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Archive for the 'Engineering' Category

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MINI E Pothole Fail, GM Working Hard on Chevy Volt Quality

October 28th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Prototypes, Safety with 123 Comments

As some readers may know, I am one of 100 people in New York who are leasing the MINI E electric car for one year.  I recently passed 5000 miles of driving the car, and for the most part am very happy with it, especially in that all those miles have been covered without using [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 123 Comments

Chevy Volt Engine Generator Operates Between 1200 and 4000 RPM

October 26th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Generator with 123 Comments

The Chevy Volt’s 1.4 L 4 cylinder flex fuel generator garners a lot of attention and discussion online.
It is this range-extender that make the car so unique. Although the Volt always operates as an EV, once the battery’s state of charge reaches roughly 30% this generator powers on, providing electricity to the motor. [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 123 Comments

Transition From Integration to Pre-Production Begins Now: Thousands of Chevy Volts to be Built Early Next Year

October 12th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Production with 160 Comments

As was reported on Friday October 9, GM completed building the last of a total of 74 pre-production Chevy Volts, which were built in the modest-sized pre-production operations facility in GM’s Warren campus. I had the chance to discuss with Volt vehicle line engineer Tony Posawatz what happens now.
Now that these cars are finished [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 160 Comments

Q&A With Chevy Volt Lead Powertrain Engineer

October 8th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, GM Q and A, Original GM-Volt Interviews, Production with 193 Comments

Alex Cattelan is head of the Volt propulsion engineering team.  I had the chance to discuss the current state of Chevy Volt development from her perspective.
What is your role in the Volt program?
I head up the team that does all of the propulsion systems for the Volt. That includes motors, power electronics, we don’t [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 193 Comments

Exclusive: The Engineering Challenges of Volt Generator Mode

August 17th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Generator with 341 Comments

After the Chevy Volt has been driven 40 miles on electricity, the gas-powered generator turns on supplying electricity along with a buffer in the battery that the electric motor needs for continued operation.  Though GM has been developing this function for a while they have not shown it publicly.
I had a chance to discuss this [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 341 Comments

Chevy Volt Battery Has Robust Cell Monitoring and Safety Systems

July 26th, 2009 | Posted in: Battery, Engineering with 160 Comments

Greg Ceisel is the Chevy Volt Program manager and has integral knowledge about the car’s engineering.
He recently shed some light on how the battery pack detects and reacts if there are any problems.
“The reliability of the Chevy Volt and its battery are essential to the success of this technology,” he said. “Our battery design [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 160 Comments

Chevy Volt Will Continue to Operate Even after Battery Drops Below 50% Capacity

July 24th, 2009 | Posted in: Battery, Engineering with 252 Comments

Lithium-ion batteries degrade over time. There’s no getting around this fact. GM is going out of its way to pamper the Volt’s pack so as to guarantee up to 40 miles of pure electric range even at 10 years or 150,000 miles of driving. But what happens beyond that?
Most experts believe the [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 252 Comments

EPA Playing a Role in Volt Generator Mode Behavior?

June 12th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Generator, Prototypes with 184 Comments

It is known that no one outside GM at this point has been allowed to witness the Chevy Volt prototypes running in generator mode.
Previously it was reported that the reason for this is that the car isn’t soundproofed and GM doesn’t want people to hear the engine. Jon Lauckner has also told me the [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 184 Comments

Chevy Volt Mule in Generator Mode Already ‘Prius Quiet’

May 27th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Generator, Performance, Test drive with 164 Comments

General Motors has allowed the Cruze-bodied Chevy Volt mules to be test driven by more than a dozen journalists and various others including myself.
They have strictly restricted those driving experiences to the vehicle’s charge depleting mode. Outsiders thus only have the experience of driving the car in pure electric mode without the gas generator [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 164 Comments

Volt Chief Engineer on Chevy Volt Gas Tank Size and Stale Gas Management

May 26th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Fuel with 211 Comments

An unknown area about the Chevy Volt is how much gas the tank will hold and how the possibility for stale gas will be dealt with. It is known the first 40 miles of driving will be from the electricity of a fully charged battery. After that the car will get 50 MPG.
I [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 211 Comments

Why GM Still Needs More Time to Bring the Volt to Market

May 14th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Production, Timeline with 179 Comments

People often ask why will it take so much longer for GM to bring the Volt to market. Considering how much has been done already and the publicity from smaller carmakers, the casual observer often imagines the car should be ready sooner than November 2010.
I asked Volt chief engineer Andrew Farah why it will [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 179 Comments

What Will the Volt’s Generator Mode Feel Like?

May 4th, 2009 | Posted in: Engineering, Generator with 233 Comments

GM has not let any of the media including myself experience driving in the charge-sustaining or generator mode in the Chevy Volt mules. There might be some concerns about how it will be experienced possibly leading to some negative press.
While I was at the Milford Proving Grounds I was told that many people who drive [...]

Posted by: Lyle with 233 Comments

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