The Truth is Out: Chevy Volt's Wheels Sometimes Powered Partially by Combustion Engine [Updated]

· Nick Chambers · 1 year ago

It's been a long, arduous and somewhat controversial road to the truth, but as of this past weekend there can be no more arguments about whether or not the Chevrolet Volt's range extending engine is mechanically connected to its wheels. The venerable Motor Trend got its hands on the Volt for a multiple-day test drive and provided the most in-depth look at the mysterious transmission to date.

What did they find? Above 70 miles per hour in range extending mode, the Volt's 1.4 liter, 4-cylinder engine gets meshed directly to the wheels through the transmission which, reportedly, increases the efficiency of high speed driving by 10-15 percent. The patent application which surfaced last month turns out to be completely accurate.

PluginCars.com was able to chat more about this with Andrew Farah, the Volt Chief Engineer, and according to him the 70 mph cutoff is not accurate. According to Farah, the Volt gets feedback from the road, driver demands and state of battery charge, and then, using an efficiency map, chooses what preset combinations of motive forces (large motor, small motor, combustion engine) it should be using at any given point in time.

As most of us know, the Volt operates as an electric car for about the first 40 miles after a full charge and after that the Volt's gas engine kicks on and runs a generator which delivers electricity to the batteries and power the electric motor to provide another 300 or so miles of range. As of today, this relatively simple interaction has gotten a bit more complicated to explain.

The Volt's drivetrain is similar to the Prius's in many aspects, namely that it has a planetary gearset, two electric motors (a main 149 horsepower one and the smaller generator which can also act as an electric motor) and an engine. Here's how it differs from the Prius in very fundamental ways:

When the battery is fully charged:

The Volt uses its 149 horsepower main motor under most conditions.
At higher speeds, when the battery still has enough charge, the Volt can mesh both its 149 horsepower main motor and its smaller generator/motor combo to the wheels for it to reach its maximum 101 mph top speed and bring the rpms of the large motor down for increased efficiency.

When the battery is depleted (after about 40 miles, AKA range extending mode):

The Volt's engine turns on and gets clutched to the generator to deliver electricity to power the main 149 horsepower motor which drives the wheels.
At higher speeds, the main 149 horsepower electric motor is spinning too fast to remain efficient and the planetary gearset meshes the gas engine with the secondary electric motor (the generator) so that both are working to drive the wheels directly.

It's important to note that the Volt's engine never directly powers the wheels completely on its own and only directly powers the wheels at speeds above 70 mph in range extending mode after the battery is drained. In addition, according to Andrew Farah, the engine cannot drive the Volt's wheels in any capacity without electricity flowing to the motor to provide the engine a force to work against, which means that the Volt cannot, at any point in time, move without using electricity.

[10/12/2010, 3:00 PM Pacific Time: Post was updated to include information from Volt Chief Engineer, Andrew Farah]

Comments

· Tom Moloughney · 1 year ago

I'm fine with that. I'm not sure why so many people seem to think it is such a big deal. The volt uses gasoline. Everybody knows that. Why do they car if it only sustains the charge or powers the wheels?

The volt isn't a pure EV, it's a hybrid or EREV(call it whatever makes you happy). It can travel a nice 30-50 miles in all electric mode and that will satisfy a lot of daily commutes. On weekend trips you can drive it as far as you would like so it is more versatile than a pure EV.

What's the difference? I'm sure GM made the car as efficient as they could, and if the gasoline motor driving the wheels was the most efficient way to go, then so be it. I have a bigger problem with the low mpg figures(32/36) reported by Popular Mechanics than I do this. I was really hoping it would be more like 38city/45hwy. Maybe PM is wrong and got those figures after flogging the car for a while. We will all know as soon as the Volt focus group gets their cars because they will all certainly test and report on their MPG in CS mode.

· Nick Chambers · 1 year ago

Agreed, not much of an issue now that the cat's out of the bag. I also fully understand why GM didn't want to talk about it until the patent was close to being approved. It's pretty slick engineering.

