In 1996 , General Motors ’s EV-1 battery - poweredelectric carappeared in Saturn showroom in California and Arizona . Over the next seven years , more than 1,000 models wereleasedto drivers who wanted to get around without the burden of puttinggasolinein their cars . However , GM ultimately decided consumer demand andbatterytechnology was n’t quite up to equality , and most of those gondola cease up at acrushingfacility .

Since the 1990s , theprice of fuelhas skyrocketed andbattery engineering has advancedconsiderably , so GM has decided that it ’s sentence to take another snap at the galvanising car . This time , though , they ’re doing thing a small otherwise .

TheE - Flex Propulsion Systemis an all - young platform from GM that ’s expected to corroborate the highly anticipated Chevrolet Volt sedan , due in showroom by the end of 2010 . The system puts what locomotive engineer call a revolutionary spin on the galvanising car – one that ’s get by electric power but can labor for century of mile with the help of an interior combustionengine .

" [ E - Flex vehicle require ] no support from a gas engine to operate , unlike ahybrid , which can not operate without the engine , " said GM spokesman Dave Darovitz . " Our engine is not directly connected to thewheelsand only comes on when the battery is depleted , acting as a stationary , on - add-in source to make additional electricity to re - charge the barrage fire and power the car . " However , unlike hybrid auto like theToyota Prius– which uses a small galvanising motor for down speed driving and switched to an interior combustion engine for acceleration and quicker drive – GM deliberate car built on the E - Flex platform to be electric cars rather thanplug - in hybrids .

After a dark of recharging ( any family power issue will do ) , the railway car ’s wheels are driven exclusively by electric force from its battery pack . The gasoline - powered locomotive is used only to recharge the battery once it run out of world power .

If all go according to architectural plan at GM , car powered by E - Flex can execute up to 40 mi ( 64 kilometers ) on electric great power alone , without using a pearl of gasolene . After 40 miles ( 64 kilometers ) , the car ’s initial battery charge is depleted , and the home combustion railway locomotive – called arange extender– seamlessly kicks in , operating a generator that charges the battery and keeps the cable car running on galvanizing power .

In the next department we ’ll reckon at the heart of the E - Flex platform – its battery – and how much money you ’d save with a motorcar that runs on one .

The E-Flex Battery

The E - Flex battery is a 400 - pound ( 181 kilo ) advancedlithium - ion batterythat generates up to 16 kilowatt - hours ofelectricity .

The progress in battery engineering science that have made these kinds of gadget possible in recent years excuse why a car on the E - Flex chopine can do what it does . The EV-1 , for lesson , used a lead - superman battery pack that had the same power output as an E - Flex - powered vehicle , but press about 2,200 pound ( 998 kg ) more .

The E - Flex battery is also flat , unlike the cylindrical lithium - ion battery used by most cars of its type . Flat cells take up less infinite than cylindrical cell , so that more Department of Energy can be stash away in the car ’s stamp battery pack . These cells are also easier to chill and discipline , since fluid can flow easily across a compressed Earth’s surface .

Unlike conventional batteries that are just placed into a car ’s engine bay , the E - Flex assault and battery is so large that ’s it in reality build into the car itself . The T - shaped battery trial through the shopping mall of the vehicle between the front and rear wheels , with the top of the " T " under the rear passenger seat . This keeps the bombardment safe in the event of an chance event .

Still , the program ’s uniqueness creates challenge that GM must face .

" The heart and person of [ the E - Flex platform ] is the battery , with a vehicle on top , " said Tony Posawatz , the vehicle line director for the Chevrolet Volt . locomotive engineer roll in the hay how to plan and build vehicle , he say . " But fit out the stamp battery gang , heating and cooling , the case of materials used … that ’s all not known . "

Unlike hydrogenfuel cells , the technology is one we wo n’t have to wait for . " The infrastructure is already in place for electric vehicles , " Posawatz said . " electrical energy costs one or two cent a sea mile , versus 10 cents a mile for gas right now . "

E-Flex Onboard Generator and Motor

The E - Flex battery is connect to an electric motor that drives the vehicle ’s front wheels . It ’s completely quiet in this fashion , and all a driver will hear is the racket of the road .

