Loving the Volt!

I agree it isn't something Tesla is going to loose money on.
They view it as a marketing expense and put a lot of people to work building the equipment, and setting up the superchargers. Win-Win if you as me.

Let's see, a 30 second Super Bowl commercial runs about 2 Million dollars? Tesla can built about 8 supercharger stations for that cost. I'd say that is a much better place for the funds.

 

The Volts 1.4l ice is a mismatch. You can't blame the engineers / designers for using the 1.4. Bean counters and BOD dictated the use of the 1.4 in the Volt. Had the engineers had their way, a new more suited engine would have been produced and would require 87 octane, not 91.

Hopefully, a more refined power plant in the next gen Volt allows the use of 87 octane.

Technically the current ice does not power the Volt, it is the electric final drive. The ice supplies power to the generator to produce electricity delivered to the final drive. The final drive provides the performance to propel the car.

DBCassidy

 

Sort of. The Volt generally operates the way you describe it when driving under 35 mph, during strong acceleration, or driving up a steep grade. Above 35-40 mph and at steady output or mild acceleration it switches to a power-split setup. So on a mostly flat highway you are normally in power-split mode.

 

If GM goes with a turbo, they will likely still use premium. There is a shelf life advantage with a higher octane. Albeit, it is slight with a sealed fuel system. word getting out from current Volt owners that with their EV miles their total gasoline costs are still lower despite the premium price. And the turbo specific reason is that they can run it at higher boost for a higher effective compression, and squeeze out higher mpg numbers.

Along with that test advantage, EPA test blend is 93 octane. Design the engine for premium, it gets better numbers, and the customers numbers are closer to the label if you tell them to use premium.

 

I find that using fossil fuels is always anticlimatic.

 

91,93, 89, 87 octane all have a short shelf life these days. Ethanol is a major contributor. As long as one use up their tank within a month, corrosion can be managed somewhat. If todays' gas is left for a longer period, expect increased probalility of corrosion to the fuel system. Untreated, todays' gas starts to break down after a month.

Food for thought.

DBCassidy

 

Gas as a short shelf life. One of the measurable degradations over time is the drop in octane. That, and a fuel economy advantage, is why GM label the Volt as premium required. Even though the engine has knock sensors and can run regular just fine. If it was purely for fuel economy reasons, they could have used recommended in the manual for the octane.

While i can't speak for racing fuels, putting premium into a regular octane engine isn't going to cause harm. It is a waste of money if the engine can't take advantage of it, but no damage will occur. Too low of an octane will cause knock. The term doesn't sound that bad, but it literally means the air fuel mix is exploding before the cylinder is fully compressed. A cylinder trying to push up against the exploding fuel can cause so serious damage to an engine.

Modern engines with knock sensors have virtually eliminated the worries of knock, but the octane can only drop so low before the engine can no longer protect itself. GM's worry was that if they oked regular for the Volt was that the octane can drop to that low enough point for owners that drive mostly EV miles. Between requiring premium octane and more wasteful service cycles of the ICE, the premium requirement is the better option.

As to what degrades gasoline and fuel systems, water is a minor player. Cars have been designed for E10 for decades, and water was getting into station tanks before ethanol was a concern. It can lead to corrosion of parts. Mostly from the salts and acids it has picked up before getting into a car gas tank. It is just that the water gets into the fuel before it gets into the car. Burning off old gas isn't going to help with the water issue when the new gas going in will already have water in it.

The real culprit of gasoline degradation is air. Open to the atmosphere, like in a can for the lawnmower, gasoline will lose the more volatile fractions in it. Then the oxygen in the air will also react with the fuel to degrade it. A sealed fuel system in a car will prevent the evaporation of of fuel components. It will limit the amount of air getting in too, but some will get in.

 

Don't forget gas tank condensation when it meets with the ethanol - nasty mixture.
Even in sealed fuel systems, the "varnish" process is well underway. Fuel pumps, injectors, even the good old carbureted vehicles are all subject to the corrosion taking place. Todays' fuel (E10 or diesel) needs to be treated if left in the tank. If left untreated, use the fuel to minimize the corrosive effect on the pricey fuel systems components.

Your wallet and your piece of mind will thank you. I know about the above, I make good money repairing / replacing corroded components.

If you want to keep me rich, keep the gas in the Volt for a long time. I will see you and your wallet or more likely your credit card to fix the damaged components. Oh, before I forget, warranties very, very rarely will cover this. It falls on the owner to maintain their fuel systems. Stale gas is always a dead giveaway to owner abuse and thus, refused warranty coverage.

DBCassidy

 

I'm using E0 exclusively. Is that a viable alternative?

 

Yes, EO - subject to availability is indeed better. Todays' blends should be rotated on a frequent basis (IE: a tank used up within a couple on months - max, untreated).

DBCassidy

 

DB,
You seem to be in the biz, but you have limited understanding of the Volt.
It operates as a series or parallel hybrid. As an EV it operates in a 1 or 2 motor mode.
It has an advanced evaporative emission system that positive pressurizes the tank, not the typical negative pressure system in other cars.
Plus it has a FMM, fuel maintenance mode, that makes you use old fuel so how could GM not warrant old fuel related claims?
Does this keep E10 and octane ratings last longer? Who knows?

But I do know my Volt operates fine with ordinary 87 oct gas,, but rarely!!! Because it's an EREV and I can go a long time without the stinker in the nose waking up.
I ran a tank of 93 oct/0%E, bought at the Lake, and I could not measure a higher MPG. Just the typical variations from one tank to the next.

I pointed out in a PiP thread that it would be funny if the next gen PiP shares the exact same transaxle as the Volt.
Both the Prius and Volt transaxles come from the same supplier.

 

The transmissions are proprietary.

 

Cross-licensing.

 

Every single GM product I have ever owned (2 from brand new) have deteriorated Into junk. At 5 years old my Malibu is falling apart, And I just traded 2010 Silverado in because of how poor quality it was made. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I suspect nothing has changed with the Volt. There cars are always nice when new, I can't wait to see how the Volt holds up over time. I worked for GM for 5 years and have very little faith in them.

My Toyota is 6 years old and runs, drives and looks new. Keep us updated as time goes on.

 

If they would do it.

 

So far my nearly 3.5 year old Volt is doing great with 81,000 miles total of which 51,000 are on battery charge. On my last two days driving into work on the highway at 55 mph I've gotten over 47 miles of EV range.

 

Two questions for the Volt owners. When you run out of EV and are on the ICE, does the ICE have start/stop and can you run in stealth like a Prius? I checked, but I couldn't find answers and am curious about this.