· SageBrush · 1 year ago

GM can be quiet whenever it wants. Lying is another matter, and unacceptable.

My parsing of the Volt drama is that GM originally thought a pure serial hybrid would be a better design than the Toyota HSD, and the marketers got to work. As reality set in and the 3 year deadline loomed ever closer the engineers threw up their hands and acknowledged that an ICE, two M/G and a battery connected by a power-split device was the best they could do. Big problem, because that is in a nutshell the Toyota HSD package. GM being GM, they embarked on a huge expectation lowering campaign littered with bits of truth that fans could latch on to for plausible deniability, and a quick print-off to the patent office based on a reversal of connections to the planetary gearset.

The leap-frogging, revolutionary EV-rev is a Prius with a very high price tag, mediocre CS fuel economy, and for the moment the biggest battery on the PHV block. If taxpayer money had not paid for it I would be non-plussed but not angry.

· Nick Chambers · 1 year ago

Bobby,

In addition to being the author of this post, I'm one of the moderators here at PluginCars.com. While we want as much of a diverse take on things as possible and we encourage people to help shed light on all sides of the story, we're trying to create a community that does this without threats and/or insults to personal character. Please refrain from those types of comments... With that said, certainly feel free to point out when you judge there to be inconsistencies, hypocrisies and or fallacies.

· Jeffrey DelVecchio (not verified) · 1 year ago

I have to agree that the ICE driving the wheels under certain circumstances is not a big deal. While the drive system is now very similar to that of a Prius, it certainly is more than just an overpriced Prius. No standard Prius can be driven more than a couple of miles in pure EV mode. To achieve any comparable EV driving with a Prius requires very expensive plugin conversions bringing the Prius price tag into the Volt range. I have a 2004 Prius with an Enginer 4kWh plugin conversion and I am lucky to be able to drive 5-10 miles in low speed (under 34 MPH), low load EV mode.

· SageBrush · 1 year ago

Edward Neidermyer (sp?), NYT:

"Quantifying just how much taxpayer money will have been wasted on the hastily developed Volt is no easy feat. Start with the $50 billion bailout (without which none of this would have been necessary), add $240 million in Energy Department grants doled out to G.M. last summer, $150 million in federal money to the Volt’s Korean battery supplier, up to $1.5 billion in tax breaks for purchasers and other consumer incentives, and some significant portion of the $14 billion loan G.M. got in 2008 for “retooling” its plants, and you’ve got some idea of how much taxpayer cash is built into every Volt."

· SageBrush · 1 year ago

Jeff,
The Enginer solution was designed from the get go as a blended petrol/electric propulsion. Today you can but a base Prius for about $21k and add on a 40 mile EV pack for about $10k more. Or you can splurge on a $15k PICC pack and drive up to 70 mph in EV only. That is the aftermarket state of affairs.

Toyota-wise, I gather a 14 mile EV Prius PHV will be on the market late 2011 or early 2012, and a 30 mile Prius PHV sometime in 2012 -- both vehicles price not announced. I'll be very surprised if the pricing does not undercut the the low volume aftermarket solutions by a large margin.

· Jeffrey DelVecchio (not verified) · 1 year ago

SageBrush,

True the Enginer kit is meant more for blended mode driving but they do advertise up to 20 miles of pure EV, not that I expect that. I am very satisfied with the performance of the Enginer kit especially considering the price. Back to the Prius vs Volt comparison: $21,000 for a base Prius + $10,000 for the EV pack= $31,000. A new Volt for $41,000 - $7500 tax break= $33,500, pretty close don't you think?

I do agree the Toyota offerings will most likely be detrimental to the current after market plugin conversions.

My biggest problem with the Volt and Leaf are they are not big enough. I need to fit 3 car seats in the back which I am able to do in my Gen2 Prius. From what I have been told by Nissan, the Leaf is not going to be wide enough and it sounds like the Volt will not be either.