This motor produces about 120 kilowatt of power , which is some equivalent to about 160horsepoweron an internal combustionengine . However , because galvanizing motors provide instanttorque– you wo n’t need to rev up the engine to feel its full power – the Chevrolet Volt will offer considerably better public presentation .

The Volt is expected to go from zero to 60 mph ( 97 kilometers per hour ) in less than 9 second base . However , it ’s the spirit of launching the automobile that will really impress performance - crazy number one wood . The speedup will feel more like that of a sporty car with a V-6 engine than a lowly economy automobile . The car also usesregenerative braking , which means that the motorcar is collecting energizing energy as it coast orbrakes , and uses this push to reload its barrage . Having the battery in the bottom of the car means a low-spirited heart of gravity as well .

The lithium - ion stamp battery utilized on E - Flex - powered cars are the same ace that operate cellular sound and laptop computer , only much large . To charge the battery , only punch the car into any 110 - volt outlet – any received household socket will lick . GM expects most customers will charge the car overnight in their garage , a process that takes about six hour to complete . On a 220 - volt circuit , equipment driver will involve three to four hours to charge the battery .

GM ’s engineer are trying to build a cable car that anyone can operate . While the many components of E - Flex vehicle voice complicated , Andrew Farah , the Volt ’s chief engineer , want people to empathise that keeping the car running is as simple as plugging in an convenience . The Volt has a plug on its side for insertion into paries socket for charge up .

Read on to learn about the role that an internal burning locomotive play in the Chevy Volt .

The E-Flex Range Extender

Once the electric battery pack misplace its initial charge , it ’s clock time for the range extender – GM ’s name for the inner burning engine in the front of the vehicle – to go to body of work . On the Chevrolet Volt concept car , it ’s a 1.0 liter ( 1,000 cubic centimeters ) 3 - cylinder locomotive designed to function a generator that keep the battery charge . It runs on a 12 - Imperial gallon ( 45 - cubic decimeter ) fuel tank .

" On a distinctive electric vehicle , you ’ve got a battery and an galvanising motor , " said engineer Andrew Farah . " That ’s everything you need until you escape out of your charge … then you have to push it home . " With the gaseous state motor on the E - Flex platform , that ’s no longer a job , he said .

The purpose behind the gasoline - powered range extender is to have anelectric carin which drivers are n’t constantly staring at agaugeto see how much succus they have left before they have to turn the car around and head home to reload .

Despite the effectiveness of the electric motor , driver must remember keep theirgas tanks full . While the car can run up to 40 miles ( 64 kilometers ) on battery power , after that , it needs to have the gas motor running to power the source .

GM says the average customer should save around 500 gallons ( 1,892 cubic decimeter ) of fuel each yr and almost never need to go to the flatulence place or maintain typical railway locomotive avail schedules . The company recommends that the car be plugged in as often and for as long as potential to keep the assault and battery conditioned .

Currently , GM engineers are working to have the range extender be powered by gasoline as well as the E85 ethanol / petrol mixture . In Europe , they ’re experimenting with diesel engine fuel as well . They ’re also working on a fuel cell variant of E - Flex [ germ : Farah ] . On that vehicle , the reach extender and generator would be removed and interchange with H fuel cells . On a vehicle like that , Farah say , " you ’d be running the fuel cell most of the time , and the battery not as much . "

E-Flex and the Environment

GM wants the E - Flex platform to be an environmentally well-disposed one in terms ofemissionsand fuel economy . They ’re on the veracious track so far : E - Flex - powered cars raise no emission whatsoever for the first 40 miles ( 64 kilometers ) driven . While the car ’s running on battery power , the electrical motor order out none of the chemicals and air pollutant for which gasolene - powered cars have been so badmouth .

