Volt and Cadillac winners for GM
Crash prevention one of several high-tech features
Last week GM kicked-off Canada’s biggest auto show by picking up the coveted AJAC 2012 Best New Technology Award for its groundbreaking Voltec Propulsion System (more later). While there I also got my first look at the new (made in Canada) Cadillac XTS.
The all-new 2013 Cadillac XTS will arrive in Canadian showrooms later this spring as a 2013 model. GM invested $117 million in its Oshawa, Ontario Assembly Plant to prepare it for this new luxury sedan and added approximately 400 jobs.
The all-wheel drive XTS is larger than Cadillac’s reardrive CTS and is an entirely new entry that will compete with cars like the Mercedes-Benz E-class. It also marks the debut of CUE, a comprehensive in-vehicle experience that merges intuitive design with auto industry-first controls and commands for information and media control.
An amazing suite of advanced safety features, based on a “control and alert” strategy, virtually extend driver vision around the XTS. Potential crash situations are identified, and automatically intervene, when a crash threat appears imminent, is also part of this system.
Warning systems include a unique Safety Alert Seat feature, which vibrates either the left or right side of the driver’s seat cushion, depending on the location of the impending concern. Intervening features include Automatic Collision Preparation, which can take over if a threat appears more immediate and the driver has not reacted to alerts.
(For more on the design of the XTS, see Lisa Calvi’s profile of the car’s designer, Hoon Kim, at www.theprovince.ca/driving).
This year’s AJAC Technology Award winning Voltec Propulsion System is, of course, the driving force under the new Chevrolet Volt.
Voltec Propulsion is an ingenious four-mode electric drive system that also allows it to function as either a series or a parallel hybrid system. Volt uses two electric motors that in pure electric mode provide split-power continuously variable electric drive and it has a pure-electric operating range of 40 and 80 kilometres.
The Volt’s battery pack is recharged by plugging the Volt into the main electrical grid and it takes about three to four hours when connected to a level-2 (240 volt) charger. It’s T-shaped 16-kwh lithium-ion battery pack is centrally located in the Volt and supplies electrical energy to a 111-kw (149-hp) electric drive unit.
If needed, a small 1.4-litre gas engine can extend the Volt’s operating range by another 500 kilometres. The official government fuel consumption rating is 2.5 L/100 km (both city and highway), but actual fuel consumption, if any, depends on the user.
According to GM, real world owners of the Volt typically drive about 1,600 kms between fuel fill-ups and only visit a gas station once a month. A built-in memory system in the Volt will periodically run the gas engine, to lubricate its internal components, and it will use up at least one tank of fuel annually, so it doesn’t go stale. They think of everything!
Bob Mchugh is a freelance automotive journalist, writing on behalf of BCAA. Contact him at drivingwheel@shaw.ca