· ex-EV1 driver · 1 year ago

@Jeffrey DelVecchio,
The Leaf will probably support 2 car seats squeezed in the back but the Volt's center battery tunnel won't allow center seating.
Personally, I'll take the GM guaranty backed Volt over an after-market plug-in add on any day. Plus, the Volt will drive at freeway speeds up to 40 miles with full acceleration performance. After-market EV packs fire up the ICE above about 35 mph or if you actually have to accelerate exuberantly (such as for safe merging at freeway on-ramps). Most people will only use gasoline for long Volt trips.

· hsr0601 (not verified) · 1 year ago

From what I understand, Chevrolet Volt in general could be called an EV.

· Zach McDonald · 1 year ago

From a Chevy press release from just yesterday:

"The Volt is not a hybrid; rather, it is the industry’s only purely electrically driven vehicle with overall efficiency and range approaching traditional engine- or hybrid-driven models of its size."

So I guess they're still going with the "purely electrically driven" thing regardless.

· Brad Berman · 1 year ago

I know it's a gloating, but who called it first? From June 29.

http://www.hybridcars.com/news/exclusive-chevy-volt-more-hybrid-previous...

The response from GM's Tony Posawatz via my friend Lyle at GM-Volt.com:

"What many authors don’t know is that the Volt has two electric motors that can act either in parallel at times, in other cases one acts as the traction motor to drive the wheels and the other acts as a generator. The system uses 2-mode technology to determine which configuration is optimal for that driving moment. It never, however, includes a direct ICE to wheel configuration. For more deatils see my post with Volt powertrain engineer Alex Cattelan.

"Finally to put this all to rest, I asked Volt vehicle line director Tony Posawatz if any of this rumor was true, if the ICE ever drives the wheels."

"'No.' said Posawatz. 'I don’t know how those folks got so confused.'

"Got it?"

See it here:
http://gm-volt.com/2010/06/30/combustion-engine-does-not-and-will-not-tu...

But guess what? It doesn't really matter. It's the right choice because it means greater efficiency. The record is now set straight. Let's move on.

· SageBrush · 1 year ago

Jeff,
I have to admit that I do not figure tax breaks into comparing vehicle costs because I oppose them. That said, if memory serves me the PICC and another aftermarket Prius PHV solution also qualify, albeit at lower amounts based on the traction battery size. You could also consider the different state tax amounts based on the different starting prices before the federal credit kicks in. The total difference ends up being more than trivial.

· ex-EV1 driver · 1 year ago

I have to say that I'm disappointed but I guess it was too much to hope that an ICE/Transmission company like GM would actually launch a vehicle without a transmission - something to wear out and muck up the layout planning under the hood. I guess someone prevented them from putting in a battery pack or electric motor that could actually handle the load of real freeway driving so they stuck in a mechanical linkage. That should keep GM's powertrain division chief happy since he now gets something out of the Volt.
Do we know what the top EV-speed is?
I guess I'll have to insist on a true test-drive on a real freeway since, if it can't drive under 100% electricity at 75 - 80 mph, I'm not going to even consider buying it.

· ex-EV1 driver · 1 year ago

I guess this little game GM is playing will ensure that they can't swap out the ICE for a bigger battery in the future as they could with a serial hybrid.
It's got to add greatly to the expense of what could have been a very simple, cheap drivetrain with just a small ICE, a generator, a motor and a simple differential. This planetary gearbox is just unnecessary complexity.

· Patrick (not verified) · 1 year ago

A static field generator could be connected right into the battery system, so the conversion to all electric vehicle could happen quickly.

The static fields are powered and driven by the high speed motion (66,000 miles per hour) of our planet.

· ex-EV1 driver · 1 year ago

@Patrick,
I'm confused: Why do you want to add what sounds like yet another electric motor to the Volt's Rube Goldberg drivetrain? Aren't 2 electric motors and 1 ICE more than enough?
The problem I see with the drivetrain today is that with the planetary gearbox blocking the motors from the wheels, there is no way to get rid of the ICE from the current drivetrain (how convenient for a motor company filled with gearheads that obviously hate electric drivetrains). This effectively prevents would-be converters from simply (as well as cheaply and reliably) removing the ICE and adding more batteries (or a fuel cell). The best one could do is to lock out the ICE shaft or replace the ICE with another electric motor.

