Back on its feet after its IPO, and GM is now beginning to put its money where it’s most needed. One place in particular the company thinks it needs to expand is in the production of small engines.
Earlier this week GM announced it would be investing an additional $162 million in three of its facilities; Flint engines, Bay City components, and Defiance castings. The lion’s share of $138.3 million will go to the Flint, Michigan engine operations plant where 135 jobs will be retained.
GM is investing all this money in the Flint facility because it is where the engine critical to three vehicles that are the core of GM’s future will be built. This engine is the 4-cylinder 1.4 L ecotec model that serves both as the generator for the Chevy Volt and in a turbo-charged form for the Chevrolet Cruze compact car.
With the announcement GM also disclosed this engine will serve in a future Chevrolet small car the company apparently hasn’t yet unveiled.
“This is the replacement for the Aveo,” GM spokesperson Pat Morrissey told GM-Volt. “It will be built at the Orion plant.”
Unnamed and unseen, we still don’t know when we will find out more about this car. It is not the Spark that one time GM had planned for US launch. ”We have not discussed reveal timing for this product,” said Morrissey.
GM’s investment in the engine is good news for fans of the Volt and other fuel efficient cars.
“This investment is essential in ensuring we can meet the expected high demand for the Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Cruze and a small car that will be produced at our Orion Township facility,” said Kathleen Dilworth, Flint Engine Operations plant manager. “These three facilities will continue to play a key role in GM’s resurgence and efforts to bring to market vehicles with segment-leading fuel economy.”
Engines for the Volts currently being built are being imported from Austria. By early 2011 GM expects to build 400 engines per day in Flint and that will increase to 800 engines per day by then end of that year. This new investment allows for the possibility of building 1200 engines per day in 2012.
Today Indiana-based Electric Motors and Vehicle Company (EMAV) officially launches as a company along with the announcement of its new upcoming product called the Power Regeneration Unit (PRU).
The PRU is a actually a self-propelled diesel generator on wheels that can be hitched to an electric car and towed along as a trailer. It allows the pure electric car to possibly have a similar mode of operation to the Chevy Volt’s charge-sustaining mode, acting as a range-extender that produces electricity on the fly allowing the electric car continuous operation over long distances. The Device aims to extend the range of any electric vehicle by up to 10x—from an average electric vehicle range of 100 miles per charge to 1,000 miles per charge.
The company and product launch is further accompanied by the announcement of an extension of their partnership with with Mopar to develop the device and bring it to market. EMAV current produces and supplies the Jeep off-road camper/trailer to Mopar which is currently on sale at 2500 Chrysler dealerships in the United States. These units have been road tested for over 300,000 miles, and the PRU is built off of the same chassis.
EMAV says a working prototype will be demonstrated in the first quarter of 2011, and retail sales are anticipated to begin in the second half of 2011.
“For electric cars to be truly viable for a mass consumer audience, we need to bridge the gap between low-range electric vehicles that can travel moderate distances to electric vehicles which can truly become the sole family vehicle,” said Wil Cashen, founder and President, EMAV. “Our goal is to move the marketplace beyond the first generation of electric vehicles to more powerful and rugged cars that also have endurance. This will evolve the electric car paradigm from a supplemental to a primary car for consumers.”
The 1,220 pound device is self-propelled via an on-board 28 hp electric propulsion motor. It uses sensors to match the speed of the car. This avoids adding any load demand to, and thus power drain from the car. It contains a 6.6 gallon fuel tank and its own lithium ion batteries. It can generate 25 kw of max power from a 4-cylinder 750cc diesel engine. It also even has room for internal storage.
The cost of the unit is expected to be $15,000 and according to EMAV is designed to work with any electric vehicle. “It will be able to interact with any electric car,” said Cashen. “We are making the technology brand agnostic, and will have fits for all manufacturer’s models”
You may remember what was previously known as the Electric Motors Company and CEO Wil Cashen when he revealed the FLASH all -electric truck prototype in September 2009. There was hope for DOE funding and a large production workforce that never occurred. That company apparently failed. As to whether this new device will make it to market, we’ll have to wait and see.
