Comments on: Bob Lutz on Chevy Volt Battery Tests, Cold Starts, and Use of OnStar http://gm-volt.com/2008/08/27/bob-lutz-on-chevy-volt-battery-tests-cold-starts-and-use-of-onstar/ Real-time news, information, and discussion about the Chevrolet Volt. Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:41:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Steve http://gm-volt.com/2008/08/27/bob-lutz-on-chevy-volt-battery-tests-cold-starts-and-use-of-onstar/#comment-110203 Steve Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:12:29 +0000 http://gm-volt.com/?p=1244#comment-110203 Why use wind turbine generators on the hood of the car to generate electricity while driving?.I don't see that this idea is really any dumber than an electric car anyway. Auto makers know fine well it doesn't have to make sense, it just has to appeal to the ideology. Like the Volt, Instead of burning the fuel to directly power your car- you're converting it to electricity, (losing efficiency) transmitting it through miles of lines (losing efficiency) transferring it to your chemical battery (losing efficiency) storing it (losing it) before finally using the fraction that is left... to go 40 miles! (new battery, flat road, warm day, not using heater, AC, radio or lights) what is being sold is not a practical alternative to anything, but a sense of self righteousness and superiority. Little windmills on the car would serve this purpose, while, like the hybrid logos, giving everybody a good laugh! I don't think you have to worry about the buyer citing the 2nd law of thermodynamics- we are talking about people who think Co2 is a dirty pollutant! Not the most scientifically literate target market:) Why use wind turbine generators on the hood of the car to generate electricity while driving?.I don’t see that this idea is really any dumber than an electric car anyway. Auto makers know fine well it doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to appeal to the ideology. Like the Volt, Instead of burning the fuel to directly power your car- you’re converting it to electricity, (losing efficiency) transmitting it through miles of lines (losing efficiency) transferring it to your chemical battery (losing efficiency) storing it (losing it) before finally using the fraction that is left… to go 40 miles! (new battery, flat road, warm day, not using heater, AC, radio or lights) what is being sold is not a practical alternative to anything, but a sense of self righteousness and superiority. Little windmills on the car would serve this purpose, while, like the hybrid logos, giving everybody a good laugh!
I don’t think you have to worry about the buyer citing the 2nd law of thermodynamics- we are talking about people who think Co2 is a dirty pollutant!
Not the most scientifically literate target market:)

]]> By: Andres http://gm-volt.com/2008/08/27/bob-lutz-on-chevy-volt-battery-tests-cold-starts-and-use-of-onstar/#comment-99269 Andres Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:20:38 +0000 http://gm-volt.com/?p=1244#comment-99269 I have a 2005 chevy silverado 2500HD duramax diesel, this has 2 batteries. 1 left side up front behind the headlight, the other on right side by the firewall. the one at the firewall, got real hot very hot, i had both batts. checked and the one at the fire wall was bad. what would cause this. battery to get so hot. i have taken the battery out of the truck. and let it set over night. it cooled down. so i ask is this just a battery that went bad or did something else cause this from the trucks elect, system. the other battery is fine. Thanks Andres I have a 2005 chevy silverado 2500HD duramax diesel, this has 2 batteries. 1 left side up front behind the headlight, the other on right side by the firewall. the one at the firewall, got real hot very hot, i had both batts. checked and the one at the fire wall was bad. what would cause this. battery to get so hot. i have taken the battery out of the truck. and let it set over night. it cooled down. so i ask is this just a battery that went bad or did something else cause this from the trucks elect, system. the other battery is fine.

Thanks
Andres

]]> By: LyleL http://gm-volt.com/2008/08/27/bob-lutz-on-chevy-volt-battery-tests-cold-starts-and-use-of-onstar/#comment-63044 LyleL Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:30:59 +0000 http://gm-volt.com/?p=1244#comment-63044 Concerning the ICE coming on when it's -40F: I basically agree with Mitch's statement: “I think that the Volt will monitor battery temp, if plugged in...” Apologies if I'm repeating what someone else has said. If GM allows us to schedule pre-heat/pre-cool of the interior compartment if plugged in, (e.g. Turn-on the air conditioner or heater 5 minutes before we leave), then an option to pre-warm the battery should also be included if the car detects the battery temp is too low. I would also like to inhibit the startup of the genset if only defined performance band of the car is affected and it will not damage electronics or battery. Driving the car will eventually warm the battery from current draw. <b>The goal for this driver is to not use gas.</b> How about a secondary “energy conservation” or “car performance/behavior” menu that allows us to choose how frugal the car should be on energy usage. Give Joe Blow the default menu, but allow the rest of us to buy the shop manual (if required) and fully take advantage of that limited energy contained in the battery. Definitely don't apply the same thinking, where on my 1988 Toronado where there is no way to bring air in through the dash vents without running the air conditioner. Everyday that the temperature is over 40 some degrees Fand the climate control system is on, it will run the gas consuming air conditioner compressor. Other GM cars had an econo button that would disable the compressor. I'm expecting all sorts of options similar to this to make the car stretch those electric 40 to 50 or 60 miles. Surely GM will offer “presets” of normal, sporty, or econo modes. Will this make the software too complicated? The car already has to address these issues for basic car operation, so while the control modules are written, behavioral constants can be used to dictate the cars behavior, where those constants can be loaded from default firmware or flash ram holding the owners preferences. I'm NOT asking for a user scripting language to taylor car behavior. GM knows how to do electric motors, inverter/controllers and even batteries. The real product advantage will be the driving experience and the human to machine interface. Once all of the physical design issues are layed out, software is what will make the Volt a dream or a nightmare to drive. I have confidence that GM can do the software very well if they want to. Of course GM has thought of this before, just want GM to know that the consumer is also thinking and has similar expectations. Yes, I'll raise my hand to be a Beta or even an Alpha tester for the above software features fully well aware there could be some bad experiences. Cars are finally advancing and I will gladly participate! Concerning the ICE coming on when it’s -40F:

