Engine Assisted Heating and Engine Assisted Heating (Plugged‐In). What does it mean?

[BlackVolt]

On page 56 (Instruments and Controls) of the 2012 Volt owners manual I found two new features that state Engine Assisted Heating and Engine Assisted Heating (Plugged‐In).

For the Engine Assisted Heating it states,

"If equipped, this feature selects
the outside temperature level at
which the engine may run to assist
heating in Electric Mode. A change
in selection will not take affect
until after the vehicle is first
powered down".

From what I get from this you can control the threshold of when you want the ICE to turn on to warm the engine coolant which will then help to assist heating of the cabin. Can someone correct me if I am wrong?

For the Engine Assisted Heating (Plugged‐In) option it states,

"If equipped, this feature will enable
or disable Engine Assisted Heating
whenever the vehicle is plugged in.
A change in setting will not take
affect until after the vehicle is first
powered down."

What is the point of this feature as when the Volt is plugged in you can perform a remote start which will use the mains electrical power to precondition the cabin so there is no need for the ICE to activate?

From my understanding both of these options state "If equipped". Are these features only offered on fully loaded Volts? I hope someone can clear these points up for me.

[jeffhre]

If it is cold enough a remote start will start the ICE as well. If you have less than 240 volts 12 amps, there may not be enough power from the mains for preconditioning and the ICE will start to assist with added heat and electricity.

[WopOnTour]

This material comes from the 2012 owners manual however it appears it has yet to be implemented on the early build releases of the Volt firmware. There's another thread where this is discussed.

The temepratures in which the ICE will start-up dring a remote start event to augment cabin heating (currently 25F/-4C or colder on the 2011 models) will be customizable via personlaization presets (cold vs. very cold) possibly in later builds or after some future software release date. Also, there will apparently be the option to disable this engine start-up completely providing the vehicle is plugged in. (potentially safer for people that have their cars parked in a garage)

HTH
WopOnTour

[BlackVolt]

The temepratures in which the ICE will start-up dring a remote start event to augment cabin heating (currently 25F/-4C or colder on the 2011 models) will be customizable via personlaization presets (cold vs. very cold) possibly in later builds or after some future software release date. Also, there will apparently be the option to disable this engine start-up completely providing the vehicle is plugged in. (potentially safer for people that have their cars parked in a garage)

HTH
WopOnTour

That makes sense. Its a good idea to be able to disable the ICE for a remote start when the vehicle is plugged in. As for the other point I am assuming the -4C will be the very cold threshold and above that will be the cold threshold. Also it sounds like the ICE may come on while driving if your set temperature is reached to assist heating.

[therfman]

As for the other point I am assuming the -4C will be the very cold threshold and above that will be the cold threshold.

I chuckled when I read that How we view weather depends a lot on where we live and what we're used to. I my corner of the planet, -4C is not considered very cold. It's considered to be somewhat cold, to the point where I start thinking of digging out my gloves and zipping up my coat. Last January, the mean temperature for the month was -10C, with a low of -27C. No that's very cold. For those interested, environment Canada keeps archives of weather on their web site (http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc....1&Month=1&Day=)

On the topic of the software, I would like to see an option to keep the ICE off with the vehicle on regardless of temperature. The electric heater may very well cut the range in half if operating at max capacity, but if I only need half the range (which is typical for my commute), why use the ICE?

[jeffhre]

That makes sense. Its a good idea to be able to disable the ICE for a remote start when the vehicle is plugged in. As for the other point I am assuming the -4C will be the very cold threshold and above that will be the cold threshold. Also it sounds like the ICE may come on while driving if your set temperature is reached to assist heating.

If the ICE will not come on under any conditions - it is not a "remote start."

[maynard]

The word "start really doesn't apply to our Volts at all. The only mechanical activity I can think of that occurs when "start" is used is to arm the power steering. I am under the impression that the ICE, on both 2011 and 2012 Volts, won't come on during a remote start if the car is plugged in to a 240 volt charger.

[black88mx6]

This material comes from the 2012 owners manual however it appears it has yet to be implemented on the early build releases of the Volt firmware. There's another thread where this is discussed.

The temepratures in which the ICE will start-up dring a remote start event to augment cabin heating (currently 25F/-4C or colder on the 2011 models) will be customizable via personlaization presets (cold vs. very cold) possibly in later builds or after some future software release date. Also, there will apparently be the option to disable this engine start-up completely providing the vehicle is plugged in. (potentially safer for people that have their cars parked in a garage)

HTH
WopOnTour

Checking back to see if this was ever implemented on current build 2012 Volts.

[scottf200]

This material comes from the 2012 owners manual however it appears it has yet to be implemented on the early build releases of the Volt firmware. There's another thread where this is discussed.

The temepratures in which the ICE will start-up dring a remote start event to augment cabin heating (currently 25F/-4C or colder on the 2011 models) will be customizable via personlaization presets (cold vs. very cold) possibly in later builds or after some future software release date. Also, there will apparently be the option to disable this engine start-up completely providing the vehicle is plugged in. (potentially safer for people that have their cars parked in a garage)

Checking back to see if this was ever implemented on current build 2012 Volts.

It appears so per this post:

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....927#post155927

I just got my Volt last week. In my config options, I have a few settings I have not seen anyone mention before:
1: enable/disable use of the ICE while conditioning when plugged in
2: a toggle between using the ICE for assisted heating when COLD out, or VERY COLD out.
I'm not sure what the temperature difference is between COLD and VERY COLD.
Anyone know?