Gen 1 GM Volt Plug-In Hybrid (2011-2015)

[scottf200]

"UBM Tech Insights took apart the car’s battery and charging system to identify the components of each, and it’s making at least some of its results, including photos, available for free here"
[here is a link where you can get these 3 presentation 'sent' to you via email links]:

• Infotainment Teardown Presentation: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5lA7Kfp45ULVjE0ZE1MT1paR2c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
  Battery Pack Teardown Presentation: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5lA7Kfp45ULa1dSUmxScWdaY0E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
  Charging System Teardown Presentation: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B5lA7Kfp45ULcVpLYlRydkpIOU0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some people wrote that the Volt location of the charging port on the side of the car was better than the LEAF due to the fact that a frontal collision would destroy your charge port. But in fact it may be the opposite: in the presentation about the Volt charger, I noticed that the charger AC to DC converter module was located inside the front bumper of the Volt. Looks to me that even a minor fender bender could destroy this delicate equipment. I wouldn't be surprised if a conversation like this took place in an office in Detroit: "Jim, where did you put the charger for the car? The what?"

I like its location and I've stepped out of the car a few times forgetting (lost in thought about work, family, etc) to push the charge door open button ... but with it right there I saw it and was reminded to plug in. Save! As a EREV most charge at home and you can control the location of your EVSE and it's cord.

Besides the on board charge has has plenty of protection.

The Chevrolet Volt's High Strength Steel

The Chevrolet Volt's Safety Cage

 

[ericsf]

Besides the on board charge has has plenty of protection.

To me this shows the AC to DC module is completely outside of the steel frame protection. I don't know how much protection the plastic bumpers can provide.

 

[scottf200]

Besides the on board charge has has plenty of protection.

To me this looks like the AC to DC module is completely outside of the steel frame protection. I don't know how much protection the plastic bumpers can provide to this.

Seriously you think they didn't take this into consideration. Did you look at the various sophistications in the car based on the presentations or the many pictures of the frames (here and elsewhere). From the pictures above clearly a direct side impact or front impact being the most common would protect it fine. You are trying to nitpick a made up fault rehashed numerous times instead of acknowledging sophistication of the car and how it blends the electronics and mechanics. I've followed the Volt pretty closely and have never heard of a fender bender disabling the charger. Several accidents tho and it has preformed amazingly from posted pictures and owners testaments.

 

[ericsf]

Besides the on board charge has has plenty of protection.

To me this looks like the AC to DC module is completely outside of the steel frame protection. I don't know how much protection the plastic bumpers can provide to this.

Seriously you think they didn't take this into consideration. Did you look at the various sophistications in the car based on the presentations or the many pictures of the frames (here and elsewhere). From the pictures above clearly a direct side impact or front impact being the most common would protect it fine. You are trying to nitpick a made up fault rehashed numerous times instead of acknowledging sophistication of the car and how it blends the electronics and mechanics.

I'm sorry to disagree about the charger location. I happen to have clipped a wall corner with my LEAF just weeks after getting it. Had the charger been located where it is on the Volt, I would have probably had to replace it and I am sure it's not cheap.

Yes, the Volt is sophisticated and I am not denying this. Personally, I admire simplicity because I'm an engineer and I know how much harder it is to build something simple to perform a given task. But I do realize that the LEAF and the Volt don't do the same thing so it's pretty futile to try to compare their engineering design and relative complexity. Maybe you'll have a more constructive discussion with Prius owners.

And finally, if you don't want to hear criticism well, don't post in a LEAF forum.

 

[garsh]

From the pictures above clearly a direct side impact or front impact being the most common would protect it fine.

Really?
Are you sure?
It doesn't look like anything is protecting it, other than not getting hit on the right front bumper area.

 

[scottf200]

You folks are pretty funny. I understand your perspective / angle.

Clearly as a Volt owner, I've been extremely impressed with how the car as come through to protect the occupants in the car in several examples on http://www.gm-volt.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. That is the primary goal. I can replace a bumper, charger, etc but can't replace my family members.

 

[ericsf]

You folks are pretty funny. I understand your perspective / angle.

Clearly as a Volt owner, I've been extremely impressed with how the car as come through to protect the occupants in the car in several examples on http://www.gm-volt.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. That is the primary goal. I can replace a bumper, charger, etc but can't replace my family members.

