Quote:
Originally Posted by PhishPhood
If true then in the three scenarios that you laid out above it seems to confirm my initial thought that in certain conditions the ICE+generator does power the e-motor directly, bypassing the battery. The path of least resistance as you note.
At this time during very strong accelerations or needs... hold your hats... the Volt would be a parallel hybrid being run at the same time by the ...
ICE ==> generator ==>
............................... both power sources feeding the e-motor by separate routes
PLUS: battery pack==>
Most of the other times the Volt is a series hybrid...
ICE ==> generator ==> battery ==> e-motor
Now the question is when the battery reaches it's lowest available level, say 30%, but the driver suddenly wants maximum output with the battery prohibited by software from contributing ( can't go lower than 30% ) is then the vehicle being driven ONLY by the..
ICE ==> generator ==> e-motor
with maybe a 'trickle charge' to the battery?
OTOH.. in the response from Lutz several pages back he apparently said that all the power from the ICE went through the battery. Either the ICE output always does go through the battery ( series hybrid ) or it sometimes takes the path of least resistance around the battery ( parallel hybrid). Therein lies the conundrum.
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When a vehicle is referred to as a series or parallel hybrid, they are not referring to the battery. They are referring to the gas engine, and the electric motor. If the two can BOTH directly power the wheels (either together or seperate), that would be a parallel hybrid. If the gas engine's only contribution is generating electricity, and it is not mechanically connected to the wheels (such as on the Volt), it cannot function as a parallel hybrid.
But I do see where you get the parallel "implication".
This is going to do nothing but further confuse the issue, but........
In the Volt's system, the battery is in the circuit between the gas engine and the electric motor (kinda what Lutz said).
But it is wired in parallel. The drive system itself is still a series hybrid, but the battery is always in the circuit, but parallel. This means that even without any switching, the battery either :
1) Stores energy when the ICE is producing
more power than the electric motor is using.
2) Delivers energy when the ICE is producing
less power than the electric motor is using.
3) Is unaffected when the ICE is
matching the power needs of the electric moror.
The battery is the "dumb" part of the system, it just stores or delivers whatever charge or load it faces. The driver will control the electric demand of the electric motor (pushing on the "gas" pedal). The vehicles software will control the ICE's contribution in determining when to turn it on or off, and maybe a bit of changes in revs.