So how does the Chevy Volt drive when the battery is depleted? File Manufacturer Photo
New York Times reporter Lindsay Brooke recently had the chance to drive Chevy's upcoming inline hybrid the Volt after the battery was depleted.
Keep in mind that the Volt is capable of running solely on electricity for about 40 miles.
Many automotive publications have speculated that when the Volt's battery gets depleted the car will run like an East German Trabant because the car's gas engine is only used to charge up the battery and not turn the wheels like a Prius.
In other words, the Volt is a dead duck when the battery goes empty. Currently the Volt is scheduled to be sold next year by GM.
So how does the Volt drive when the battery is empty?
According to the New York Times:
"It takes a few laps of Milford’s twisty, undulating 3.7-mile road course to deplete the remaining eight miles of battery charge. With the dashboard icon signaling my final mile of range, I point the Volt toward a hill and wait for the sound and feel of the generator engine’s four pistons to chime in.
But I completely miss it; the engine’s initial engagement is inaudible and seamless. I’m impressed. G.M. had not previously made test drives of the Volt in its extended-range mode available to reporters, but I can see that in this development car, at least, the engineers got it right.
I push the accelerator and the engine sound does not change; the “gas pedal” controls only the flow of battery power to the electric drive motor. The pedal has no connection to the generator, which is programmed to run at constant, preset speeds. This characteristic will take some getting used to by a public accustomed to vroom-vroom feedback.
A few hundred yards later, as we snake through the track’s infield section, the engine r.p.m. rises sharply. The accompanying mechanical roar reminds me of a missed shift in a manual-transmission car. For a moment the sound is disconcerting; without a tachometer, I guess that it peaked around 3,000 r.p.m."
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Comments
From what I've read lately, the Volt's gasoline generator won't actually charge the batteries at all. The gasoline powered generator will only create the electricity required of the electric motor at any point in time. GM says that will save gasoline, which is more expensive than the cost of charging the batteries from a plug. That may be true, but it seems like the engine will need to keep changing RPMs to respond to real time electric demand. Whereas if the gasoline generator were used to charge up the batteries a bit, then the electric demand could be leveled out and the gasoline generator wouldn't need to change RPM as often because the batteries could supplement the peak demand.
I think serial hybrids like the volt are an excellent idea. I just wish the generator were air cooled (the Volt's generator is so large it's water cooled and will require maintenance) and I wish the generator could accept a variety of fuels including CNG.
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