GM Chevy Volt

[Mr X]

Going to laugh if it has halogens and no leds. Yellow light output should be illegal on cars. You cant see crap, and it looks like crap.

 

[scottf200]

Title: Next-Gen 2016 Chevy Volt – Official Voltec Details Released
General Motors Releases Official Details On Voltec For Next-Gen Chevy Volt

The GM-designed electric motors used in the second-generation Chevrolet Volt deliver more than 20 improvement in electric acceleration. GM engineers designed the motors to use less rare earth materials. One motor doesn’t use any rare-earth type magnets.

The second-generation Chevrolet Volt uses an all-new battery system that maintains its signature t-shape configuration but uses nearly 100 fewer cells. The battery system will provide improved range while weighing 30 lbs. less than the previous battery system.

The second-generation Chevrolet Volt will use an all-new Voltec drive unit and 1.5L 4-cylinder engine for extended range operation. The system was designed to be more efficient while providing increased acceleration.

 

[dsm363]

The T shaped pack isn't really something to be proud of since it limits number of people in car.

 

[RobStark]

The T shaped pack isn't really something to be proud of since it limits number of people in car.

One of the hallmarks of good automotive design; maximum room for machine minimum room for people.

 

[ecarfan]

The second gen Volt does not sound like a serious redesign but rather just a number of incremental improvements. I don't see how they will help boost sales of the car.

GM is not putting their heart and soul into the Volt. But that is not a surprise...

 

[rolosrevenge]

The second-generation Chevrolet Volt uses an all-new battery system that maintains its signature t-shape configuration but uses nearly 100 fewer cells. The battery system will provide improved range while weighing 30 lbs. less than the previous battery system.

Am I the only one who would want an extra 30 lbs of batteries?

 

[siai47]

100 fewer cells? How many does it have now? Seems like a bunch to remove. The "T" configuration battery pack that harks back to the EV-1 (and the Impact before) was fine in a two seater but one of the reasons I passed on a Volt. There was no way my dog could lay down in the back seat with the hard bump in the middle. I thought that one of the things the new Volt was supposed to have was seating for five. Maybe they took the 100 cells out of the battery under the rear seat.

 

[Saghost]

100 fewer cells? How many does it have now? Seems like a bunch to remove. The "T" configuration battery pack that harks back to the EV-1 (and the Impact before) was fine in a two seater but one of the reasons I passed on a Volt. There was no way my dog could lay down in the back seat with the hard bump in the middle. I thought that one of the things the new Volt was supposed to have was seating for five. Maybe they took the 100 cells out of the battery under the rear seat.

No, it's a new design with a smaller number of larger capacity cells. They went from 96 triplets of 15 Ah cells in series (288 cells total) to 96 pairs of cells (25 Ah each? 30? they aren't saying yet.) (192 total)

The T is said to be smaller, but it's still the same basic shape - and they tout the 20% volume decrease per kWh, but it weighs only 30 pounds less overall, so it's likely of higher overall capacity.
Walter

 

[gameon]

Hopefully they change the shape for good... it looks okay from front but back is mediocre at the best (goes to all EV apart from Models S)

 

[JRP3]

 

[mhpr262]

It's pretty amazing that they can build something as mechanically complex and yet seemingly rock-solid, without he slightest hint of mechanical trouble, at least as far as I have heard.

Maybe Chevy ought to consider building a light pick up truck with the same drivetrain, with two small electric in-wheel motors in the rear for optional 4-wheel-drive and torque vectoring.

 

[scottf200]

This was a cool video (shown in various post around the web by now). Nice to watch at 1080P and at 0.5x speed.

My 2011 runs on 1 motor when you "get on it" in all electric mode. Motor/generator hooked to the ICE not used. Looks they redesigned this so the 2 motors are equivalent and can be used together when you "get on it" in all electric mode. Obviously when you are running in Charge_Sustaining/CS mode using the ICE the 2nd motor is being used as a generator. With this and all the work done to the battery (aside from T-shape also supposed to be lower) the Gen2 is very impressive (unless you only look at it from the 10,000 ft level). I can see one of these in my garage next to the Model X. The other family member can get the 2011 that still goes the same number of electric miles after 3.5 years!!

Next-generation Volt more fuel efficient, longer range

Next-generation Volt more fuel efficient, longer range

Warren — General Motors’ next-generation Chevrolet Volt will have a significantly longer all-electric range, a powertrain that’s 130 pounds lighter and will be more powerful.

The Detroit automaker will introduce the 2016 Volt at the North American International Auto Show in January, but hasn’t said when it will go on sale. GM officials say it isn’t likely to go on sale until the second half of 2015. GM showed off its new drive unit that it will build at its Warren Transmission plant here starting next year — a part it previously built in Mexico. The new two-motor drive unit is 5 to 12 percent more efficient than the system on the current Volt and weighs about 100 pounds less.

