

- #CHEVY VOLT RANGE EFFICIENCY GENERATOR#
- #CHEVY VOLT RANGE EFFICIENCY FULL#
- #CHEVY VOLT RANGE EFFICIENCY SERIES#
The Chevrolet Volt and the Opel Ampera are the first extended-range electric vehicles available in the North American and European markets. Roland Matthé, Ulrich Eberle, in Lithium-Ion Batteries, 2014 9 Summary The topology of the Chevrolet Volt and Opel Ampera is shown in Figure 6. In contrast to PHEVs, Volt and Ampera will have the same performance in pure electric mode or in extended-range mode with running ICE. Any standard 120 V household electrical outlet will be sufficient to charge the Volt but a 230-V outlet will reduce the charge time to roughly 3 h. After the trip, the battery will be charged through an on-board charger from the grid.

Since the ICE has less power than the electric motor, it is necessary that the battery supplies the peak power even in the extended-range mode. Different fuels for the ICE are possible: gasoline, E85, diesel, or biodiesel. The ICE will be switched on and powers the generator, while the generator, then, supplies electric power to the electric motor or charges the battery a bit. When the battery is discharged to a specific SoC, the vehicle will switch to the extended-range mode. The lithium-ion battery system allows a pure electric range of around 60 km, sufficient for the vast majority of trips. The electric power for the electric motor is supplied by a lithium-ion battery system with around 16 kWh total energy.

#CHEVY VOLT RANGE EFFICIENCY FULL#
The Chevrolet Volt and the Opel Ampera have a full electric propulsion, that is, an electric motor propels the front wheels under all operating conditions. The engine of an E-REV operates at a constant, highly efficient, rotation speed whereas that of an ICEV often runs at low or high rotation speeds during which, in both situations, its efficiency is low. The engine of an ICEV, on the other hand, must also cover peak-power surges, e.g. The engine of an E-REV is significantly smaller than that of a conventional ICEV – it only needs to meet average power demands because peak power is delivered by the battery pack. For longer distances, E-REVs utilize the ICE to keep the battery charged, but consume noticeably less fuel than conventional ICEVs for the following two reasons: (i)
#CHEVY VOLT RANGE EFFICIENCY SERIES#
For moderate distances, E-REVs can operate in full-electric mode and are then as clean and energy-efficient as BEVs (unlike parallel hybrids and other series hybrids with their smaller batteries and very limited electric range). With this arrangement, the range limitation that is inherent in a BEV can be overcome.
#CHEVY VOLT RANGE EFFICIENCY GENERATOR#
When the battery is discharged to a specified level, the ICE is switched on to run a generator that, in turn, supplies power to the electric motor and/or recharges the battery. Alternatively, it may be viewed as a series hybrid with a much larger battery, namely, 10–20 kWh see Table 5.3.

The extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV) is effectively an all-electric vehicle, with all the motive power provided by an electric motor, but with a small ICE present to generate additional electric power.