About EMAV, from their Press Release:
ELECTRIC MOTORS AND VEHICLES COMPANY, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EMAV COMPANIES , is a global technology and product development company focused on rugged and sustainable electric vehicles, and electric vehicle technologies. The company offers power systems and all-terrain vehicles of various models with powertrain options that include electric, hybrid electric, alternative fuel, gasoline, and diesel drive systems. EMAV provides essential research and development, engineering, design, production, warranty, and customer support for various automobile partners, including Mopar – Jeep, a division of Chrysler Group, LLC, for which EMAV has developed and manufactures the Mopar – Jeep and RAM Camper – Trailer products. EMAV is currently in development with numerous patent-pending electric vehicle technologies, including its proprietary PRU™: a power regeneration unit which extends the range of electric vehicles, expected to be available for sale in early 2011.
Founded in 2010, EMAV is located in Wakarusa, Indiana. For more information, visit www.emavco.com
A significant focal point of the Chevrolet Volt launch debriefing that I attended focused on detailing the inner workings of the car’s electric drive unit. This has been dispersed across the Internet often inaccurately and to much controversy that’s rather unwarranted.
I was one of a handful of journalists that attended a presentation by Larry Nitz, GM’s executive director of EVs and hybrids, in which he fully explained the way the system works.
The system was first designed in mid-2007 at which point GM decided to build what up to then was only a concept Chevy Volt. The patent was applied for around that time, and only two weeks ago the company was advised the patent was awarded.
The key components are the 111 kw electric motor, the 55 kw electric motor/generator, and the 62 kw 1.4 L gasoline engine.
The core element is the large electric motor which always turns the driveshaft. The car is always electrically driven. The motor turns the sun gear of a planetary gearset which itself is then connected to the driveshaft through two sets of gears set at a 7 to 1 combined gear reduction ratio. In this state of driving the generator is used to only recapture kinetic energy during motor braking and coasting which is then fed back into the battery. It is grounded to the crankcase by one of three clutches.
The next drive state occurs when the car is still in EV mode, but reaches around 70 mph. At that point the 111 kw electric motor begins to spins too rapidly and loses efficiency, around 6500 rpm. To improve efficiency the system kicks in the smaller 55 kw electric motor to operate in parallel. GM thought a lot about this element and considered instead adding a second gear, but figured they could simply use the generator because at these speeds, “it’s not doing anything, ” said Nitz. “It’s just along for the ride.”
It does so by releasing a second clutch, disengaging the ring of the planetary gearset from its formerly fixed position against the case, which then causes coupling of the generator into the ring gear of the planetary. The parallel input from the smaller motor then allows the RPMs of the larger motor to be reduced, improving the overall efficiency of the system. By allowing the second motor to participate, engineers gained an additional 1 to 2 miles of electric range.
The third state of the system occurs when the battery state of charge drops to a 20 to 25% state of charge, and extended range or charge-sustaining operation commences. There is still a buffer in the battery used to handle the dynamic responses of the vehicle in this mode.
At low speeds, the gas engine comes on board and spins the generator motor simply to produce electricity sufficient to supplement the battery and supply the electric motor. The engine is locked to the generator through a third clutch, and the ring gear stays grounded to the crankcase. GM calls this a weak one motor series that is battery dominant with the engine in the background picking up the average amount of energy the vehicle needs.
The fourth and controversial state commences when the vehicle reaches speeds of 70 mph while in extended range mode.
As in EV mode the ring gear is decoupled from the case by the clutch and the smaller electric motor is once again allowed to operate in parallel with the large motor, increasing the system’s efficiency. The difference here is that the smaller motor is still being turned by the engine and not electricity. Thus the engine becomes coupled with both electric motors and all three work together to turn the driveshaft. Thus the gas engine participates in turning the wheels mechanically although indirectly. The generator is decoupled from the ring gear again when speeds drop back below 70 mph.
Thus although the engine generator can participate in mechanically driving the wheels it never does so directly or in isolation, at all points in time the large electric motor is the main driver of the wheels.
By adding this element, engineers were able to improve fuel efficiency by 10 to 15%.
There has been considerable blogospheric controversy over this as this appears to contradict GM’s previous statements that the engine never drives the wheels. Nitz said GM had to be coy about this element due to intellectual property reasons, and now that the patent has been awarded can finally be more transparent. He still says there is no solitary direct mechanical drive because to do so would require a clutch to the sun gear decoupling the 111 kw electric motor, something that doesn’t exist and doesn’t happen.
