Electric Cars: Chev Bolt seems to be the first practical one.

[MossRoad]

Agree. It also seems like the Volt doesn't spend much time with the ICE engaged to the drivetrain and that when it does it is always in conjunction with the smaller electric motor. I can see, even after reading that GM engineer's explanation, why folks, including me, find it a challenge to understand just how the thing works.

It's complicated for sure. I hadn't researched it that far until reading the comments about yes or no regarding the gas engine directly connecting to the drive motor. So I started reading and looking for videos. Glad I did. Very interesting. Technology moves fast.

 

[drssg]

Yup, at least back in '13: Mercedes unveils Tesla-powered electric car - Mar. 27, 213 but ya know Tesla obviously couldn't design a good product .

Just rolled home from 310mi roundtrip of 7.5hrs on the road, aside from the awful traffic in Tacoma everything was smooth sailing.

Do you have the self-driving option? I'd love to hear first hand feedback on it.

I find it fascinating that they can even begin to make this work. My background is in computer programming, and I tried to just implement some motion tracking algorithms for personal use, and I finally gave up. There were just too many variables that can alter the image, and I couldn't reliably track the object I wanted. To make something like this work to drive a car just blows my mind.

 

[xring100]

agreed. Volt is gas electric car. Different from a locomotive though because gas engine is not coupled to motors directly, it only charges batteries, motors only pull power from batteries, never from ice generator directly. If you like volt and are looking for a better volt, used car, look at the Cadillac version, now cancelled but a much higher quality car, and a real head turner.

Thats not exactly true as the battery depletes it will only provide so many Killowatts. Considerably less than the peak ke the electric motor is capable of accepting in this case the electric motor will draw peak available power from the battery pack and the ice generator supplies the rest of the juice directly to the electric generator. This allows the volt to maintain a stable 0-60 time. The Bolt on the other hand gradually gets slower as the battery pack discharges.

 

[xring100]

Agree. It also seems like the Volt doesn't spend much time with the ICE engaged to the drivetrain and that when it does it is always in conjunction with the smaller electric motor. I can see, even after reading that GM engineer's explanation, why folks, including me, find it a challenge to understand just how the thing works.

I believe 2nd gen volt lost the mechanical connection from the wheels to ice all together. I believe it had to do with epa classifying it as an electric car. At road speed it would have been more efficient to directly couple the engine to the wheels and stay a mechanical system versus going from mechanical to electrical back to mechanical.

 

[MossRoad]

I believe 2nd gen volt lost the mechanical connection from the wheels to ice all together. I believe it had to do with epa classifying it as an electric car. At road speed it would have been more efficient to directly couple the engine to the wheels and stay a mechanical system versus going from mechanical to electrical back to mechanical.

Got any graphics or videos that explain the current generation of the Volt? I'd like to see them.

 

[sd455dan]

- Moss I re edited my post and added this link, The New Volt drive -a 5 mode capable unit
GM's Second Generation Voltec Drivetrain Explained (Voltec 2) - YouTube

Almost no carry over components from the 1st gen volt

and looks like it does use some of the ICE power coupled to the axles in (fixed ratio) mode

A comparison by a GM chief engineer

Chevrolet Volt Gen 2 Engine walkthrough - YouTube

 

[vvanders]

Do you have the self-driving option? I'd love to hear first hand feedback on it.

I find it fascinating that they can even begin to make this work. My background is in computer programming, and I tried to just implement some motion tracking algorithms for personal use, and I finally gave up. There were just too many variables that can alter the image, and I couldn't reliably track the object I wanted. To make something like this work to drive a car just blows my mind.

Yeah we do, we bought it back when it was a part of the tech package. I had the same reservations as you since I work in a similar line of work. So far I've been really impressed with how well it works. There's still a couple cases that it doesn't do fantastic with(it sometimes like to take exits).

However the killer feature for it is rush-hour traffic. Whenever I hit a pack of traffic I just turn it on and relax. I'm still keeping an eye out for people merging into my lane but all of the stop/start stuff is taken care of. You'd be surprised how much mental energy involved in just sitting in traffic.

The forward/distance is handled by the radar but the tracking is mostly ML based fed back with *tons* of training data. Take a look into how ML number recognition works and you'll get an idea on how it functions. That said you need an incredible amount of training data to get anything useful(and then you still have to worry about overfitting). There's been a couple people who've built simple models based on video games + screen capture.

 

[California]

the killer feature for it is rush-hour traffic. Whenever I hit a pack of traffic I just turn it on and relax. I'm still keeping an eye out for people merging into my lane but all of the stop/start stuff is taken care of. You'd be surprised how much mental energy involved in just sitting in traffic.

ML...

That feature - matching the irregular pace of stop-n-go congestion - would be even more valuable than just freeway-speed cruise control that tracks the car in front. I want it! Can anyone explain Chevrolet's version in Volt, Bolt, and I assume other models? The salesman told me Bolt's option matched Tesla's, I don't believe it.

ML??

 

[xring100]

- Moss I re edited my post and added this link, The New Volt drive -a 5 mode capable unit
GM's Second Generation Voltec Drivetrain Explained (Voltec 2) - YouTube

Almost no carry over components from the 1st gen volt

and looks like it does use some of the ICE power coupled to the axles in (fixed ratio) mode

A comparison by a GM chief engineer

Chevrolet Volt Gen 2 Engine walkthrough - YouTube

Thanks

 

[RSKY]

Tomorrow we are leaving for a vacation that will involve a 9 hour plus stops drive for a total of about 10 hours on the road. That is over 580 miles in one day. If I understand correctly a pure electric would have to stop twice for an overnight charge before continuing the trip. Plus we will be running the air conditioner all the way. So the Bolt, with it's 238 mile ideal condition range, would take at least two or maybe three overnight stops to make it to our destination.

Hmmmmm.

While I would love to have one for a local runabout it would simply be impractical for use by my family. And my family now consists of myself and my wife. Now if it was back in the daughter's teen years when they had all that running around to this or that it might be okay.

Once again, the pure electrics biggest failure, and the reason they will not become mainstream transportation, is the long 'refueling' period. They are great for a local runabout. No doubt they are better than an ICE as a local driver. But unless it is a hybrid or something else with some type on instant refueling they will only occupy a well defined niche and that is all.

In my opinion anyway.

RSKY