The Volt has two drive trains - When one is tried, go to the next
One intriguing thing in the Volt's design is the likelihood that most people will use its gas engine rarely.
Let's say that I have 80K or 100K miles on my G2 Volt and the battery starts losing efficiency.
But I still have a gas engine and a generator with 1 or 2K miles on them (almost new). Shifting over to Hold Mode is like putting a new engine in an old car - if the aging battery can still pass the generator's current to the electric motors without obstructing the current flow.
Since electric motors wear little compared to their mechanical counterparts, it seems like the Volt has two separate drive-trains. When one gets tired (the battery does not hold as much charge), the second drive-train can kick in and still give 42 MPG.
Its like having two engines in an ICE car where the driver can switch to the second engine when the first one reaches 100K miles (is worn out). All this depends on the battery or the electronics not obstructing the current going from the gas engine/generator to the electric motors when the battery nears the end of its life or at least loses some degree of charging efficiency.
One intriguing thing in the Volt's design is the likelihood that most people will use its gas engine rarely.
Let's say that I have 80K or 100K miles on my G2 Volt and the battery starts losing efficiency.
But I still have a gas engine and a generator with 1 or 2K miles on them (almost new). Shifting over to Hold Mode is like putting a new engine in an old car - if the aging battery can still pass the generator's current to the electric motors without obstructing the current flow.
Since electric motors wear little compared to their mechanical counterparts, it seems like the Volt has two separate drive-trains. When one gets tired (the battery does not hold as much charge), the second drive-train can kick in and still give 42 MPG.
Its like having two engines in an ICE car where the driver can switch to the second engine when the first one reaches 100K miles (is worn out). All this depends on the battery or the electronics not obstructing the current going from the gas engine/generator to the electric motors when the battery nears the end of its life or at least loses some degree of charging efficiency.