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How electric is the Chevy Volt?
The Chevy Volt is displayed at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev.
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Kai Ryssdal: The new new thing in the automotive business hasn't even hit the streets yet. The Chevy Volt won't be for sale for at least a couple of months. But we've been hearing at about the thing for years. How it's going to be all-electric, not one of those part-gas plug-in hybrid things. But since the Volt's patents were approved last month, auto experts have gotten a better look under the hood, leading to some questions about how electric the Volt really is.
Marketplace's Jeff Tyler reports.
Jeff Tyler: The Volt arrives in dealer showrooms later this year.
Tony Posawatz is the lead GM engineer behind it.
Tony Posawatz: With the Chevrolet Volt, you can burn rubber and not petroleum.
Which is not to say the car never burns gasoline. It has a back-up gas engine.
Posawatz: This is where the Volt differentiates itself from a typical battery electric car. It offers an additional 300 miles of range, so a Volt can be your everyday car. And so the engine runs to create electricity when the battery's state of charge dips below a certain point.
Dan Neil, auto critic for the Wall Street Journal, says GM erred in describing the Volt as completely electric.
Dan Neil: General Motors has denied over and over again that it was a plug-in hybrid kind of vehicle. And indeed, it's barely a plug-in hybrid vehicle. But in fact, it works a little bit like a Prius works.
So, the Volt relies mostly on electricity and a little bit of gas. So what? Neil says this amounts to bad PR when many are still upset about the auto bailout.
Neil: People are looking for a reason to be skeptical or derisive or dismissive of General Motors and the Volt. GM has just handed its critics a stick to hit them with.
What about consumers who want to buy an electric car? Jack Nerad is with Kelley Blue Book.
Jack Nerad: There's a percentage of the populous out there who is gung-ho about electric vehicles. And if this is operating more like a hybrid and less like a pure electric, that might give them pause.
So far, the federal government hasn't changed its perception of the Volt. As an electric vehicle, it qualifies for a $7,500 federal tax credit.
I'm Jeff Tyler for Marketplace.
Anyone with half a brain, can read, and has somewhat of an interest in the Volt would know from the GM literature that the vehicle runs on electric power. That power comes from a medium sized battery large enough for about 40 miles. When the battery falls below a certain level, the onboard generator (gasoline powered) recharges the battery - giving extended range as long as the gas tank holds out. I have never felt 'fooled' by GM's advertising that the car is a pure battery electric - which I would not be inclined to buy anyway, given the current state of recharge stations. How Dan Neil got the job of 'Auto Critic' at the WSJ is beyond me. Apparently all the 'brain surgeon or fry cook' jobs are filled.
This segment was definitely a rather lame attempt to drum up controversy over something that's strictly "so what?" Mr. Neil is trying hard to make a scandal where none exists.
Why anyone would care a fig whether the motor connects to the drive train (at ANY speed) is beyond me. It takes the discussion into the realm of religious or political argument (Mr. Nerad's "percentage of the populace who are gung-ho" -- a very tiny percent, I suspect) far, far away from the real world of things that actually have to work at a price buyers are willing to pay.
Definitely not one of Marketplace's better efforts.
Your report on the confusion over the Volt merely scratches the surface. The confusion is whether or not the gas engine is directly connected to the drive wheels or the electric motors during its "extended range mode". What’s interesting about the recent patent revelations are how it handles power distribution while in this mode. So I thought I'd excerpt to you GM's official response:
GM has responded to the confusion and I quote: "- The Volt has an innovative electric drive system which can deliver power in both pure electric and extended range driving. The Voltec Electric Drive cannot operate without power from the electric motors. If the traction motor is disabled, the range-extending internal combustion engine cannot drive the vehicle by itself.