“It will store more energy in its battery pack with fewer cells, yet go further on a charge,” GM CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday. “It will accelerate faster. And the car’s gas generator will come from an all-new GM engine family and use even less fuel.”

The current Volt is a plug-in hybrid that operates with 38 miles of electric range and gets 37 miles per gallon when operated with the gasoline engine. GM says the next-generation Volt will be significantly more efficient, but GM won’t disclose the ratings and new range until January. The new vehicle will be at least 5 percent more fuel efficient when driven in gasoline-only mode.

The new Volt will have 20 percent better acceleration at low speeds, because of a new two-motor system that replaces the one motor in the current system. The new Volt will have a better battery cell chemistry that increases storage capacity by 20 percent on a volume basis, while the number of cells decreases from 288 to 192. The lower positioning of the cells means a lower center of gravity and improved handling, said Larry Nitz, executive director of GM Powertrain’s electrification engineering team.

“It would have been simple for us to tweak our existing battery to provide nominally increased range, but that’s not what our customers want,” Nitz said. “Our team created a new battery system that will exceed expectations of most owners.”

The new Volt reduces the dependence on rare earth magnets — expensive components in electric vehicles. The new Volt has simplified controls and its battery system is 30 pounds lighter.
<snip>

 

[scaesare]

The new vehicle will be at least 5 percent more fuel efficient when driven in gasoline-only mode.

What is this mode?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

No, it's a new design with a smaller number of larger capacity cells. They went from 96 triplets of 15 Ah cells in series (288 cells total) to 96 pairs of cells (25 Ah each? 30? they aren't saying yet.) (192 total)

The T is said to be smaller, but it's still the same basic shape - and they tout the 20% volume decrease per kWh, but it weighs only 30 pounds less overall, so it's likely of higher overall capacity.
Walter

Well, some volumetric density improvements can come at a cost of gravimetric density.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

The second gen Volt does not sound like a serious redesign but rather just a number of incremental improvements. I don't see how they will help boost sales of the car.

Hmm. They've modified and improved:
- the battery
- the engine
- the electric motors
- the transmission
- the charging system
-
It will have:
- more electric range
- higher electrical efficiency
- higher ICE efficiency

The battery is now lower in the car which leads to the suggestion that it'll allow a rear bench seat.
It's also expected that it'll have more rear legroom.

Who knows what other improvements they'll have made. I'm hoping to see ERDTT start at a lower temperature.

They're insourcing and increasing the amount of manufacturing in Michigan.

GM is not putting their heart and soul into the Volt. But that is not a surprise...

Do some research.

 

[ggies07]

Hmm. They've modified and improved:
- the battery
- the engine
- the electric motors
- the transmission
- the charging system
-
It will have:
- more electric range
- higher electrical efficiency
- higher ICE efficiency

The battery is now lower in the car which leads to the suggestion that it'll allow a rear bench seat.
It's also expected that it'll have more rear legroom.

Who knows what other improvements they'll have made. I'm hoping to see ERDTT start at a lower temperature.

They're insourcing and increasing the amount of manufacturing in Michigan.



Do some research.

So it's going to go from 38 miles of range, to what, 50?

 

[dhrivnak]

Perhaps from others. Not from me.

Any factual responses as to what this is?

I believe the Volt has a mode that effectively locks out the battery. Designed mostly for Europe you can charge at home then drive to the city on gas then switch to EV mode and drive in the city gas free.

So if you are going on a trip of more than 50 miles you can decide what part of the trip you want to be in EV mode.

 

[scaesare]

I believe the Volt has a mode that effectively locks out the battery. Designed mostly for Europe you can charge at home then drive to the city on gas then switch to EV mode and drive in the city gas free.

So if you are going on a trip of more than 50 miles you can decide what part of the trip you want to be in EV mode.

Ah, OK, thank you. So it's a manual override to operate in series-mode.

 

[Skotty]

So it's going to go from 38 miles of range, to what, 50?

I'm thinking more like 39.

Seriously though, it sounds like a good batch of improvements. I drive a Volt and it could use slightly better efficiency and acceleration.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Perhaps from others. Not from me.

Any factual responses as to what this is?

I think it's journalistic simplification. It's "gasoline-only" in the same sense that a regular hybrid is gasoline only. It's "hybrid mode" or "charge sustain mode". You can be gasoline only because you've used up your plug-in charge, or because you've put the car into Hold mode. Hold mode allows you to reserve your "plug-in charge" for later use. You'd typically use it on the highway so you have charge left for driving around a city.

(There's also Mountain Mode, which raises the state of charge at which it turns the engine on, to give you a much bigger hybrid buffer that allows engine+battery to produce enough power to drive at highway speed up a mountain.).