Chevrolet VoltDevelopment Story of the Pioneering Electrified Vehicle

ELECTRIFICATIONvehicle SERIES

Edited byLindsay Brooke

iSAE Electrification SeriesSAE Vehicle Electrification evsae.com

Table of Contents ELECTRIFICATIONvehicle SERIES

iii PrefaceGM on the Critical Path Four years of Volt development

01 Chapter 1Why Volt?After 48 months’ development, the 2011 Chevrolet Volt has entered series production. The pioneering “E-REV” is as important to the mobility industry as it is to GM.

09 The Electrification of the Automobile: From Conventional Hybrid, to Plug- in Hybrids, to Extended-Range Electric Vehicles. Lead author E.D. Tate; SAE Technical Paper 2008-01-0458.

21 The CO2 Benefits of Electrification – E-REVs, PHEVs, and Charging Scenarios. Lead author E.D. Tate; SAE Technical Paper 2009-01-1311.

32 2011 Chevrolet Volt Specifications

35 Chapter 2Creating the Heart of VoltGM’s battery requirements meant creating a new state-of-the-art in-vehicle energy storage—and doing it in less than four years. Top GM and supplier engineers reveal how they did it. Q&A: Prabhakar Patil, Compact Power Inc.

41 Voltec Battery Design and Manufacturing. Lead author Robert Parrish; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-1360.

51 Voltec Battery System for Electric Vehicle with Extended Range. Lead author Roland Matthe; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-1373.

71 High Voltage Hybrid Battery Tray Design Optimization. Lead author Kristel Coronado; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-0671.

83 High Voltage Connect Feature. Lead author Trista Schieffer; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-1266.

87 Chapter 3Engineering with a Maniacal FocusA dedicated, cohesive team and a conservative engineering approach put this innovative vehicle into production at moon-shot speed.

90 Chevrolet Volt Development Timeline

92 OnStar deployed as a tool for Volt engineers

93 Chapter 4A Unique Electrified TransaxleHybrid or not? Definitions aside, what really matters is GM wisely leveraged its next-generation Two Mode propulsion technology to give Volt greater overall efficiency.Q&A: Mahendra Muli, dSPACEQ&A: Dr. Uwe Krueger, Behr America

99 The Voltec 4ET50 Electric Drive System. Lead author Khwaja Rahman; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-0355.

115 The GM “Voltec” 4ET50 Multi-Mode Electric Transaxle. Lead author Michael A. Miller; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-0887.

129 High Voltage Power Allocation Management of Hybrid/Electric Vehicles. Lead author James D. Marus; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-1022.

ii SAE Electrification Series SAE Vehicle Electrification evsae.com

193 Chapter 9Flogging a MuleThe first drive of a Volt prototype in charge-sustaining mode revealed a lot about the car’s development pace 11 months before production.

197 Chapter 10Charging and ConnectivityGM engineers designed in maximum flexibility for keeping the Volt juiced up and connected—to the grid and to the Internet.Q&A: Chris Preuss, OnStar

202 Chevy Volt debuts GM’s Global A electrical architecture

206 Voltec Charging System EMC Requirements and Test Methodologies. Lead author Vipul M. Patel; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-0742.

211 Development of the Chevrolet Volt Portable EVSA. Lead author Tony Argote; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-0878.

219 About the Author

135 Chapter 5Codifying the CarModel-based design was one of the key enablers to Volt’s rapid development

141 Chapter 6Sweating the Body DetailsExtensive wind-tunnel work gave Volt a shape that’s slicker than it looks. But engineers aren’t happy with the curb weight.Q&A: Paul Haelterman, IHS Automotive

147 Aerodynamic Development of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Lead author Nina Tortosa; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-0168. 153 Chapter 7A Chassis that CruzesTo speed development and minimize cost, Volt shares key underpinnings with its high-volume cousin. Q&A: Dan Milot, TRW Automotive

159 Co-development of Chevy Volt Tire Properties to balance performance and Electric Vehicle Range. Lead author Dean C. Degazio; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-0096.

169 Chapter 8A New Role for the ICEVolt’s modified Family Zero inline four is along for the ride—until it’s needed.

173 Optimizing 12 Volt Start - Stop for Conventional Powertrains. Lead author Darrell Robinette; SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-0699.

187 Optimizing ICEs for hybridization. Automotive Engineering International, January 2010.

Table of Contents ELECTRIFICATIONvehicle SERIES