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If an electric oil pump were used couldn’t the engine be “primed” with oil before being started.

Oil life monitors are kind of sophisticated “idiot lights” to say the least. I monitor my own oil changes and just reset mine w/o ever giving it any consideration. I’m sure every manufacturer has their own algorithm to decide when it comes on, but the reality is that it’s basically an ornament.

Again, this brings me back to the ICE in the Volt. I’m just betting that some people might go better than a year w/o ever triggering the ICE in their normal every day driving. I do envision more sophisticated RE options in the future like even possibly turbines etc. but for now I think that the good ‘ol 3 banger will get the job done provided it’s regular maintenance and up keep (such as running it occasionally) isn’t overlooked. The reason I mentioned the warm up in an earlier post has nothing to do with emissions. If the ICE hasn’t been run in quite awhile and temps are cold and it immediately races to 2-2.5K rpm you;re looking at oil starvation of parts that don’t even have a base film. This type of intermittent running of the ICE could quickly turn it into an oil burner, and coolant “leaker” with relatively few work hours. This would not be the case in a regular vehicle where the ICE is run everyday because it’s the only means of propulsion.

Sooo, even when all the attention is on the batt. pack, range, et al. there is quite a bit of work to be done before 2010 on other fronts. For those that say this is just as simple as adding an ICE to an BEV and “be done with it” I hope I’ve made a point. Most know however that this vehicle has never been attempted before and just what kind of challenges GM is up against.

After reading about the GM “soft” hybrids, I have taken to shutting off my 4 cyl S-10 at long lights. I get beeped at when I take off too slowly, but what the hey, it’s another dime out of the Saudi princes’ Swiss accounts. But I have to admit a bit of guilt about possible extra emissions on restart.

Does anyone have any info on this?

17 Tom: A warm-up period may be an important factor for more reasons than just oil useage. Many rotating assembly items are designed to work at maximum efficiency when they reach certain tolerances (Piston to wall, Piston ring gap, crank and rod journal, etc…). Also, an ICE at operating temperature will burn fuel more efficiently due to an already heated pistons, cylinder heads, and other items in the quench area which promotes an more complete combustion cycle. If the system takes a small “graceful” warmup period to achieve optimum operating temperature, then when the system does kick in, it will be more efficient. Now, whether or not that is a fair trade-off in comparison to the amount of fuel used during the warmup period…I wouldn’t know. I’m sure the engineers have their hands full on that one. I would just assume that the warmup period would be for more than just optimizing the lubrication system.

…of course, that’s just a guess!

As a data point, my BMW has an “oil life” meter. I read up on it several years ago. It’s a very simple counter that just increments for every mile you drive, except for two special conditions. It increments twice for every mile you drive > 3000 RPM when the engine is cold. I remember being very surprised that driving for an entire mile at > 3k RPM with a cold engine made such little difference to this counter. So maybe having a “graceful” warmup period isn’t as important as we instinctively think.