Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle? | Page 58 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle?

Is the Volt the only drivetrain of it's kind where the gas motor generates the electricity for the electric motors, but never motors the car down the road?
 
MSRP said:
Is the Volt the only drivetrain of it's kind where the gas motor generates the electricity for the electric motors, but never motors the car down the road?
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No, the BMW i3, Hyundai Ionic, and others work this way as well. These are plug-in hybrids as opposed to traditional hybrids.
 
Lunatic said:
No, the BMW i3, Hyundai Ionic, and others work this way as well. These are plug-in hybrids as opposed to traditional hybrids.
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Great, there's that green car test place by my work, I'll give it a looksee.
The Volt back seats fold down right?
And only the current gen has a real 5th seat in the back?
 
MSRP said:
The Volt back seats fold down right?
And only the current gen has a real 5th seat in the back?
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Yes and yes.
 
MSRP said:
Is the Volt the only drivetrain of it's kind where the gas motor generates the electricity for the electric motors, but never motors the car down the road?
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This is actually incorrect. The Volt has a transmission with a gear-set in it which is capable of coupling the engine to the drive wheels. The 2nd generation Volt has a more sophisticated transmission that does this over a wider operating range.

Contrary to what a lot of non-engineers may think ... If you are in circumstances where you have to operate the combustion engine, it is more efficient to take that mechanical power and go through some gears and send it to the wheels, than it is to take that mechanical power and convert it to AC in a generator and rectify that to DC and use that to charge and then discharge a battery and then chop up that DC into AC to use that to operate a motor that then STILL has to go through some gears in order to be sent to the wheels.

All mass production hybrids on the market today with the exception of the BMW i3, are capable of mechanically coupling the engine to the drive wheels in some fashion, and it's done this way because it's more efficient. The Toyota Prius has done it this way since the beginning and there was a reason Toyota engineered it that way. (By the way the BMW i3 is not particularly efficient when operating on its gasoline engine ... the power has to go through too many conversions on the way to the wheels. That car is not designed to operate on gasoline power, the engine really is meant as a "range extender" ... but really it's a dumb series hybrid.)

The transmission in the Gen 2 Volt is capable of operating on all-electric power with the engine shut down (obviously) in 2 different modes to cover a large road speed range, and in 2 different power-split modes (engine driving the wheels in conjunction with electric power), and in pure mechanical drive with a fixed ratio between engine and wheels (the electric motors can still assist). It is quite a sophisticated design. http://gm-volt.com/2015/02/20/gen-2-volt-transmission-operating-modes-explained/
 
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Wow, I was sure the engine was decoupled from the driveshafts. Enlightening, thanks.
 
It's impossible to tell exactly how the drivetrain is coupled as it's so seamless, FWIW. I suspect with an OBD scantool setup like Torque there are PID's that would allow one to observe exactly what the drivetrain is doing, however..but it doesn't concern me a whole lot.

And yes, the rear seats fold down. This was a few weeks back - that's our new dishwasher (still in the packaging) in the back. There's a very surprising amount of space for lugging things in the back with the seats down.

voltdishwasher.jpg
 
Wow, thanks for that picture PrivatePilot.. so it's more accurately described as a hatch!..
On the prowl for a used gen 2 now.. Pretty much converted.
 
Speaking about the engine powering the wheels, as I recall it's only in rare circumstances when speed is high ....

Here found this on a discussion with a Volt engineer:

"
  • Farah says that in his mind the Volt is unequivocally an electric car. "The Volt is an electric vehicle...because for the first 40 miles you can get full performance running on nothing but an electric motor until the battery is depleted," he said.
  • The Volt has three distinct motive forces in it: a large electric motor, a small electric motor/generator, and a 1.4 liter engine. Up to two of those three forces can be combined in select ways through the Volt's secret sauce drive unit—given the road demands and state of charge of the battery—to drive the vehicle.
  • Only the large electric motor is capable of moving the car forward on its own. The small electric motor/generator and the gas engine can only ever be combined with one of the other motive forces to drive the wheels.
  • Even when the gas engine is on and partially driving the wheels, it cannot operate without electricity flowing to one of the other motors.
  • The gas engine, under most conditions, will be used to drive the generator and produce electricity, and will not be used to drive the wheels.
  • There is no "direct" mechanical linkage between the Volt's gas engine and the wheels, rather there is an indirect linkage that is accomplished by meshing the power output of the engine with the power output of one of the other two electric motors.
  • Motor Trend's reporting that the magic cutoff speed of 70 mph is what the car uses to determine whether or not to make the engine to partially drive the wheels is incorrect. The engine is used to partially drive the wheels when the car calculates that it will be a more efficient use of the engine's power. There is no hard cutoff point.
 
LBV said:
Speaking about the engine powering the wheels, as I recall it's only in rare circumstances when speed is high ....

Here found this on a discussion with a Volt engineer:

"
  • Farah says that in his mind the Volt is unequivocally an electric car. "The Volt is an electric vehicle...because for the first 40 miles you can get full performance running on nothing but an electric motor until the battery is depleted," he said.
  • The Volt has three distinct motive forces in it: a large electric motor, a small electric motor/generator, and a 1.4 liter engine. Up to two of those three forces can be combined in select ways through the Volt's secret sauce drive unit—given the road demands and state of charge of the battery—to drive the vehicle.
  • Only the large electric motor is capable of moving the car forward on its own. The small electric motor/generator and the gas engine can only ever be combined with one of the other motive forces to drive the wheels.
  • Even when the gas engine is on and partially driving the wheels, it cannot operate without electricity flowing to one of the other motors.
  • The gas engine, under most conditions, will be used to drive the generator and produce electricity, and will not be used to drive the wheels.
  • There is no "direct" mechanical linkage between the Volt's gas engine and the wheels, rather there is an indirect linkage that is accomplished by meshing the power output of the engine with the power output of one of the other two electric motors.
  • Motor Trend's reporting that the magic cutoff speed of 70 mph is what the car uses to determine whether or not to make the engine to partially drive the wheels is incorrect. The engine is used to partially drive the wheels when the car calculates that it will be a more efficient use of the engine's power. There is no hard cutoff point.
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This was the gen 1 the gen is different and has a different set up
http://gm-volt.com/2015/02/20/gen-2-volt-transmission-operating-modes-explained/
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
 
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Scuba Steve said:
Good luck i found it cheaper to buy a new one than a used gen 2

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
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ya there's less and less inventory on these things. The more I read about it the more I hear dealers are refusing to even haggle on them.

Id go for a used one at this stage but still too early....dammit. Stupid working Honda.
 
I remember considering a used one as well when I bought my new 2014. It had the better interior but was only a few grand cheaper than a new base one after taking the Gov't rebate off. Add the mileage on the used one and the unknown of a used car and it was really a no-brainer to get new.
 
Game, set match.

Volt's can 'capably' tow a 4x8 trailer, loaded, cross country, through hills, while averaging 22-24mpg without any charging enroute:
https://www.reddit.com/r/volt/comments/6suzpe/towed_a_4x8_uhaul_across_the_us_ama/

I had uhaul install the hitch, it's a 1 1/4 inch, rated for 2000 lbs. You can make the purchase on their website and then they install it all without hidden charges. They actually swapped the ball riser for a more expensive one and I didn't have to pay the difference... they also did the lighting wiring.
The trailer itself was ~850 lbs when empty, but I packed it pretty full of stuff. It's hard to be sure, but my guess is the trailer weighed 1200-1400 lbs when loaded.
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Also found out a 6'4 man can sleep in the back:
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?135018-The-Volt-ebago-Car-camping-made-easy

For this forum, best track-day-budget-tow-and-sleep rig?
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?135018-The-Volt-ebago-Car-camping-made-easy
 
That camping setup with overnight A/C is almost exactly what I want. Would be nice if the sleeping area were a bit larger though, like in something the size of a Transit Connect.
 
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