There is a one page summary article about the new 2016 Volt transmission on page 28 of the June 2015 issue on sale now at your local magazine rack. Or view it online for free:
http://www.magastack.com/issue/8850-motor-trend-june-2015?page=28
Generally, it looks good although it would be nice to see something more in-depth and with additional illustrations like he did for their article on the original Volt 4-5 years ago. Maybe they will do something later in the year in conjunction with 2016 Volt or Malibu hybrid review articles.
He did make a mistake in describing the high extended range eCVT mode. He said MG-A on the first planetary gear set and the ring gear on the second planetary gear set were locked to the transmission case. Actually, MG-A is clutched to that ring gear but the ring gear is not locked to the transmission case. I think he understands that but just fumbled his fingers at the keyboard.
There is some new useful information in the article about how often the different eCVT modes and the fixed ratio gear mode are used in city vs highway driving. He says city driving typically uses low eCVT mode 73% and fixed ratio gear mode 9% while typical highway driving uses high eCVT mode 75% and fixed ratio gear mode 12%.
http://www.magastack.com/issue/8850-motor-trend-june-2015?page=28
Generally, it looks good although it would be nice to see something more in-depth and with additional illustrations like he did for their article on the original Volt 4-5 years ago. Maybe they will do something later in the year in conjunction with 2016 Volt or Malibu hybrid review articles.
He did make a mistake in describing the high extended range eCVT mode. He said MG-A on the first planetary gear set and the ring gear on the second planetary gear set were locked to the transmission case. Actually, MG-A is clutched to that ring gear but the ring gear is not locked to the transmission case. I think he understands that but just fumbled his fingers at the keyboard.
There is some new useful information in the article about how often the different eCVT modes and the fixed ratio gear mode are used in city vs highway driving. He says city driving typically uses low eCVT mode 73% and fixed ratio gear mode 9% while typical highway driving uses high eCVT mode 75% and fixed ratio gear mode 12%.
