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2011 Chevrolet Volt Initial Drive
A key component in General Motors attempt to survive and regain technological relevance is the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Probably the only automobile in GM's lineup that didn't draw lengthy sighs and eye rolls from a mistrustful U.S. Congress during recent hearings, the Volt is essentially an electric automobile that has the possible to outgreen present hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. But unlike the full electrics of the past, the Volt carries a gas-burning engine that automatically kicks in to offer juice when the onboard battery pack's charge is depleted.
T-Shaped Battery Is the Heart of the Volt
We recently had the chance to drive the Volt-or a minimum of an engineering mule of the Volt powertrain cloaked within the skin of a Chevrolet Cruze, the brand's upcoming replacement for the compact Cobalt. This June, the Cruze mules will probably be retired, and for the very first time, the Volt's powertrain will probably be mated to the Volt body.
According to Tony Posawatz, the vehicle line director for the Volt, the Cruze-based mules represent 80-percent-correct versions of how the Volt powertrain will feel when it arrives in showrooms in November 2010. But GM wasn't ready for us to totally expertise the Volt; our drive was restricted to an electric-only expertise, which is how the organization imagines most customers will use the Volt.
"The beauty of the Volt is the size of the battery," affirms Posawatz. Weighing in at 400 pounds, the lithium-ion pack allows the Volt to travel as far as 40 miles on electric power. The battery, created of about 400 waferlike cells, sits beneath the center tunnel of the vehicle. It's six feet lengthy and branches out under the rear seats, forming a T shape. (Having a center tunnel in a front-drive vehicle gives the Volt mule's cabin the feel of 1 from a rear-wheel-drive vehicle.) Like most conventional electric cars, the Volt will recharge via a wall plug; the engine is basically to get you to your destination when the charge is depleted. A full charge via a 110-volt outlet is expected to take six to seven hours, and GM anticipates a two-to-three-hour charge time with the optional, Chevy-supplied 240-volt charging program.
Even though the maximum total power output of the Chevrolet Volt battery pack is 16 kWh, the Volt only uses about 50 percent of the battery's total power. By not charging the battery over 80 percent or discharging below 30 percent, GM hopes the pack will last 10 years or 150,000 miles within the vehicle. Following its life inside the Volt, the battery will still be able to store about 12 kWh, and GM envisions that it might be employed as an energy-storage device in a property when removed from the car.
Initial Impressions Are Promising
In the Volt, the battery feeds a 149-hp electric motor that drives the front wheels. The response as well as the immediate power are what we've come to anticipate from electric cars. The Volt is by no indicates a sports sedan, however it will briefly chirp its tires when pulling away from a stop. Acceleration is acceptable; with four occupants on board, the Volt felt like it could most likely run from 0 to 60 mph in about 10 seconds. GM's 0-to-60 target for the production Volt is often a bit far more aggressive, at 8.five seconds. The single-gear transmission gives seamless and CVT-like acceleration from a stop. Unlike a gasoline engine mated to a CVT, the nearly silent electric motor doesn't scream as it propels the car forward under difficult acceleration. There's a bit of a whirring sound from the motor, however it is far from the spaceshiplike hum emitted by the electric motor within the Tesla roadster.
What isn't however clear is how the Volt will behave when the battery is depleted and also the gasoline engine kicks in to offer a lot more juice. In this so-called range-extending mode, the electric motor is going to be limited to the power provided by the 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine under the hood. The gas engine is by no means employed to charge the battery; the engine turns a generator that directly feeds power to the electric motor. If the engine is revving at 2000 rpm and generating 25 hp, the electric motor will likely be able to make only 25 hp. If far more power is required, the gasoline engine could conceivably run at its power peak at a very high rpm. Taking the point further, if the gas engine is rated for only 100 hp (our estimate of its power output), the 149-hp electric motor will be able to create only 100 hp. The upshot: The Volt will probably be quicker running on battery power than it'll be when the gas engine is supplying the electricity.
Unable to try the gas-fired answer for ourselves, we asked Posawatz how the encounter will alter when the battery is discharged as well as the gas engine comes on. "The work being carried out by the development guys as we speak would be to create a gentle feathering of engine rpm," he said. "So you don't even notice that the engine kicks in. And to attempt to operate at the proper points and to transition the rpm points depending on the load you're getting-to behave like a person would want it to behave. You may get into a position under an extreme grade or hill climb where the engine rpm will likely be fairly loud-running fairly difficult. At a particular point in time that rpm will likely be comparatively unpleasant. This is the challenge of various road loads: How can we maintain the NVH reasonable for a customer?"
Judging by our drive, the Volt will work quite well as an electric automobile. But without obtaining the opportunity to drive it with the gas engine switched on, we wonder how the expertise will change once the battery's charge is depleted. GM imagines most Volt buyers will rarely operate within the range-extending mode and will instead primarily run the vehicle on battery power by plugging it in as frequently as probable and driving fewer than 40 miles at a time. To those folks we can say that the future will feel surprisingly conventional, if eerily quiet.
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Other than decreased resistance, is there any benifit to a 24 volt vs a 12 volt system?
I am setting up a battery buffered system where no wires will be longer than a couple feet. I can set this up either 12 or 24 volt.
This is a continuiously running system, however the charger will only be in use part of the time.
120v in (batt charger) > 12v or 24v batt bank > inverter > 120v out
Are inverters more efficient at higher input voltages?
This is in Alaska, is higher voltage less susseptible to cold?
Is there benifit to more storage or more volts?
Electrical power is defined as P=IE, where P is the power requirement of the load, I is the electrical flow currant, in Amperes, and E is the electrical potential in Volts. (Amperes, Volts, and Watts are always capitalized. They are surnames.)
With the same power loading, double the potential, or Volts, would result in half the currant, or Amps.
It's the currant that creates heat and melts insulation or burns out motors.
By the way, James Watt did NOT invent the light bulb!
Should a Person Touch 200000 Volts? A Van de Graaff generator experiment!