I know that Lyle got to drive one of the Chevy Fuel-Cell Equinox's in the recent past. For his video, see this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqo7zDRLZGI#
Well, this is significant, as both this Equinox and the Volt have the same motor and power electronics. See this link:
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/01/gm_introduces_e.html
"The Volt uses the same electric motor as used in the Equinox Fuel Cell vehicle in its electric powertrain: a 120 kW peak machine that develops 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque."
These values are also consistent with the numbers listed under "Full Specifications" on the home page.
http://gm-volt.com/full-specifications/
The Green Car Congress article also mentions the following:
"Furthermore, GM leveraged its experience with the EV1 in the design of both the E-Flex System and the Volt. The use of the range extender in the Volt design, for example, originated with feedback from EV1 customers about not wanting to have to plan their lives around the next charge, according to Tony Posawatz, GM Vehicle Line Director."
I made some projections regarding this in the Design section of the Forum:
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197
Now for many of those asking about the motor and the power electronics, I would first suggest reading some info from the Tesla website. Apparently some of the engineers that worked on the EV-1, have also worked with Tesla. See the attached link:
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/?p=30
As you can see, the EV-1 had an AC motor with a variable frequency drive.
For more information on the efficiency of this motor/inverter system, see the following link:
http://www.acpropulsion.com/technology/gen2.htm
Be sure to open the PDF specification sheet at the bottom of the page, as it has the performance curves attached.
So now, it appears that the Volt is a stretched EV-1 with a Li-Ion battery pack and an ICE. The drive motor/system is the same as the Fuel-Cell Equinox. For a rendering of the Equinox electric drive, see page 20 of the document at this link:
http://www.gmstc.com/courses/ChevEquinFuelCell.pdf
Now compare this with an assembly drawing for the Volt (from Lyle's Gallery):
http://gm-volt.com/galleries/album/72157603653293621/photo/2172216375/Chevy-Volt-2007-Chevrolet-Volt-Concept-Chassis.html
Note the similarity, only in the Volt, the power inverter module is tilted towards the front of the vehicle, probably to allow more room for the ICE.
Now comes the questions for Lyle. The following link describes the driving experience for the 4,430 lb Fuel-Cell Equinox to be "mundane". They also go on to say "The 94 kilowatt (126 horsepower) electric motor deliver 236 pound-feet of torque to the front wheels almost instantaneously. The electric motor offers nice torque but not much top-end, so there isn't much on tap beyond 40 mph. That's why the zero to 60 time is a glacial 12 seconds. Still, the Equinox is quick enough to get you onto the freeway without any trouble, and GM says its top speed is 100 mph - although we didn't get to test that claim." Not what you would classify as a "performance" vehicle?
Another review had this to say " We learned a lot on our 45-minute drive. The vehicle was quick to accelerate and actually, surprisingly slow to stop. In other words, the brakes needed a little fine-tuning. To maximize energy capture, the regenerative braking system is unusually aggressive. And that made the brakes hard to modulate. We hear GM is working on the creating a more natural brake feel. Chevy claims the Equinox FC goes from 0-60 in 12 seconds, but under our well-calibrated backside, it seemed a lot quicker. Much of that sensation is probably due to the characteristic common to many cars with an electric motor—instant low-end torque. In fact, the FC pulled strong all the way up to the 60-70 mph range."
That link is here:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4228264.html
Now we know the Volt should weigh in at about 3200 lbs, (versus 4430 for the Nox) and it will have less aerodynmic drag than the Equinox, but what will it be like to drive?
Lyle, it seems to me that no one on this forum is in a better position to answer that question than you. We have seen the video, now can you tell us more about the Equinox drive train and its characteristics, and how much different to you think it would be in the Volt?
Thanks again for being our test pilot!