I basically agree with Mitch’s statement:
“I think that the Volt will monitor battery temp, if plugged in…”

Apologies if I’m repeating what someone else has said.

If GM allows us to schedule pre-heat/pre-cool of the interior compartment if plugged in, (e.g. Turn-on the air conditioner or heater 5 minutes before we leave), then an option to pre-warm the battery should also be included if the car detects the battery temp is too low. I would also like to inhibit the startup of the genset if only defined performance band of the car is affected and it will not damage electronics or battery. Driving the car will eventually warm the battery from current draw. The goal for this driver is to not use gas. How about a secondary “energy conservation” or “car performance/behavior” menu that allows us to choose how frugal the car should be on energy usage. Give Joe Blow the default menu, but allow the rest of us to buy the shop manual (if required) and fully take advantage of that limited energy contained in the battery. Definitely don’t apply the same thinking, where on my 1988 Toronado where there is no way to bring air in through the dash vents without running the air conditioner. Everyday that the temperature is over 40 some degrees Fand the climate control system is on, it will run the gas consuming air conditioner compressor. Other GM cars had an econo button that would disable the compressor. I’m expecting all sorts of options similar to this to make the car stretch those electric 40 to 50 or 60 miles. Surely GM will offer “presets” of normal, sporty, or econo modes.

Will this make the software too complicated? The car already has to address these issues for basic car operation, so while the control modules are written, behavioral constants can be used to dictate the cars behavior, where those constants can be loaded from default firmware or flash ram holding the owners preferences. I’m NOT asking for a user scripting language to taylor car behavior.

GM knows how to do electric motors, inverter/controllers and even batteries. The real product advantage will be the driving experience and the human to machine interface. Once all of the physical design issues are layed out, software is what will make the Volt a dream or a nightmare to drive. I have confidence that GM can do the software very well if they want to.

Of course GM has thought of this before, just want GM to know that the consumer is also thinking and has similar expectations.

Yes, I’ll raise my hand to be a Beta or even an Alpha tester for the above software features fully well aware there could be some bad experiences. Cars are finally advancing and I will gladly participate!

]]> By: Engineer http://gm-volt.com/2008/08/27/bob-lutz-on-chevy-volt-battery-tests-cold-starts-and-use-of-onstar/#comment-62467 Engineer Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:23:22 +0000 http://gm-volt.com/?p=1244#comment-62467 #146 Bob - When I was at a competitor OEM we had a an engine ECU developed with TargetLink while the vehicle controller was both hand-coded C and Embedded Coder auto-generated C. Then you look at supplier developed systems like ABS and transmission controls, they will be a mix depending on what the supplier is comfortable with. On the Volt there will be code developed by GM, code by the Battery Supplier, code by the Charger supplier, etc. #146 Bob -

When I was at a competitor OEM we had a an engine ECU developed with TargetLink while the vehicle controller was both hand-coded C and Embedded Coder auto-generated C. Then you look at supplier developed systems like ABS and transmission controls, they will be a mix depending on what the supplier is comfortable with.

On the Volt there will be code developed by GM, code by the Battery Supplier, code by the Charger supplier, etc.

]]> By: BluesBrian http://gm-volt.com/2008/08/27/bob-lutz-on-chevy-volt-battery-tests-cold-starts-and-use-of-onstar/#comment-62260 BluesBrian Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:19:14 +0000 http://gm-volt.com/?p=1244#comment-62260 All sounds good.. automation that has come "smarts".. although, I like to have the ability to take manual control .. and over-ride the computer that wants to "tell me where to go" figuratively. All sounds good.. automation that has come “smarts”.. although, I like to have the ability to take manual control .. and over-ride the computer that wants to “tell me where to go” figuratively.

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