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The difference is..... Volt's engine also drives the wheels at times. The BMW is only driven electric motors.
When under full throttle after the battery is depleted, yes. But not when the battery is charged. And it actually drives the second electric motor which then drives the wheels though the planetary gearbox.
It's very clever, but still an EV with a generator onboard. The difference between the Volt and a true hybrid is that the hybrid has to have the gas engine in it to be useable, while the Volt does not.
I've taken mine to Maine from Baltimore and used the gas generator, which never drove the wheels the entire time. Can't do that with a hybrid, even a Prius or Ford plug in hybrid.
I own the car, and have studied Volts since 2006, when first shown. The Volt uses a planetary gearset that allows the primary electric motor to drive it, the secondary electric motor to be a generator, until you use full throttle where it converts to a motor and assists the primary electric motor, and then there's the gas engine which drives the secondary motor/generator to charge the batteries. And if the battery is depleted AND you're traveling at high speeds, then the generator drives the secondary electric motor which in turn assists the primary motor. The gas generator never drives the wheels directly, an only assists in limited (battery depletion) situations.
But when the battery is not depleted, the gas engine is not used for anything (unless you have it in "hold mode" where the generator runs to maintain battery charge while driving on the highway, but still doesn't drive the wheels) or if the temps are below 25 degrees F where the gas engine runs to assist in heating the car and maintaining battery temps.
The point is, the Volt is an EV that operates entirely as an EV unless the battery is depleted, in which case the gas generator CAN assist the secondary motor to help drive the wheels (though the primary electric motor is still doing the bulk of the work, as the battery never truly depletes, since zero indicated charge is still actually 40% charge on the batteries). It has nothing to do with high speeds and the Volt can and does use full throttle acceleration and it's top speed without ever using the gas generator. I've been there and done it.
"But the Volt isn't always a series hybrid. Once the speed climbs to about 70 mph, the motor/generator again couples to the ring gear but now—in "charge-sustaining" mode—the smaller electric motor is also affixed to the running gas engine. In effect, the gas engine supplies power directly to the transmission, which is just like a parallel hybrid."
The Volt was supposed to be like the BMW i3 in setup with electric traction motors only driving the vehicle. GM used an existing off the shelf 1,400cc engine, which is not fully suited for efficient generator turning. Genny engines are designed differently, like having no heavy flywheel and 3 cylinders and lighter. Lotus designed a 1,000 3 cylinder engine specifically for hybrid applications - which if installed in the Volt would eliminate the need for the clutches and the planetary gear set. As the GM engine was not fully suited for the use they required GM had to install 3 clutches and a planetary gearing set as a work around. This not to discredit the Volt which is an excellent car. But the next generation should have a decent genny engine, preferably a Wankel, and eliminate the complexity. The beauty of a series-hybrid is the mechanical/electrical simplicity. The engine is a part time engine in normal every day usage with the batteries charged from the grid will rarely come in. Wankels as constant speed genny engines are ideal as they are one third of the size and weight. The Wankel comes into its niche in series-hybrid cars as a range extender.
"But the Volt isn't always a series hybrid. Once the speed climbs to about 70 mph, the motor/generator again couples to the ring gear but now—in "charge-sustaining" mode—the smaller electric motor is also affixed to the running gas engine. In effect, the gas engine supplies power directly to the transmission, which is just like a parallel hybrid."
1) don't use wikipedia for factual information. I've driven my own ****ing Volt at speeds in excess of 80 mph (in fact all the way up top it's 100MPH top speed, though it runs down the battery range at an alarming rate when you do that) and the gas engine NEVER TURNS ON! How can it help drive the wheels if it isn't even ****ing running? Listen to someone with experience!
2) Go drive one with a full charge on it (or an Opel Ampera if that's what's in your neck of the woods) and take it up on the highway at 70-80+ mph. The gas generator will not run. It's pretty simple to prove this with an actual test drive of one. I've had mine on the interstate many times, with trips from Baltimore up to Connecticut 4 times and a trip up to Maine once. Highway speeds are 75-80 mph. Same with the Baltimore beltway (I695 around Baltimore) and I do that on a weekly basis.
Both of you may be right. The gas engine may help assist but won't display on screen
he's not even close to correct. I've lived with this car for almost 2 years now.
You can hear and feel the gas engine start up. And yes, it ALWAYS displays on the screen when it's running (there is an H gauge in the center of the screen that shows the battery useage in kWh on the left and engine usage on the right as well as kWh in regen).
Whenever the engine is running, that gauge shows it, and like I said, you can feel it run and hear it run (as he said, it's just a standard 1.4 liter 4 cyl. It's not terribly smooth or very quiet even at idle.)
As I said, even at it's top speed when in normal or sport mode, the engine will not start and run until the battery is depleted.
I never quoted wiki. All explanations say it has three clutches and the engine in some circumstances drives the car directly via the clutches and plentary gearset. I tend to believe the many explanations. I paid attention tk its development and there was great dissapointing reaction whdn the crutches were introduced af the 11 th hour
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