 2011 Chevrolet Volt — Autoblog Green

While the numerical value may look good, it means that despite doing only 165 miles in 4 days - average 41 miles, very close to the Volt's electric range - they still burned 2 gallons of fuel in addition to using the battery power.

Doing any longer trips is only going to make things worse.
Given the elevated price tag if you can't get all the rebates, this is one for the eco-yuppies.

...duh, that 2-inch "drop" in CG is directly due to the "low" postioning of the batteries.

...talk about Detroit "double-speak"! -- hey, let's turn a deficit into an advantage...you know all that low-slung battery "weight"? Well, let's advertise it as "lowered-CG for bettery handling" and see if they (we?) buy it?"

1.0L Inline 3 (I3) vs 1.4L inline 4 (I4) there were only ever a few automotive V4 engines, mostly from Lancia, Ford of Germany, and SAAB.

Old Tele man -

Actually that's not really a Detroit thing. EVs advertise this all the time :

Electric Vehicle (EV) Safety
CarloSW2

Hubert -

You're absolutely right. My mistake. I am not nuanced when it comes to car-speak. I will sometimes call my four-banger a V4 because I am borrowing the V8 term.

CarloSW2

...in Politics, it's called "Spin."

...in Marketing, it's called "Hype."

...in reality, it's called "B.S." (wink,wink)

That was funny, Old Tele Man!