· elak (not verified) · 1 year ago

I don't get it. In depleted battery mode, why do GM engineers want to go via the generator and motor to the same planetary gear instead of straight to the planetary gear? There will be losses in both the generator and motor. The sensible thing to do is to generate only enough current to the motor to regulate the wheel rpm relative to the ICE rpm.
How could GM take so much time and money to deliver what Toyota has had for 15 years? Only reason I can think of why GM get's away from paying for an HSD license, is that Toyota is more worried about the bad-will of a patent battle than the Volt itself.

· elak (not verified) · 1 year ago

@ex-EV1 driver
The Volt ICE can be locked out and the planetary gears will connect the motor straight to the wheels. That is how the first 40 miles are all electric.

· Carney (not verified) · 1 year ago

Brad Berman said, "It's the right choice because it means greater efficiency."

Wrong. Efficiency is irrelevant for two reasons.

First because fuel demand has risen, rises, and will rise, too fast for even dramatic efficiency improvements to keep up, let alone make headway. From 1976 to 1990, our average MPGs went from 13 to 20, but despite being able to go the same distance on much less fuel, our gasoline consumption went from 89 to 103 billion gallons a year. With India and China automobilizing, fuel demand is skyrocketing.

Second, even if we could through some miracle or draconian law reduce fuel consumption, OPEC could just cut production to match, spike the per-unit price, and make just as much money as before despite reduced sales volume. And it would go right on spending that money in part on spreading extremism and terror.

Therefore what matters is not efforts to increase fuel efficiency in a futile effort to reduce consumption. What matters is moving beyond petroleum fuel, to alternative fuels such as alcohol, or alternative motive power such as battery-electric vehicles.

Being one of the first two modern mass market BEVs, the Volt matters greatly.

· darelldd · 1 year ago

Just wanted to point out that the "mechanical connection from the ICE" does not just happen at "high speed." It is dependent on the amount of power being asked for... and the torque being applied to the drive wheels. The coupling does not wait around for 70 mph, but is deployed whenever it makes sense. Efficiency gain is about 15% when coupled.

· ex-EV1 driver · 1 year ago

I got a chance to drive the Volt yesterday in Charge Sustaining mode (ICE on). To me, the Volt is a great dissappointment. It has either been engineered poorly either because of inability to change or sabotage to prevent change:
1) The move from serial to parallel hybrid with a mechanical linkage effectively blocks clean evolution from PHEV to BEV because of that silly transmission they insisted on putting in to connect the 3 shafts.
2) That transmission makes it heavier and more expensive than a serial hybrid would be. 3 wires connected cost nearly zero. This planetary gear arrangement has got to cost money.
3) When I step on the gas in charge sustaining mode, the ICE revs. Anyone who has driven or experience a good EV knows that acceleration should be done with the electric motor, NOT the ICE. Electric motors have much more efficient torque and smoother torque control. ICEs are very inefficient when accelerating. I guess the antiquated motorheads at GM (or at least their managers) just can't wrap their heads around this fact. Very likely, they haven't designed the ICE to take advantage of the fact that with a PHEV, it should only operate at its most efficient load and speed and let the Electric Motor do the heavy work.
4) By putting the mechanical linkage in place, they locked in the floorplan of the Leaf with the limits of hard shafts. If they had done an electric serial implementation, then wires could have been run many places and the only floorplan limitation would have been that the small electric motor would need to be placed near the wheels.
5) It requires premium gas. I guess if you aren't going to buy much gas, they'll at least make sure you have to buy the over-priced, most expensive stuff when you do.
I'm definitely having deja-vu here. Its seeming like they're building the Volt hoping it will fail, not succeed. They've put in unnecessarily expensive parts and not taken advantage of what Electric Motors do best (over-price and under-perform). If it doesn't sell well at $42K+ (plus gouging), I guess we'll hear Dave Barthmus whining to the press again that 'they tried to sell the Volt but it is just too expensive and the market just isn't ready for it', just like we heard after they took the EV1s away and crushed them.
It seems like Tesla remains the only auto manufacturer really committed to making an EV that's showing any sense in how they are going about it. Unfortunately, it's going to take a long time before they come out with something affortable for the masses.