- There is no direct mechanical connection (fixed gear ratio) between the Volt’s extended-range 1.4L engine and the drive wheels. In extended-range driving, the engine generates power that is fed through the drive unit and is balanced by the generator and traction motor. The resulting power flow provides a 10 to 15 percent improvement in highway fuel economy." ( http://www.chevroletvoltage.com/index.php/Volt/clearing-up-confusion-abo... )
In my humble opinion, this is typical when concept cars eventually make it to production, there are always a few subtle changes that make it to production, but the spirit of the original concept is maintained (see Chevy Camaro concept, or Pontiac Solstice). Also bear in mind that every concept vehicle photo, press release or brochure usually comes with disclaimers that final production versions (if they are eventually produced)may vary.
Tom Kelley- Design Sculptor -GM Design Center
***The postings/recordings on this site are my own, and don’t necessarily represent the positions, strategies or opinions of GM (I also have not been personally involved on the Volt project). ***
I have never read the volt was a hybird. Unless things have changed last I read was you could plug it in and as long as you keep it charged you would never have to use the gas engine.
Keep in mind this is just the being of the gas electric engines! Think back to 1974 when our parents had to stop driving Chevy's and Ford's!. It may not take as long today with computers for them to get it all worked out.
I'm going to look at the volt but I think my style is more of the Tesla model S coming in 2012 for $55,000
We certainly drive a 08 g6 gxp
I have to agree that this article is light on facts and usefulness, and long on antagonistic arguments. The volt is not just like the Prius in many ways. The Prius has a small battery and a weak electric motor, which requires the gasoline engine to operate when the driver demands a modest amount of torque and/or speed, say for example accelerating from a stopped position, going up a hill or surpassing 35 mi/hr. The electric motor and gasoline engine are linked together in parallel by a mechanical transmission, and is considered a "Parallel hybrid." The Volt is equipped with a large battery powering a strong electric drive motor. The gasoline engine is weak, but provides enough power to maintain a specified state of charge of the battery while through an on-board generator. In this hybrid mode, the power flows from the engine to the generator to the battery to the drive motors in series. Therefore it is considered a "series hybrid." The vehicle can handle most, if not all driving circumstances using the power and energy from the battery powering the electric motor, until the battery runs near empty. This should be around 40 miles of standard EPA style driving according to GM. Before this point, the battery is operating as a pure electric. After the battery level runs low, the gasoline engine kicks on and keeps the battery's state of charge (its fullness) to a manageable level (say 20%). The power required to move the vehicle is then provided by the combination of battery and engine, where the battery provides just the short accelerations and the engine provides the range. When the vehicle is coasting, running on a flat stretch or going down hill, the engine puts energy back into the battery, but only to a certain level. Kind of like keeping a little reserve around for the hills and accelerations. The benefit is that for most driving (65% of all Americans drive less than 40 miles a day to work and back), the vehicle will operate as a pure electric. If you don't forget to plug it in at night or at work if you are lucky enough to have such an perk. But on the weekends, when one wants to drive to the mountains or the in-laws, the gasoline engine will have to kick on to prevent sudden range anxiety. In this mode, the vehicle is more efficient than a standard gasoline engine since its engine operates at a nominally efficient rpm level while using the battery to provide acceleration and collect deceleration energy, both of which are notoriously inefficient operations in a standard vehicle. In summary, the parallel hybrid Prius provides increased efficiency using the best of both a small engine and a small battery in concert, with no need to plug it into your home's outlets. While the Volt can operate as a pure electric if you don't surpass the 40 mile mark and don't forget to plug it in over night.
@Elliot The problem is not the gas engine, it is the fact that the gas engine is attached to the powertrain, when GM has claimed for quite some time that it was strictly to generate electricity.
*Supposedly*, the gas engine does not provide direct energy to the powertrain until the car passes 70, so many users would never see it use as anything other than a generator, but after this revelation, you have to wonder if GM is credible on anything they say about the car.
The Volt was supposed be a hybrid done right and instead it is just like a Prius, albeit with enough changes to how the various motors interact to get around Toyota's IP.
This is the oddest thing I've ever heard. I didn't go back and research what GM said, but I've long known that it has a small gas engine. Why would I want an all electric car. They don't have the range. They're not truly carbon free.
This story has so many false premises it's ridiculous!
