Volt Birth Watch 181: Lutz Finally Comes Clean On EV Range; His Volt Gets 28 Miles Instead Of 40 Miles

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

It had to happen eventually: Bob Lutz, the father of the Volt, admits his last but not least automotive child is not going to reliably meet his lofty expectations. ABC reports that in an interview at the NIAS, Lutz let the air out of the Volt’s 40 mile EV range that has been predicted to be as reliable as the sun rising on a new day, and perpetuated by GM even more religiously than the 230 mpg claim: Sounding as if he had just read our recent post on EV range, ABC quotes Mr. Volt:

Lutz said that electric vehicles may not get the stated range on fully electric power because of weather, atmospheric conditions, terrain and driving habits. He said he had a Volt during the Thanksgiving weekend and got only 28 miles on full-electric power because of the cold weather.

Here’s the line we’ve been waiting for:

“It varies a lot more than the range variation with a gasoline-powered car depending on your driving style,” Lutz said.

We’re going to try to avoid sounding sanctimonious (and probably fail), but that’s exactly what we’ve been saying since the since the Volt was announced almost three years ago. Sooner or later the truth about EV range had to come out of the GM closet.

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • Spike_in_Brisbane Spike_in_Brisbane on Jan 13, 2010

    How about a hybrid-hybrid? Use batteries to run the car and lights, gas to recharge the batteries and a small propane or LPG or CNG tank for the heater/demister.

  • CarPerson CarPerson on Jan 13, 2010

    Countries with a searing hatred for importing oil, a fierce desire to produce a fully electric vehicle larger than golf cart, and an almost unlimited budget to try, have failed to do so. Critics claim trying to recover stored energy by electrolysis, at one-one hundredth the efficiency, instead of just burning the damn stuff and using the energy in the form of heat in an internal combustion engine, is a fantasy buoyed by a lack of knowledge of physics. It’s beginning to sound like the physicists may be right.

  • T2 T2 on Jan 13, 2010

    All of the above discourse supposes that an electric vehicle needs to have a battery of some sort in the first place. An electric vehicle does not need to have chemical storage on board for traction purposes.The usual 72 Amp-hr Pb acid battery will still be extant for the hotel loads same as in other vehicles since its low self - discharge rate when left unattended is superior to the more exotic chemistries. As well the regeneration of electrical energy while braking can be accomplished at much lower expense by having it dissipated in a resistor bank mounted under the vehicle if that is your bag else consider this part of the system as merely a brake pad extender package ! Experience has shown that in the case of the Prius system which allows just 10Kw of regen, a level which probably makes little difference to mileage anyways, the rotor and pad wear are found to be significantly reduced. If you push me on this I could tell you that the battery isn't even that good for this purpose since it won't be force fed that 10kw unless its temperature lies between certain hi and lo cutoffs. Nor will it be on the receiving end either if its state of charge approaches 80%. So much for regen with the current crop of hybrids. Only a vehicle with a battery of 16kw-hr storage the so-called pure electric, that is until the Volt arrives, can absorb 50kw or more and thus be able to recuperate almost all the braking energy. Only that case will show the expected benefit in driving range. The Prius geartrain is exceedingly lossy. The chain drive takeoff and the further double reduction to the wheel differential (MY2004-2009) are estimated at an overall 83% efficiency. Things get even worse when the losses from power churning in the HSD planetary are factored in. So how can the Prius be so good ? Well the answer is certainly not in the efficiency of the HSD system itself. The answer lies in the efficacy of the HSD system instead. This shows up as the ability to make its diminutive 1.5L 76 Hp engine provide the maximum power profile of a 2.4L 140 Hp engine when accelerating, along with the ability to have the engine run at its lowest rpm when cruising. OK in the Prius there is the battery assist of 21Kw (28Hp) but consider this that the un Atkinsonised version of that 1.5L engine, found in the Yaris and Echo (1NZ-FE), is rated at 108Hp. In this application I prefer to see it as the electric motor compensating for the emasculation of that Prius engine brought down to 76 Hp with its Atkinson camming. Some would argue to increase the battery power and size of the traction motor then downsize the engine even further and emulate a V6. But this is not my argument. My first argument is in line with other posters stating that gasoline should be the storage medium of choice. Complicating any powertrain with chemical storage batteries is an unnecesary design thrust until other options have been utilised. My second argument is to do with mechanical efficiency. Manipulating power with mechanical devices such as geartrains should be avoided. Guiding torque from the engine to the wheels requires robust castings and bearings every step of the way in order to handle and counter the reactionary forces that are set up at each stage. Also to be avoided is manipulating mechanical power between electromechanical devices in order to provide a high torque low rpm load to the engine. The HSD does this by having MG2 the main traction motor providing some 30Kw of electrical power to MG1 the generator so that it can (by acting as a motor) assist the engine to drive the planetary ring. This churning of power while cruising is the reason why highway mileage is not significantly better than the Yaris with the same engine. Though it must be allowed that the Prius is mid-sized against the Yaris, a subcompact. Avoiding these problems first needs twin motors on the rear wheels. Each motor having a single reduction planetary built into the bell housing on one side with the output shaft going straight to its wheel. They were fitted to the front wheels on Impact, the early 1990 EV-1 prototype but there was problem with turning radius. Second the engine needs perhaps to be a big bore 2-cylinder coupled to a high speed alternator. Alternator needs to be 12000rpm peak NOT 6000rpm. Lightness is key here not efficiency. Boeing 747's don't have diesel engines for same reason. Third someone needs to invent a constant current to constant voltage bridge converter to provide the same high torque load as the Prius engine sees. In other words do whatever the HSD does but electronically instead of the back to back method of those two electrical machines known as MG1 and MG2. Sadly the chance of the VOLT is doing any of the above is zilch to nada.

  • Rusted Source Rusted Source on Jan 13, 2010

    Much of what I've read about EVs highlights the exhilarating rush of acceleration produced by the electric motor. That plus the guilt-free feeling drivers will likely feel while they're at it will make it commonplace. We'll see how range pans out then.

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