· darelldd · 1 year ago

ex-EV1,

OK, finally back to this one as requested! First to your earlier comment about going 80 mph in EV mode. The Volt absolutely has full performance on battery until the battery is "depleted." Then the RE mode takes over, and that's the only way you've experienced the car, apparently. Just wanted to be clear that before the ICE kicks in, the car is a real EV (that also drags around the engine, fuel tank, exhuast as dead weight). There is no ICE coupling until the battery is in CS mode.

>> I got a chance to drive the Volt yesterday in Charge Sustaining mode (ICE on). To me, the Volt is a great dissappointment. It has either been engineered poorly either because of inability to change or sabotage to prevent change: <<
All that I can say to this in general is that I don't agree. Quite different from being disappointed, I was a bit too impressed. I feel that GM went too far with this car - trying to make it appeal to the wrong... or at least two wide of an audience. I don't believe for a moment that you and I are the target audience for this vehicle!

>> 1) The move from serial to parallel hybrid with a mechanical linkage effectively blocks clean evolution from PHEV to BEV because of that silly transmission they insisted on putting in to connect the 3 shafts. <<
But the car CAN be a real, full-serial hybrid. The transmission is more weight, cost and complexity for sure. When the efficiency of direct ICE drive would otherwise be lost, this system allows it to be engaged. It is only engaged when the benefits outweigh the losses. There's about a 15% efficiency gain at the times when the ICE is connected directly to the drive wheels. That's not something that I would want to leave on the table if I've already paid to have the ICE onboard! If there is little or no gain to be had, the ICE is not coupled.

>> 2) That transmission makes it heavier and more expensive than a serial hybrid would be. 3 wires connected cost nearly zero. This planetary gear arrangement has got to cost money. <<
Agreed. The high cost of the vehicle is a testament to why stuffing an ICE in an otherwise great EV is maybe not a great idea!

>> 3) When I step on the gas in charge sustaining mode, the ICE revs. Anyone who has driven or experience a good EV knows that acceleration should be done with the electric motor, NOT the ICE. <<
And in charge depletion mode, all acceleration IS done with the electric motor. But when the ICE is already running, there are efficiency gains to be had by coupling the ICE. I've driven the best EVs ever made. I've driven the best hybrids ever made. They're different animals, and the Volt is trying to be both. It is succeeding in some ways, and missing in others. I don't think this much work was done to sabotage anything. There are WAY easier ways to sink a project like this. I truly believe that the Volt engineers are trying to do this as their version of "the right way."

>> 5) It requires premium gas. I guess if you aren't going to buy much gas, they'll at least make sure you have to buy the over-priced, most expensive stuff when you do. <<
Yeah, this is a bummer. They've admitted as much - the ICE they are using is NOT the ideal powerplant for the application. But with the cost of the car as high as it is already, we have to wonder what it would have been if they'd developed a whole new engine for this thing as well. Premium gasoline for a car with these performance specs just seems silly. And is obviously wasteful.

>>I'm definitely having deja-vu here. Its seeming like they're building the Volt hoping it will fail, not succeed.<<
For the reasons I wrote above, I can't agree. There are far easier and cheaper ways to destroy a car program. If they are designing it to fail, they worked harder - way harder - than they ever did with the EV1. I certainly don't agree with all their design choices. Not by a long shot. But I don't think they chose any of them with failure in mind. (they didn't do that with the EV1 either, of course. The plan to create a failure of the EV1 came AFTER the car was designed, as we know).

>> I guess we'll hear Dave Barthmus whining to the press again that 'they tried to sell the Volt but it is just too expensive and the market just isn't ready for it', just like we heard after they took the EV1s away and crushed them.<<
I'll likely be ill if this happens. Could they possibly play that same card again? I don't even want to think about it just yet.