Once the inner burning engine kicks in , GM engineer estimate that driver will get about 50 miles per gal ( 21 kilometers / l ) with the range extender . The Chevy Volt concept automobile touted an overall range of more than 600 mi ( 966 klick ) , but the production version has a ambit of about 360 Swedish mile ( 579 kilometers ) due to a reduced gas tank size of it . GM engineers simply decided the supernumerary armoured combat vehicle space and extra weight were n’t necessary .

GM official insist that the change makes sense . " Since people almost never drive over 400 mile without stopping , why carry all that extra fuel around that you may never use ? " Darovitz asked . In fact , most people may not ever habituate gasoline , since GM estimates that more than 75 percent of U.S. commuters drive less than 40 miles ( 64 kilometers ) a daytime [ rootage : Chevrolet ] .

If all goes according to plan with the E - Flex vehicles , those drivers will never utilize a drop of gasoline or produce any harmful emission during their daily commute – although the reduced size of gas armored combat vehicle may ironically boost the vehicle ' fuel economy . But just in case these drivers decide to screen their fresh powertrains and slay the opened route , the car still get about 50 miles per gallon ( 21 kilometers / liter ) .

So , when can you buy the Chevy Volt and for how much ? What else can driver find on the E - Flex platform ? Find out on the next page .

The Future of E-Flex

Unveiled at the 2007 North American International Auto Show ( NAIAS ) , the Chevrolet Volt is the first vehicle on the E - Flex platform . Unlike the two - backside , two - door EV-1 , the Volt is a four - door compact saloon with four buns . The interior should lodge a 6 - foot 2 - inch man comfortably in the front and rear seats . The lack of a center seat in the back will allow elbow room for the car ’s electric battery in the midpoint of the car and keeps the cap low for betteraerodynamics . so as to get the fuel economy GM wants , the Volt will be extremely sleek .

It ’s pop off to take some employment : Many have called the Volt ’s release timetable extremely ambitious . GM wants to have the cars on the route by the last of 2010 , and that means panoptic testing of the stamp battery and development of the car itself .

The battery has to stay nerveless . It has to be safe . It has to handle bumpy roads and must be heap - produced as well . railroad engineer must also have the car itself – everything the battery work , in essence – ready to go by the release date .

The caller had place $ 30,000 as a reasonable price for the Volt , but in late months , GM officials have waffled on that number and told reporters that the Volt ’s monetary value would be link to the cost of petrol at the machine ’s launching [ source : Blanco ] .

" Pricing of the Chevrolet Volt has not yet been check , " Darovitz said . " We will evaluate many gene include governmenttax credits , customer benefits and note value , other subsidy , electricity cost versus gas savings and initial volumes before we finalize the monetary value . "

A few calendar month after unveiling the Volt , GM introduced its cousin , the Opel Flextreme . An E - Flex fomite aim at the European market , it ’s a fashionable five - doorway hatchback door with the same heart as the Volt . The only exception is the Flextreme ’s chain of mountains extender , which is a 1.3 - liter ( 1,300 three-dimensional centimeters)turbo - diesel social unit rather than the Volt ’s internal combustion locomotive . This makes the Flextreme better suited to European country like Germany , Opel ’s home market place , wheredieselfuel major power most vehicle .

In January 2008 , the Cadillac Provoq SUV hit the auto show circuit . It uses an E - Flex organisation coupled with atomic number 1 fuel cell to cede a vehicle that can tug 280 miles ( 451 kilometers ) onhydrogenand 20 mi ( 32 kilometers ) on electric battery energy – all while give off no emissions except body of water vapor .

While the Volt , Flextreme , and Provoq are all still in the concept stages , Farah said the E - Flex components are design for utilization in a wide of the mark range of vehicle . " We should be able to widen the availability of this kind of engineering , to put it in all kinds of unlike cars people want , " he said .

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