Can you have your full-size SUV cake and eat it too at a time when pundits are hinting at $1.50/litre this summer for gas?
General Motors, in conjunction with Chrysler and BMW, is working on what is called a 2-mode Hybrid System currently found in the GMC Yukon and Sierra, Chevrolet Tahoe and Silverado and Cadillac Escalade.
This is a “full” hybrid system in that it can operate on electric power, gasoline power or a combination of both for a claimed saving of up to 25 per cent.
While the GM Hybrid system is one of several affordable hybrid technologies, it is the most capable for large vehicles. In fact the 2-mode hybrid system was adapted and refined from the 2-mode hybrid technology GM has used in city buses since 2003. It is now the first hybrid system used in a full-size SUV.
The Hybrid’s drivetrain is the sum of three main components, each of which works together to provide seamless, economical and comfortable operation that goes virtually unnoticed by the driver and passengers. The components are an Electrically Variable Transmission (EVT), an Energy Storage System (ESS) and the Vortec 6.0-litre Gen IV V8 engine with Active Fuel Management (AFM) that allows it to run on only four cylinders under light energy demand situations and late-intake valve closing (LIVC)
At all times, the 2-Mode Hybrid system collects torque-based data, deciphers it, and then determines the most fuel-efficient means of propelling the vehicle. It can operate in...