VAUXHALL AMPERA REVIEW
The world's oldest car magazine review, and one highly respected for their objective opinion reviews the European Volt.
http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/Road...on/261964/

Quote:Background

The landmark road tests are coming thick and fast in 2012. So far, an all-new Porsche 911 and BMW 3-series have come under our usual scrutiny, as well as the world’s first diesel-electric hybrid passenger car in the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4.

But the significance of this test subject dwarfs even those. The Vauxhall Ampera is the first ‘plug-in’ hybrid passenger car to be offered for sale in the UK. Powered by General Motors’ ground-breaking ‘Voltec’ series-hybrid propulsion technology, it represents the great white hope of one the world’s largest car-makers. It is the family car re-engineered for a 21st century that demands giant leaps in fuel efficiency. Nothing short of revolutionary, in other words.

While every other hybrid on the road can be best described as combustion engined car backed up by electric assistance, the Ampera is their mirror image: a fully paid up electric family car, with a compact four-cylinder combustion engine included under its bonnet for backup.
The difference, in principal, is massive. Vauxhall claims better than 300mpg for the Ampera in urban use. It also claims a maximum cruising range, thanks to that petrol engine, of more than 300 miles.

And so to the billion dollar question: is this the world’s first truly usable electric car?

Design

Vauxhall would much rather you called the Ampera an extended range electric vehicle than a hybrid, and for good reason. The Ampera – and its Chevrolet sister car, the Volt – is a much more advanced and ambitious piece of engineering than that simple identifier would imply.

Strictly speaking, it is a hybrid. But it’s a series-hybrid – a car in which one propulsion system connects to the wheels entirely via the other. And it’s one we should call ‘electric-petrol’ rather than ‘petrol-electric’.

The Ampera’s primary power source is a 148bhp AC synchronous electric friction motor, which draws electricity from a 16kWh lithium-ion battery under the cabin floor, via a DC to AC current inverter.

That battery takes six hours to charge from a normal 13amp domestic electrical socket, connecting via an included six-metre cable. Liquid heated and cooled, it’s managed by an electronic power control module that taps into just 65 per cent of its total capacity, in order to maximise operational life. That 65 per cent battery capacity, however, is enough to give the Ampera an electric range of between 25- and 50 miles - depending on temperature and usage pattern, says Vauxhall. Which, according to GM’s research, could satisfy the daily commuting needs of between 80- and 85 per cent of the western motoring population without any consumption of petrol at all.

There are two other power units besides the master electric motor under the Ampera’s bonnet: a smaller 71bhp motor/generator and a 1.4-litre four-cylinder 85bhp petrol engine. All three are connected to the Ampera’s front wheels via a planetary gearbox, and a system of electronic clutches.

When the Ampera’s battery is depleted to 22 per cent charge, the car enters range extender mode; its 1.4-litre petrol engine starts, normally only to provide electrical power for the main traction motor and to maintain minimum charge in the battery. In this mode, the Ampera can drive on for up to 310 miles, sucking petrol from a 35-litre tank packaged behind the battery pack. Which is range anxiety will be a totally unknown concept to Ampera owners.

Another advantage of the Voltec range-extender hybrid powertrain is that, at motorway speeds, the planetary gearbox can blend power from both electric motors, allowing the main motor to ‘downspeed’, increasing its efficiency.

In certain circumstances, the petrol engine can also connect directly to the wheels, via the motor/generator – but only in conditions of high demand and at high speeds, and only to assist the main electric motor. At all times and in all states, Vauxhall insists, the Ampera is primarily electric driven.

And not a mention of bailouts...

Quote:Verdict (4 out of 5 stars)


Technology evolves and improves; batteries get better; and control systems become more efficient and cheaper: these are the arguments that accompany new technologies. It accompanied mobile phones and games consoles and home computers, yes. But there, there was no alternative. If in 1987 you wanted to make mobile calls, you had a box the size of a suitcase and it cost you £2000. Today, if you want to travel 500 miles in one sitting while using very little crude oil, you could buy a Vauxhall Ampera at £35,000… or you could choose a BMW 320d, a preferable car in almost every objective and dynamic respect.

But –and there is a but – the Ampera represents something unique among electric vehicles. Something that will stand it and its forthcoming peers, of which you can bet there will be many, in very good stead, and that is the attitude it takes to reducing waste. Decelerative energy is recuperated for power. Power from the plug is generally cleaner than that produced on-board and, even if you must create it on board, the Ampera is relatively efficient.

Choosing an Ampera over mainstream alternatives is still a leap of faith, but the gap is closing. And until a revolution in battery technology arrives, its range-extending abilities give the electric vehicle a use beyond strictly urban, second-car duties. In being an electric car that can be your only car, the Ampera has no peers.

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And not a mention of bailouts...

Quote:Verdict (4 out of 5 stars)


Technology evolves and improves; batteries get better; and control systems become more efficient and cheaper: these are the arguments that accompany new technologies. It accompanied mobile phones and games consoles and home computers, yes. But there, there was no alternative. If in 1987 you wanted to make mobile calls, you had a box the size of a suitcase and it cost you £2000. Today, if you want to travel 500 miles in one sitting while using very little crude oil, you could buy a Vauxhall Ampera at £35,000… or you could choose a BMW 320d, a preferable car in almost every objective and dynamic respect.

