2011 Chevrolet Volt Development Story Free Online Magazine

[Lyle]

There i a remarkably detailed 60 page online printable magazine covering the entire story of the Volt. Sort of like compressing the 1500 posts on GM-Volt.com into one concise magazine.

You can view it and print it for free here:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/sae/...37384646463337

It was written and edited by Lindsay Brooke who is a highly acclaimed automotive engineering writer.

[Tagamet]

I'd have thought that this would generate a lot of discussion. Where are the comments?

[TedinFortMyers]

Hi guys.

It will take some time to read this manuscript but I am sure it will be a very interesting story when I get the time.

Take Care,
TED

[George S. Bower]

Well Tag I had to read it first and while we all know a lot of it there are still some very interesting parts. I especially liked the section "Engineering with Maniacal Focus", p26 and 27. I can relate to the pressure the team was under to solve what seemed unsolvable within the tight schedule. Like: "After the 40 month development program, the main thing the engineers really wanted to do was take a vacation as they had not one for such a long time". Another part that was interesting (in the same section) was "Solving the BSE Riddle", BSE is the battery state estimator program. "There were times when the team thought they were up against the wall".

The other good part was in the battery development section. Apparently A123 put up a good fight and it was almost 50/50 on who would take the contract. I have a suspicion that A123 may still be in the game and indeed be a Gen2 supplier of an improved battery---ie one that does the job with a higher DOD and therefore offers lower cost and weight.

Thanks for the Article Lyle, enjoyable reading indeed.

I'm surprised the Volt is only 42, 000$. It's got a lot more high tech in it than that.

[LRGVProVolt]

Hi Tag,

What I was amazed about was that GM collaborated with so many companies and industries. I haven't finished reading the final pages but have this link bookmarketed for future re-reading. My memory is like a sive; I need to read something over several times for it to sink in

[TedinFortMyers]

Lyle, This was a very interesting series of stories. Sure points out the complexities of the whole development process. Thanks again for all you do for us and I am sure I will post more to the owners blog once I get my Volt in March.

Take Care, TED

[ChrisC]

Some reference information for you all about this ...

This publication was produced by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers). Their EV subsite is at ev.sae.org (also evsae.com ), where they appear to have several of these articles in regular web form. The link that Lyle provided is to their online, Flash-based document viewer. I looked around for a way to get a hardcopy (I'll pay for it!) but haven't found it yet.

You CAN download this as a regular PDF, however it takes a little effort:
1. Go to the document viewer link that Lyle provided.
2. In the upper right corner, click on the "Save" icon (the floppy disk).
3. On the resulting web page, scroll down past the AIR installer stuff and click on the link to "download PDF version".
4. You will get a ZIP file. The PDF is inside that ZIP.

Edit: Per CalCars, you can get to the PDF directly via this link (PDF is inside the ZIP file):
http://pages.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/sa...SD1104_pdf.zip

I noticed from the masthead on page 3 that this is "Volume 1, Number 1" of the publication, so I'm glad to hear I haven't been missing out At the very end, on page 60, they have a brief discussion of the new publication and ev.sae.org, and mention that their publishing schedule for 2011 calls for new issues on Feb 23, May 25, Aug 24 and Nov 30.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill some trees printing this out at work. Double sided!

[ChuckR]

Noticed a few things that aren't quite accurate:

pg 14 - 9.4 kwh rating vs. 10.4
pgs 14 & 17 - SULEV CARB rating vs. ULEV
pg 15 - 10,000 MY 2011 vs. 15,000?
pg 21 - currents create internal resistance, which causes significant warming of the cells
pg 35 - But in a few narrow operating conditions, typically accelerating from 70 mph (113 km/h) while in extended-range mode, the shaft speed of the 111-kW traction motor begins to exceed its peak efficiency. So the system’s designers took advantage of the more direct and efficient mechanical connection to the car’s wheels offered by coupling the generator and ring gear. In doing so, the generator brings the traction motor’s shaft speed down to a more optimum rpm.

Otherwise a great read.

[George S. Bower]

Good eye ChuckR. Currents don't really create internal resistance. It's there even at zero current (you just can't tell).

What was wrong w/ the statement on p35??

[Koz]

Well Tag I had to read it first and while we all know a lot of it there are still some very interesting parts. I especially liked the section "Engineering with Maniacal Focus", p26 and 27. I can relate to the pressure the team was under to solve what seemed unsolvable within the tight schedule. Like: "After the 40 month development program, the main thing the engineers really wanted to do was take a vacation as they had not one for such a long time". Another part that was interesting (in the same section) was "Solving the BSE Riddle", BSE is the battery state estimator program. "There were times when the team thought they were up against the wall".

The other good part was in the battery development section. Apparently A123 put up a good fight and it was almost 50/50 on who would take the contract. I have a suspicion that A123 may still be in the game and indeed be a Gen2 supplier of an improved battery---ie one that does the job with a higher DOD and therefore offers lower cost and weight.

Thanks for the Article Lyle, enjoyable reading indeed.

I'm surprised the Volt is only 42, 000$. It's got a lot more high tech in it than that.

Being able to use a smaller battery would certainly be a big advantage for A123. The clincher might be if they could also do away with liquid coolant and get by with active air. A123 should also have a power advantage which might come into play for a Voltec Converj, MPV, minivan, midsized Buick, or small pickup. It doesn't get much attention, but I think the ability to effectively use air for thermal management will be a big step forward.