DucRider said:
2016+ Volts will fire the ICE for more performance if you mash the go pedal (even with a fully charged battery). The Volt uses the ICE when it needs more power than the electric motor alone can provide - it will pop in and out of pure EV mode based on how much power you call for. No different than the original PIP, current Energi products, or any of the other PHEV's on the market. It just has a higher threshold for when that takes place.
That's false. The Volt never starts the gas engine due to vehicle speed or acceleration when it is in the default EV mode and there is usable charge left in the battery pack.
Where did you get the impression that the 2016+ Volt operates as you incorrectly described it? Could you possibly be thinking of the 2017 Cadillac CT6 plugin hybrid instead? The CT6 uses a repacked version of the Volt battery and an extended RWD variant of the Volt/Malibu transmission but it is not an EREV because Cadillac wanted to allow full performance by blending in the car's powerful turbo engine.
Here are the SAE-provided definitions:
E-REV: “A vehicle that functions as full-performance battery electric vehicle when energy is available from an onboard RESS [rechargeable energy storage system] and having an auxiliary energy supply that is only engaged when the RESS energy is not available.”
PHEV: “A hybrid vehicle with the ability to store and use off-board electrical energy in the RESS.”
The current generation Volt would not qualify as an EREV using this definition. (EREVs are by nature a subset of PHEV's).
False. The first and second generation Volts function the same way with respect to that GM SAE EREV definition.
The reference to "full-performance battery electric vehicle" is to a vehicle category definition in a CARB document that is footnoted in the SAE paper. If you carefully parse the surrounding discussion in the main definition section of that paper the EREV definition boils down to:
1. Must be highway capable in EV driving (not a golf cart)
2. Must have a RESS or battery pack for storing electricity
3. Must start off in EV mode when usable energy remains in the battery
4. Must not start the range extender due to vehicle speed or torque demand (acceleration).
And that's it. There are no other requirements. Notably, the definition says nothing about:
A. Climate controls or whether the engine can start to help generate cabin heat.
B. Fuel or engine maintenance modes which periodically start the engine to burn off stale gas or maintain engine lubrication.
C. The driver manually putting the car in Hold mode.
D. How the transmission operates. An EREV can be a series hybrid, a power-split parallel hybrid, a direct drive parallel hybrid with a convention manual or automatic transmission in addition to generator and traction motors, whatever else an engineer can think of. Once the range extender starts up the EREV definition no longer has any requirements.
The only cars that I can think of that obviously fit the SAE EREV definition are the Volt, ELR, and i3 REx. I'm told that the Ford Energi models have an "EV Now" mode that is persistent across restarts and which does not start the engine without driver agreement. I suppose that could qualify as EREV. The new Prius Prime does not qualify because it starts the engine at speeds above 84 mph and might also start the engine if you mash the accelerator all the way (I'm not certain about that).
). But I'd rather somebody drive one of those than a Durango or a RAV4 (gas).