Call me funny if you like but you obviously didn't understand that I was not arguing about the overall crash safety of the Volt (which I am sure is stellar) but only the odd choice of the location of the onboard charger. If you came here to promote the superiority of the Volt's design and built... well, good luck.

 

[scottf200]

You folks are pretty funny. I understand your perspective / angle.Clearly as a Volt owner, I've been extremely impressed with how the car as come through to protect the occupants in the car in several examples on http://www.gm-volt.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. That is the primary goal. I can replace a bumper, charger, etc but can't replace my family members.

Call me funny if you like but you obviously didn't understand that I was not arguing about the overall crash safety of the Volt (which I am sure is stellar) but only the odd choice of the location of the onboard charger. If you came here to promote the superiority of the Volt's design and built... well, good luck.

It is a Volt thread. I just posted the Volt presentations. I then just posted shots of the internal that I thought protected the four sides of the vehicle which take the typical main brunt of common collisions. I thought it would typically protect the charger but I don't care because if the accident is that bad there are many expensive pieces to replace or likely the car is considered totaled. I understood your point about the charger location as well as charger door and it has been discussed many times before as the internal pictures showing the charger location have been around for a few years. I'm sure it was not the first choice in it's location but give them some credit on why it ended up there. Back to my home project of letting some more sunshine in the house.

 

[garsh]

Besides the on board charge has has plenty of protection.

We saw that quote and didn't understand why you would say this. You posted the pics of the Volt structural members directly after this statement, leading us to believe that you were implying that they protected the charger. So ericsf posted a clear picture of the charger existing outside of the steel members in defense of his original statement. To which you replied:

Seriously you think they didn't take this into consideration.

I'm not sure what you meant by this statement. All he was saying is that the charger isn't protected by the steel frame like you implied. I'm sure the engineers at Chevy weighed the options. Perhaps they thought is was best to keep that high-energy conversion system as far away from the passenger compartment as possible. But then you inexplicably say:

clearly a direct side impact or front impact being the most common would protect it fine.

You're still implying that there is *something* to protect it from impact, although maybe you just mean that the odds are you won't get hit in the front right corner of your car? So I decided to look through some salvage yard photos of Volts, and found a couple where the vehicle clearly got hit right at that location.

I thought it would typically protect the charger but I don't care

And that's fine. I agree that it's much more important to protect the passengers, and I bet the Volt does a great job in that department.

Now, stop being so defensive and just admit that you were wrong about the charger being protected.

 

[scottf200]

Now, stop being so defensive and just admit that you were wrong about the charger being protected.

Thank you both for your reasonable responses. I think you are correct that the on board charger would certainly be damaged if you hit the front right corner of the car severely. Good find on the photos.

 

[DrInnovation]

From the pictures above clearly a direct side impact or front impact being the most common would protect it fine.

Really?
Are you sure?
It doesn't look like anything is protecting it, other than not getting hit on the right front bumper area.

Funny, but looking at both of those photos the AC/DC convert looks to be quite intact. Its in its own little metal box and even in the second more agressive right-front impact i seem more sheered off than destroyed. Maybe that's how its designed .. break off rather than break inside. Maybe more significant, from those crash photos.. the amount of damage in the engine is significant too.. estimated repair costs were $43,579 USD, so the AC/DC converter is just a small piece of that.

I think the more interesting question is the dammage if one just lightly clips another car or a pole with the front passenger side of the car. Not enough to total it, but maybe enough to rip that puppy right off the car.

 

[ericsf]

Regardless of who's wrong or right, thanks for posting the data in the first place. The fact that we're discussing it is a proof it is interesting.

Back to my home project of letting some more sunshine in the house.

Good luck on your home project! More natural light = less electricity = less CO2 = world a better place.

 

[ericsf]

I think the more interesting question is the dammage if one just lightly clips another car or a pole with the front passenger side of the car. Not enough to total it, but maybe enough to rip that puppy right off the car.

Yes. In my case (I clipped a wall corner while manoeuvring) the bumper only had scratches but was pushed in by a couple of inches. I went to the body shop to get a quote for the repair. The technician insisted a lot that they may find damaged equipment behind it and that the cost could be much higher than just a paint job. This must be a common problem of all modern cars.

It would indeed be interesting to know what is the clearance between the bumper and the body of the AC-DC converter. I think that because it has a liquid cooling system, even a light hit to the aluminum could potentially cause leaks and would require a replacement.

