It is true, just not under normal operating conditions. If I recall correctly (going by memory rather than looking it up specifically) the engine provides motive power when going up hills and the batteries are exhausted.
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GM Chevy Volt
- Thread starter vfx
- Start date
Yes, when you run out of battery, the ICE powers the car like a normal hybrid.
It has nothing to do with hills. It will go (edit) fast up a fairly steep grade on battery.
Breezy
Member
The Volt's engine only needs to run, in order to propel the car, when the battery energy is depleted. Nothing to do with hills or Sport mode. After that, the engine runs and provides power to turn the electric motor(s), to provide mechanical torque to the wheels, or both.
There are some other conditions when the engine does run even though it's not needed to propel the car, as described by Skotty above.
There are some other conditions when the engine does run even though it's not needed to propel the car, as described by Skotty above.
This isn't the full story. Actually, if you are driving over about 40 mph and the gas engine is running you are much more likely to be in mechanical power-split mode than in series generator mode. According to an SAE paper written by the engineers who developed the first generation Volt transmission, the Volt is about 3 times as likely to be in power-split mode than series mode when it is running on the EPA's US06 highway test cycle. They didn't say so specifically, but it would probably be even more likely to be in power-split mode when running the less aggressive HWFET highway test cycle.
Finally, the new 2016 Volt doesn't even have a series mode anymore -- when the engine is running it will always have a mechanical path to the wheels.
See this discussion during the past day in the Bolt thread:
Chevy Bolt - 200 mile range for $30k base price (after incentive) - Page 186
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
The "hills" part probably is talking about mountain mode. There are some grades where you want to engage mountain mode to turn on the engine before the battery is depleted.
Breezy
Member
Mountain mode actually allows you to use battery energy to help the engine, not the other way around. If you're still running on battery you have 149 hp available and Mountain mode isn't required.
The Gen 1 Volt's engine is 84 horsepower which doesn't provide enough power for sustained climbs at highway speeds. Engaging mountain mode keeps the battery at a minimum SOC to provide additional power.
I've never used it. We have hills around here, but nothing remotely close to requiring Mountain mode.
No need to argue about it. If you are in sport mode and request 100% acceleration, the ICE does NOT start. All of the power comes from the electric motors in both versions of the Volt.
The only time the ICE starts are due to the following;
1. The battery is depleted.
2. Hold mode was selected.
3. Mountain mode was selected.
4. Engine running due to temperature.
The only time the ICE starts are due to the following;
1. The battery is depleted.
2. Hold mode was selected.
3. Mountain mode was selected.
4. Engine running due to temperature.
It is interesting that years after the introduction of the Volt, and many hundreds of posts about it on TMC, people still get into disputes about how the drivetrain operates. And not just over details, but over basic operation.
It is a very complex drivetrain, quite different from anything else in mass production.
It is a very complex drivetrain, quite different from anything else in mass production.
I'm not sure it's really all that more complicated than a typical automatic transmission and is actually simpler in some ways. And how many people really understand how a Prius or Ford hybrid power-split transmission works as you drive down the road under different conditions -- very few. The Volt is just novel as the first modern commercial factory-built PHEV and the first EREV. And it's not really all that novel because the new 2016 design is mostly a simplified "two-mode" hybrid design patented in 2001 as described in:
Revenge of the Two-Mode Hybrid - GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site.
The trouble mostly comes from confused expectations created by GM during their unusually public development process between 2007 and 2011. With most cars they only tell you a consistent story about the final design after it is finished whereas with the Volt they were describing aspects of its design as they were working on it. This left people with expectations of a series-only generator design rather than the reality of a mostly power-split design with a series mode for low speed driving and hard acceleration. The novelty of the design and lazy assumption-based reporting led to a history of misleading media descriptions of how the gen 1 operates that continues through to today. Drivers often don't know whether the gen 1 Volt is in series or power-split mode because the transition is usually seamless -- that's a good thing but it contributes to confusion.
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Breezy
Member
Yep, there's no need to get into disputes. Just read Jeff N's posts and links. Seriously. They explain everything in much better detail, and are much easier to follow than snappy forum posts.
If you want to see complicated, take a look at a typical 6-speed transmission. An eight- or nine-speed is nearly unfathomable.
If you want to see complicated, take a look at a typical 6-speed transmission. An eight- or nine-speed is nearly unfathomable.
SmartElectric
Active Member
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
If only they would have smoothed out the grill area more. It's still unnecessarily busy, trying to look like an ICE.
flankspeed8
Member
Looks like 2017 production starts today which means that the Volt is once again a 50 state vehicle rather than CARB only for the limited 2016 run.
Production Of 2017 Chevrolet Volt Begins!
Production Of 2017 Chevrolet Volt Begins!
JohnSnowNW
Active Member
Great! When can I configure one online to then send out to all the dealerships around here asking what they can do for me?
flankspeed8
Member
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