May be the limitations are unsprung weight, plus the controller would be more complicated if you wanted to impliment stability control ! WOW !

I guess a single AC motor will do for now….

Cheers!

Thank you very much.

Are there 110,000 auto workers left in the US?

I’ll tell you gang, I love the idea of the US beating the rest of the world to the Volt/E-REV mass production concept, BUT…
The idea of having this vehicle produced across the globe and delivered to us with an US corporation’s (GM) name on it leaves a VERY bitter taste in my mouth. it’s great that our design engineers will have played a major role in the vehicle’s development but that is a very small number of jobs compared to the production line. Those of us that signed Lyle’s list are interested in the volt for one of a few reasons. Among them would be the environment, terminating our dependance on fossil fuels, the possibility of combining this vehicle with home photovoltaics in order to drive on sun power, WHATEVER! I think we should all also factor in the importance that this product could have on our nation’s economy. Remember, “It’s the economy stupid” (sorry, not you). Thousands of manufacturing jobs could be brought home to keep some of our nation’s remaining dollars here at home. We can’t survive as a consumer/service economy for much longer. We HAVE to PRODUCE SOMETHING to bring funds back into our economy!!! Employing thousands of US auto workers would go a long way toward revitalizing a number of hard hit areas in our country.
Government incentives, Tax breaks, union concessions, and a couple thousand extra dollars from the consumer would all be worth it. Lyle, is there a way to begin a “Build It Here” campaign on the site?
It’s been said that the GM big wigs check in on this site every now and then. If you (the reader) happen to be one consider this. There will be very few of us left who can afford vehicles like this if the economy collapses from our massive trade deficit. Picture the add campaign you could create waving that flag and flying that eagle if you can taut this vehicle as nearly all US made (have to be realistic with electronics and what not). Advertise that the car costs 32k instead of 29k because your employing US auto workers in an effort to save our country. Tell the potential buyers about the teamwork you will have created between GM, the UAW and the US govenment in order to make this happen. This type of campaign worked for Saturn when they came out, take it further. Subaru, toyota, etc are all telling us how they are employing US auto workers. Lets see you bring it home.
My bottom line is this. I’m waiting for the Volt for now but, when it comes to crunch time, I will factor in who is getting my dollars. If it comes down to a foreign nameplate assembled/built here vs a GM (or other US nameplate) shipped here by cargo freighter you will lose out. MY DOLLAR IS GOING BACK TO US WORKERS WHENEVER POSSIBLE! Corporations are so internationally entangled that I could care less who’s name is on the bumper.
All right… Enough preaching… Now, back to techs, specs, and dreams…

I was really speaking about electric motors in general so I don’t know why you’re bringing this up.

But I will say that I consider it a design flaw if the car starts slowing down and regenerating energy without me touching the brake pedal.

I have experienced this behavior in the Prius and it is infuriating.

ASSIST hybrids do indeed operate in that manner.

FULL hybrids don’t have any type of connection like that; instead, there is an indirect linkage via a PSD (Power Split Device).

FULL hybrid decleration begins as soon as the accelerator-pedal is released, before the brake-pedal is ever touched. The smaller of the two motors changes from generator to REgenerator, spinning independently of the engine’s crankshaft. Later when the brake-pedal is pushed, the REgenerating task is switched from the smaller motor to the bigger motor. Friction brakes will join in following that, if needed.

FULL hybrids are very, very different from ASSIST.

Bill, you’re halfway there. When the electric motor is off, the crankshaft can spin freely. This is the equivalent of putting the car in neutral.

If the electric motor is set up to produce a constant magnetic field on the crankshaft, the rotation of the crankshaft is converted into electrical current. The stronger the field, the “harder” it is for the crankshaft to spin, and the more current is generated.

This means the brake pedal will basically control the strength of the field. Pressing harder will slow you down faster and produce more electricity. If the regen “brakes” are maxed out or the battery is full, the software will activate the friction brakes to provide extra stopping power.

I may have a very basic misunderstanding. Please let me know if I am wrong.

I thought regenerative braking happened when the propulsion motor became a generator when electricity was no longer fed to it but the vehicle was still moving. If more braking was needed, the friction brakes were used. I get the feeling from the above comments that the actual brakes are different and generate electricity at the wheels, not via the motor. Please let me know which is correct.

On the matter of friction brake wear, Prius taxis get about three times the mileage before brake pads need to be changed, compared to conventional taxis.

Hey Tony, not to detract from the point of your last 2 posts that the A123 cell for the Volt is a new design, but did you notice that the link you give to autobloggreen.com credits gm-volt.com as its source?

ATTN EVERYBODY:
Please number your own posts until self-numbering is restored.

I like the ability to quote other posters without having to copy and paste.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/12/03/evs23-a123-shows-off-new-cell-design-for-volt-battery-pack/