>> It seems like Tesla remains the only auto manufacturer really committed to making an EV that's showing any sense in how they are going about it. Unfortunately, it's going to take a long time before they come out with something affortable for the masses.<<
Not giving the Leaf any love? Nissan is coming out of the gates with an affordable car. They made some choices to make it cheaper. Love or hate those choices - they sucked up and did it. I sure give them a lot of credit for this first product!

- Darell
EVnut.com
.

· ex-EV1 driver · 1 year ago

Thanks Darell,
I figured you'd come out with a good yet different view. No time to argue a few minor issues with you. I just hope you're right and I'm wrong.

· Alan (not verified) · 1 year ago

I'm thinking GM overthought the whole secondary engine thing. They put in a gas powered ICE to calm the fears of those who wanted something more conventional and needed their fears allayed of being out and about and nowhere to go when the batteries depleted.

However in doing so, they pretty much ruled out what probably should have been its target audience - The EV people. It is now a rich mans toy. Those who buy it are those who will accept its shortcomings, accept the horrible ICE, accept the inflated price - Those who want something new or cool and don't really care about the total package.

Those of us who car about the 'Total Package' and by that I mean, those of us who want a truly environmentally friendly economical car - and yes a smaller eco diesel controversial as it may seem would be more acceptable - will not accept the Volt as it is now. Sad to say, but it's the truth. Heck a small turbine would have been even better option.

Yes we can argue till the cows come home that GM went for what they considered the best option considering time and cost constraints - but I don't buy it ... and I won't buy IT!

· Ken Fry · 1 year ago

It is interesting to look back on this thread, now that there are real Volt customers who seem to range from extremely pleased to thrilled.

The Volt does, indeed, occasionally connect the ICE with the wheels mechanically, which was done to maximize efficiency in the charge-sustaining mode. When all the motive energy is coming from the engine under steady-state cruise conditions, then a direct mechanical linkage is more efficient than a series hybrid in which there are losses in the generator, motor, and controller. While working through this for my Zing! and in consulting re the same issues with a client, I found that eking out a little more efficiency can be seductive. I think that the effort can be misplaced however, and agree with ex-EV1 that it would have been better to spend more time optimizing engine efficiency, and use the simple series system.

But this can get quite esoteric, and in a large corporation with many points of view, very difficult to manage. It is ever so much easier to armchair quarterback than it is to balance all the competing priorities. No matter how they have achieved it, the Volt satisfies customers. Most of those customers will be traveling 15,000 miles per year on electricity, and using negligible amounts of petroleum. That's all good. In fact, that's very, very good.

In a month, there will be more Volts sold than in several years of Tesla production. In a couple of months from now, Chevy will have sold more Volts than the total production of all EVs manufactured or converted in the US since 1950.

In that context, the esoterica of precise engine efficiencies, transmission complexity, and ease of migrating to pure electric is of little consequence.

· Brian Jackson (not verified) · 1 year ago

I'm pleased that GM finally has a legitimate, hybrid, plugin hybrid REEV, whatever you want to call it. However, GM's new hybrid drive system is extremely similar to the Prius Synergy Drive system, which is patented. I can only guess, but it looks to me like GM wanted to use Toyota's technology without paying for it. I am not an engineer at GM, but from the information available online, the biggest difference between the Volt and the Prius is the size of the battery pack.

The transmission is a little different, but the differences are driven by the size of the battery pack. The motors are sized differently, but that's because of the size of the battery pack. The algorithms used to determine when to use the gas motor and when to use the electric motors are different, but again, that's because of the size of the battery pack.

Let's rewind a decade and a half to when Toyota was using a technology patented by GM (or Cerberus, or was it owned by an oil company at that particular instant in time?) Toyota was sued for using large format NiMH batteries in the RAV4 EV. Toyota lost and the best EV battery of the time was hidden away from the market place.

Now GM is using Toyota's technology. No law suit though. Interesting.

