Understanding Total Power gauge in gas mode

2489 Views 12 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Free2enjoy, Nov 9, 2018

p_f_m

Discussion Starter · Nov 4, 2018 (Edited by Moderator)

Vehicle Car Auto part Technology Hybrid vehicle

Vehicle Technology Auto part Car Electronic device

The gas engine generates maximum 53KW. When the battery is completely depleted (no electric range left) and the car demands access of 53KW then where does that additional power come from ? If it comes from the battery then why not power the car from the battery itself ? What am I missing ?

In the attached pictures you can see that the car is consuming 115KW and if the engine tops out at 53KW where does the extra 62KW come from ? If the battery is capable of providing that much power then why is the electric range 0, why doesn't it use the battery power until the battery can really no longer provide any power ?

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obermd

· #7 · Nov 4, 2018 (Edited)

To top it off, the Gen 2 Volt's engine is sufficiently powerful enough to haul the car over the highest paved mountain passes in the US at the posted speed limits. I know this because I took mine over Independence (CO 82), Vail (I-70), and Eisenhower Tunnel (I-70) with a "depleted" battery and the car never used the battery's low buffer except while I was accelerating.

https://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?326679-Mountain-Mode-not-needed-(Gen-2)

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obermd

· #9 · Nov 5, 2018

p_f_m said:
Thats a lot of reserve power that could be used for pure electric range, in my opinion.In fact in my 6-7 months of using this car I have noticed that even though it shows 0 electric miles, it does putt around on battery only as long as the power demand is under 18-20KW. Only when the power demand goes above that, the gas engine kicks in.
I would imagine/expect that a electric + gas car would be either 100% electric or 100 gas (when battery runs out).
Now I am curious what do other phev hybrid cars do ?

You can go up to half a mile on a "depleted" battery by keeping it below 19 KW. From a stoplight near my house it's 0.4 miles one way and 0.6 miles the other way. If I go the short way I can get into my driveway without the engine restarting. When I go the long way the engine restarts in front of the neighbor's house.

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