Does this element play a major role? It depends how often you drive over 70 mph and extended range mode.
GM went with a 1.4 L four cylinder normally aspirated gas engine for the first generation Chevy Volt generator. Though perhaps not optimized for efficiency within the serial hybrid model, the engine was readily available, mass-produced and relatively low cost. GM didn’t have time or money to build a powerplant specifically for the Volt.
“It offered us a nice balance,” said Volt vehicle director Tony Posawatz of the chosen engine. “It was a high-volume unit with existing capacity in a plant, and the output of the engine allowed us to meet the associated performance requirements.”
Engineers have done their best to optimize the efficiency of the system using this engine, though other powerplants could make charge-sustaining mode fuel efficiency even better. GM has not officially announced CS MPG though they have gone on record saying it will be better than any other car in its size class.
The engine will operate within a fairly narrow band, switching between several RPMs depending on the driving load at the moment. Most of the time it will probably operate at about 1800 RPM.
“We’re still finalizing the details but we’ll probably allow it to go up to 4,000 rpm, and that would only occur at high speeds or high loads, otherwise it would be relatively modest, almost imperceptible by the customer,” says Posawatz.
That GM has been able to achieve respectable performance and seamless transition into charge sustaining mode with an off-the-shelf combustion engine is nothing short of remarkable. However, the company isnt sitting still. Posawatz and his team are engaged in several advanced projects studying alternative options for the next generation Volt generator.
“We didn’t spend a lot on the extended-range feature, but you can bet that we are already looking at advanced projects on what an extended-range feature should operate like in the belief that this propulsion system will resonate with customers,” says Posawatz. “That may be a Stirling cycle engine, perhaps it’s a Wankel, a gas turbine, a small displacement motorcycle engine– you can extend the possibilities to a lot of different alternatives.”
We already know the Volt offers normal mode, sports mode, and mountain mode. There will also be a fourth mode of operation called maintenance mode.
The purpose of this function is to maintain the gasoline engine-generator in cases where it is rarely or never used. If the engine is never run, fuel may go stale, and mechanical parts may seize.
“We’ve initiated somethingcalled the maintenance mode,” Volt director Tony Posawatz told Automotive Engineering.
“Just like having fuel and oil monitors and other smart sensors, we have a system in this vehicle that will be able to keep track of how long the engine hasn’t run,” he said. “It can then give an update to the customer and run the maintenance mode to burn off fuel and lubricate the powertrain’s moving parts.”
The exact parameters of maintenance mode havent been finalized yet, but since many users may rarely use the engine its role is very important.
I asked Tony if maintenance mode will go on automatically or if drivers will be prompted to activate it when the system sense it is needed.
“Driver will be prompted and can select when to engage jut like software updates on your computer,” he said. “At some point and time, the car will override and initiate maintenance mode to protect the car and the customer.”
I also asked Tony that if only a little fuel was burned once in a while in maintenance mode, since gas could still go stale after a year, whether there will be another way to drain the fuel.
“There are other ways to burn off the fuel, like using mountain mode, for example to build additional battery charge buffer,” he said. “You can also not plug-in for a day, drive longer distances, or heaven forbid, not put much gas in the car in the first place and only fill up before longer journeys.”
Earlier this week GM released the 2011 Chevrolet Volt ordering guide for dealers to use. Included in the description about the gasoline generator were the words “requires premium fuel.” This led to specualtion and surprise from fans and skeptics as to why in the world the car would require premium gas.
According to Volt vehicle line director Tony Posawatz, there are two main reasons.
“The Volt is all about efficiency,” he said. “Premium fuel offers the opportunity to have a little bit more spark.”
“Ninety one octane fuel also offers the opportunity to be a little more efficient, he added. “So technically its a five to ten percent fuel economy improvement the few times that most people will run the range extender.”
Posawatz also claimed the increase is cost will be offset by the efficiency gains.
“Based on our calculations the fuel economy and efficiency gains you get will effectively compensate for the extra cost of premium fuel,” he said
Additionally, premium fuel is apparently slower to go stale.
If people are not using the extended range capability a lot, the premium fuel does last a little longer,” he said
“There will be a few that will have their gas go bad,” he added. “We have ways to address that as well.”
The AAA Fuel Gauge Report shows the current national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $2.74. The national average for a gallon of premium gasoline is $3.01.