But –and there is a but – the Ampera represents something unique among electric vehicles. Something that will stand it and its forthcoming peers, of which you can bet there will be many, in very good stead, and that is the attitude it takes to reducing waste. Decelerative energy is recuperated for power. Power from the plug is generally cleaner than that produced on-board and, even if you must create it on board, the Ampera is relatively efficient.

Choosing an Ampera over mainstream alternatives is still a leap of faith, but the gap is closing. And until a revolution in battery technology arrives, its range-extending abilities give the electric vehicle a use beyond strictly urban, second-car duties. In being an electric car that can be your only car, the Ampera has no peers.

I personally love the Volt. It's no contest for me versus any other modern EV. It's the Volt hands down. It even looks good inside and out. I'm looking forward to CF's review.

The Brits don't have any skin in the game really, having lost all their auto manufacturers years ago thanks to the combination of lousy quality and militant unions, but that's another story. The bailout rhetoric doesn't come into play there I guess.

It looks like a balanced review and as you can see, I'm already all over CF's review. Really looking forward to hearing about how it does.

Its sad how much bad press the Volt gets. I don't think it gets enough positive press either. The news institutions haven't given people any information on what the car is capable of or their information is wrong. Can they really be this stupid? Apparently so. The Europeans understand this car, while the people in the US already write it off because GM was part of the bail out.

RotaryKing aka Rev;190678 Wrote:Its sad how much bad press the Volt gets. I don't think it gets enough positive press either. The news institutions haven't given people any information on what the car is capable of or their information is wrong. Can they really be this stupid? Apparently so. The Europeans understand this car, while the people in the US already write it off because GM was part of the bail out.

Even though it was in development YEARS BEFORE any bailout shit happened.... but no one is told that information

That is a very good article by someone who appears to have a sound understanding of how the Volt operates.

I was talking with my brother about diesel electric drive in marine propulsion and he have the opinion that series electric is better than direct shaft due to the engine being allowed to operate at a peak load while the motors meet variable torque demand. What was needed for a motor vehicle to do this was a well (battery) to pump energy in.

By being primarily a series electric system with the motor dominant over the ICE, the Volt can keep the ICE in a more efficient load state in the face of extreme variable torque demands vs other hybrid in which the motor augments the ICE.

This could be why the Volt rolls off less from its EPA figure during extreme flogging vs the Prius.

In the Volt, the ICE only has to turn on when the load states are efficient to do so regardless of the operators intent.

For example, when the pedal is mashed to the floor in a Volt at a light, the ICE will not kick on till around 30 mph because max torque can be met by the primary traction motor.

In a Prius, a mash of the throttle must turn on the ICE because max torque is the addition of max ICE torque and max motor torque.

I find it sad that a foreign media source must objectively hash out these concepts vs our own media which is fixated on some political BS that has no relevance to objectively assessing technology.

Sure, we do have the SAE, but how many people read that?

I don't know how many times I've had to explain to people the purpose of the Volt and why it's a marvel. Everyone thinks that Obama made GM make it.
WRONG!

The Volt was primarily pushed forward by Bob Lutz.

RougeRiver;190714 Wrote:That is a very good article by someone who appears to have a sound understanding of how the Volt operates.

I was talking with my brother about diesel electric drive in marine propulsion and he have the opinion that series electric is better than direct shaft due to the engine being allowed to operate at a peak load while the motors meet variable torque demand. What was needed for a motor vehicle to do this was a well (battery) to pump energy in.

By being primarily a series electric system with the motor dominant over the ICE, the Volt can keep the ICE in a more efficient load state in the face of extreme variable torque demands vs other hybrid in which the motor augments the ICE.

This could be why the Volt rolls off less from its EPA figure during extreme flogging vs the Prius.

In the Volt, the ICE only has to turn on when the load states are efficient to do so regardless of the operators intent.

For example, when the pedal is mashed to the floor in a Volt at a light, the ICE will not kick on till around 30 mph because max torque can be met by the primary traction motor.

In a Prius, a mash of the throttle must turn on the ICE because max torque is the addition of max ICE torque and max motor torque.

I find it sad that a foreign media source must objectively hash out these concepts vs our own media which is fixated on some political BS that has no relevance to objectively assessing technology.

Sure, we do have the SAE, but how many people read that?

Spot on. Conservatives make a mistake politicizing the Volt. Technically the Volt shines.

MOPAR74;190686 Wrote:

RotaryKing aka Rev;190678 Wrote:Its sad how much bad press the Volt gets. I don't think it gets enough positive press either. The news institutions haven't given people any information on what the car is capable of or their information is wrong. Can they really be this stupid? Apparently so. The Europeans understand this car, while the people in the US already write it off because GM was part of the bail out.

Even though it was in development YEARS BEFORE any bailout shit happened.... but no one is told that information

The general public believes it only takes like 10 minutes to develop a new car.

So Obama can invent an electric car in 10 minutes? ::

If you ask the general public,yes