Quote:
Originally Posted by Hylton
You sound like you are fine with the ambiguity. Can we not be a tad more honest than Toyota? That's what we are really talking about, not how much better the Volt is with every other Hybrid out there - you're not going to find anyone disagreeing with that point.
If the Volt was a true EV then I should be able to move the "generator" to the trunk, run longer wires to all the original connections and it should work exactly as it does now. Something tells me I can't do that and expect the same performance when traveling over 70 mph.
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If you had a 200 mile extension cord and plugged the Volt in you could drive 200 miles without using gas at 101mph.
I think were GM saved some complexity and money is that the small motor/generator is connected to the ring gear. The ICE is also connected to the ring so when the Volt needs to create electricity the ICE fires up and spins the ring gear thus spinning the motor/generator.
The "problem" is the ring gear has to spin above 70 mph because of gearing.
When the battery is full the motor/generator spins the gear and ICE stays off all the way up to 101mph. When the battery is "depleted" the ICE is running and spinning the ring gear already to provide electricity. Therefore if the battery is "depleted" and you are traveling above 70 mph the ICE is turning the ring gear which is creating electricity for the traction motor and it is then replacing the torque that would be applied by the motor/generator.
You could move the ICE to the trunk but then you would need another generator to produce electricity because using a planetary gear design you need to 2 electric motors or else you would have a one speed transmission.