GM Exec: “Better In Every Way” 2nd Gen Chevrolet Volt “Media Encounters” Coming Soon – Video

 Last month GM teased us with a photo of the upcoming 2nd generation of Chevrolet Volt - a car that won’t be fully revealed until the 2015 Detroit Auto Show NAIAS.  However, a few new details on the road to that reveal came recently from Larry Nitz, who is GM’s Powertrain Executive Director, as well as “electrification” boss.

Larry Nitz Talks All Thing Chevy Volt In Recent Interview

More specifically, Mr. Nitz says that GM won’t be running fully darkon information pertaining to the next gen Volt in the short term, but that there “will be some specific media encounters along the way between now and January.”

Past these future-teasers, GM’s Powertrain exec says the Volt will be “better in everyway”, but qualifies that statement by also saying that pertains just to the “meaningful things that we think the customers really like”. 

Mr. Nitz prefaces this bold statement by highlighting things like range, performance and efficiency, but also notes later that charging times aren’t really a concern.

Reading the tea leaves presented to us, we take this to mean significantly more AER, but no fast charging on Volt 2.0.

Checkout the full Autoline After Hours interview with Mr. Nitz (from 15:15 for Volt-related topics), as it is interesting to get a first person account of the project from a GM exec directly…something of a rarity this past 2-3 years.

In case you don’t feel like sifting through the whole video, InsideEVs tipster Eric H provides a nice bullet-list of the tidbits to be had:

More 2nd Gen Volt Teasing Coming Soon

• Today’s volt is GM’s highest customer satisfaction vehicle.
• GM has collected anonymous data on about 2/3 of all volts or about 50,000 units.
• About 65% of overall driving is electric.
• About 82% of energy during commuting is from the electric plug.
• 81% of all trips have no engine start at all.  Some other plugins: only 10% of trips did not have an engine start
• The promises made are the promised that will be delivered to customers regarding Volt 2.0.  What people want will be delivered and we’ll hit it out of the park and sell in the numbers we want to sell.
• 60% of volt customers only charge on 110v rather than 240v.
• 50% of all volts are at home at any one particular time.
• 8 hour charge is perfectly acceptable for a majority of customers.
• Regarding customer education, we are going to do more to help the customer understand the proposition of the volt.  If someone can drive the volt for a couple weeks then they get it.
• There is a customer who drove 10,000 miles and only used 33 gallons of gasoline.
• “Volts plug in on average 10 times per week, not 7.  That surprised us.  We figured a once a day charge but customers charge more”

The Lexus RC F Boasts A Hybrid-like V8 Engine

Lexus combined the fuel-efficient Atkinson-cycle engine technology with the more powerful Otto-cycle in the new Lexus RC F, which made its debut at the 2014 North American International Auto Show. This combination of engine cycles results in improved fuel efficiency without sacrificing horsepower.

It is a 5.0 liter,  450horsepower (336 kW) engine which produces 384 pound-feet (520 Nm) of torque, making it the most powerful V8 engine in the Lexus lineup. Remember, the Lexus LFA has a 550 horsepower V10. But it’s not the engine’s horsepower that is impressive, but rather its ability to switch between two different operating cycles.

The Otto-Atkinson cycle concept is not new, having first been introduced in 1982 when Tel-Aviv University and the Israel Institute of Technology published a paper on it. It showed that fuel consumption of the Otto-Atkinson cycle engine was 19% lower. Nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide emissions were also lower, but performance stayed on par.

According to Green Car Congress, there was another research papers from Ford where “…tested a modified 1.6L I-4 engine with retarded, but fixed, valve timings and increased, but fixed, geometric compression ratios to simulate the Otto-Atkinson cycle. The engine demonstrated 15% improvement in BSFC relative to the standard spark-ignition engine with 10% EGR at 1500 rpm, 2.62 Bar BMEP. Tests also revealed 50% reductions in BSNO_x and BSCO emissions but a 60% increase in BSHC.”

Lexus hopes that this new Otto-Atkinson-cycle V8 engine can get better fuel economy than the current 18 MPG Lexus IS F sedan, while still delivering a 4.7 second 0 to 60 MPH sprint. . It’s a different take on technology that is increasingly geared towards hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles, but some people still haven’t accepted that hybrids can be performance cars. Better fuel economy is always a step in the right direction though.

Apart from that, this Lexus engine is coupled to a Sports Direct Shift Transmission (SPDS), and with a Torque Vectoring Differential, the first in a front-engined rear-wheel drive sports coupe. The torque vectoring differential has three operating modes, include Standard for a balance of performance and stability, Slalom to enhance steering response, and Track for consistent cornering behavior while circuit driving and a newly calibrated VDIM that adds a vertical G-sensor to provide better vehicle stability.

The Lexus RC F will debut this fall with a price around $70,000 for a well-equipped model.

Source: Green Car Congress