 

[DrInnovation]

Plus, in all but a very few charging locations and scenarios, my experience has been that a front port is far more convenient. My neighbor has a Volt and has commented that he would prefer my Leaf's location in front since the side location is a pain in his tight garage where he must park on the right side...

Some people wrote that the Volt location of the charging port on the side of the car was better than the LEAF due to the fact that a frontal collision would destroy your charge port.

Guess it depends where things are tight.. mine is tight in the front (where there is a work bench). I'm happy its on the side as I think that is more convenient. Though middle front does work better for charging from either side (without backing in), having on the side one can always get in on one side or the other by backing in.

 

[GRA]

Plus, in all but a very few charging locations and scenarios, my experience has been that a front port is far more convenient. My neighbor has a Volt and has commented that he would prefer my Leaf's location in front since the side location is a pain in his tight garage where he must park on the right side...

Some people wrote that the Volt location of the charging port on the side of the car was better than the LEAF due to the fact that a frontal collision would destroy your charge port.

Guess it depends where things are tight.. mine is tight in the front (where there is a work bench). I'm happy its on the side as I think that is more convenient. Though middle front does work better for charging from either side (without backing in), having on the side one can always get in on one side or the other by backing in.

ISTR Nissan was initially planning to put the Leaf's charge port on the rear. Apparently the Japanese normally back into their garages or driveways, while most Americans drive in forwards. I think front and center or left side just in front of the driver's door is the most convenient for the U.S., but ideally you'd want them left/right or front/back. Almost worst of all from the U.S. standpoint is the Coda's, which IIRC is on the left rear, presumably where the gas tank fill pipe was. While it's impossible to forget to disconnect it regardless of whether you approach the car from the front or back, it blocks both left side doors if you're parked nose in, a minor inconvenience if you've forgotten something in the car. OTOH, if it were moved to the right side then you'd have to walk around the car, would forget to unplug it sometimes and have to get out again, etc.

 

[scottf200]

New EV tickers on this site: http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
* Heads up via FB and Matt S

Incrementing tickers of "Data Provided by OnStar":
- Total EV miles driven (32,000,000 and VoltStats.NET at 4,000,000)
- Total miles driven (54,000,000 and VoltStats.NET at 5,600,000)
- Total gallons of fuel saved

 

[LKK]

For those of you who might be interested in the Volt and willing to suffer a detailed technical description of it's battery.

http://www.driveforinnovation.com/volt-teardown-the-battery-pack?cid=NL_UBM+Electronics" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looking at the design sophistication, it looks like GM is in this for the long haul.

 

[SanDust]

For those of you who might be interested in the Volt and willing to suffer a detailed technical description of it's battery.

We don't want to understand how the Volt works. As seen from the title of this thread, we just want to say "it's just like the Prius" and "it's not an EV".

 

[scottf200]

For those of you who might be interested in the Volt and willing to suffer a detailed technical description of it's battery.

We don't want to understand how the Volt works. As seen from the title of this thread, we just want to say "it's just like the Prius" and "it's not an EV".

LOL ... we do use gas but it is hard for us to admit. In my last 1200 miles I used 0.6 gals. It was either use 0.6 gal that day last month or I could have took my other car but that would have been a lot more gas used!

UPDATE: Funny thing has happened to a few owners after they got the new battery brackets installed. It reset/zeroed the ICE emissions in their "OBD II" data (ie. Catalyst,
Evaporative System, O2 Sensor). At some point later they took their vehicles in for emissions testing and they failed because there was no "ICE emissions" data ! :lol:

 

[scottf200]

Looks like the Volt owners MyVolt.COM website is getting some life back in it. Our mileage/charging/efficency details were "beta tested" last fall then removed. They've had some big upgrades in the past month or two (for internal and external uses).

Vehicle data as of 04/29/12 at 06:08 PM CDT
Last 30 Days
Electric Miles: 817
Gas Miles: 30
Total Miles: 847
Percentage on Electric: 96%
Fuel Economy: 250+ MPG
Electric Economy: 27 kW-hr/100 miles
Combined Economy: 112 MPGe

Here is a sample of what we get:

MyVolt.COM mileage details for last 7 days using graph/table option

MyVolt.COM mileage details for last 7 days using download option

MyVolt.COM charging details for last 30 days using graph/table option

MyVolt.COM charging details for last 30 days using download option