· Anonymous (not verified) · 25 weeks ago

Why did the EV-1 get 300km on that new battery and a Volt gets 60km ?

· Anonymous (not verified) · 25 weeks ago

Where can I buy the EV-1 .....? for those WHO don`t know what an EV-1 is watch the movie
see how GM destroyed all !

movie is call "WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR"

Shame on you GM ! and to give us a car that only gets 40 miles on a charge what a joke.

U can bet this all has to do with big oil !

· Former caddy owner (not verified) · 25 weeks ago

80% of California's 20 million working folks drive about 50 minutes round trip to work.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06000.html

Well within the Volts range. That's not a potential market? I would assume N.Y. has about the same numbers.

I have driven 1,200 miles in my new Volt. I burned off 7 gallons of gas on purpose because I didn't need the weight. I have since driven 800+ pure EV mode. If I need to go on a trip, I fuel up. I am getting 130 MPG city. $.088 per kwh. 13 kWh's to charge. 40 miles avg. per charge. $3.85 avg. cost for 1 gal. of gas.

The more gas goes up ... the more MPG I get. Saved $210 in gas in October. Thank you little Volt!

· Former caddy owner (not verified) · 24 weeks ago

You can tell Volt haters about gas savings until you are blue in the face and they won't listen. After all, they are the same people who think pouring $100 down a Hummers throat every week is cool.

Math fact: you take the $150 + monthly gas savings and apply it to your payment. Final payment ... just over $200. Very affordable.

EV's are like solar. They pay back, but the sticker is a shock to most. But those of us who controlled our fear are pleased beyond explanation. Think of it as purchasing a guaranteed stock. In 7 years, you have a 50% return. Who wouldn't buy that stock?

In the meantime, I get to drive my investment.

A simplified explanation of the Volts power train.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80E1fOp95rA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

· Ken Fry · 24 weeks ago

Brian Jackson wrote: "Now GM is using Toyota's technology. No law suit though. Interesting."

The lawsuit occurred when Texaco/Chevron owned Ovonics, so it was not GM vs Toyota as you imply.

I think the two technologies are different enough to avoid infringement issues. One would need to study the relevant patents in great detail to make a determination.

· Former caddy owner (not verified) · 22 weeks ago

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), a renowned, world wide group of engineers who work in all of the major auto companies named the Volt Best Engineered Car 2011.

Why? Because it is a new technology, and it is engineered way beyond minimum. Is it based on old technologies? Of course. All new technologies are based on old technologies.

The EV1 had a 257 mile range (final version). The technology is there to make a 300 mile Volt. Witness the Tesla S. However, people want to occasionally drive farther. The Volt can be pure electric for long periods of time, yet still get you from coast to coast with no problems.

If you have to commute more than 40 miles on electric, the Leaf may be the car for you. However, most people commute less than 40 miles. GM was only targeting a certain market.

The Volt caught everyone by surprise. Other car makers who have stated they plan to develop extended range vehicles of their own include Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes and GM's Cadillac ELR. There are others.

Is extended range the final answer? Of course not. But it fits in perfectly for the times. I save $150+ a month on gas (including charging costs). Right now gas is going down, but I don't trust the oil companies. The last time oil was over $100 per barrel, gas was around $4. Now oil is $100 per barrel and gas is around $3.30. Why? Manipulation. Perhaps they want to stop the sudden interest in EV's.

The EV1 was killed because auto makers were in bed with the oil companies. The oil companies stabbed them in the back. Some annalists believe promises were made to auto makers about gas prices, thus the big gas hogs.

In a San Jose automobile convention, shortly after the promises were broken, the major auto makers announced the love affair was over. That was only 2 or 3 years ago. Look at the advances in hybrids and EV's since. The oil companies will be dropping their prices more, I would guess. Even at $2.90 a gallon, the Volt can get 90 - 100 equivalent mpg, depending on where you live. Also, when cost of fuel goes down, electric rates go down, so equivalent mpg stays level.

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The Truth is Out: Chevy Volt's Wheels Sometimes Powered Partially by Combustion Engine [Updated]

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