Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
Originally Posted By: JustinH
....
Also, I hope that there is a feature on the car that actually has the engine RUN more often if the engine hasn't been running enough (stale gas)..
"First, to release the gas nozzle inlet says Berman, the driver must touch a small gas release button on the driver’s door, hard to see, but right above the electric charging door release button.
After pressing the button there is a mandatory wait period signalled on the dashboard screen. During the wait, a vacuum pump decompresses the pressurized tank and pumps vapors into a “carbon canister.” This is a specialized system that normally keeps the gas tank sealed under pressure to prevent seepage of water and other factors that might lead to stale gas.
The car’s computer is always monitoring the gas situation. It knows how long its been since gas was last placed in as well as when the last time the engine was run. It also knows if you open the gas door but don’t actually fill up and even monitors the temperature of the gas to ensure it isnt “cooking.”
The car, of course needs to know all this because after a ceratin period of time the risk of gas going stale increases and the engine needs a cycling.
At that certain point, if fuel hasn’t been burned, the car will display a message encouraging the driver to drive beyond the EV range and let the generator go on. The driver can apparently ignore the warning but after two times the car will “take matters into its own hands,” writes Berman. This means the Volt will start its generator to burn some fuel, lubricate the mechnical parts, and “pressurize the engine system.”
After completing this “engine and fuel maintenance mode,” the gnerator shuts off allowing the car to go back into pure EV operation, until the next time some gas needs to be burned"
"Engine/Fuel Maintenance Mode will start the ICE every six weeks to lubricate the engine. Regardless of the age of the fuel in the tank.
Engine/Fuel Maintenance Mode will start the ICE or prompt the owner to drive beyond battery range when the average age of the gas in the tank exceeds a set parameter."
Hopefully it will work. My 2004 ECU which keeps track of how many hours the engine has been run went from 2780 to zero overnight. I now have 122,800 miles and 30 hours....
Vehicles like this are too complicated for me. I'll always look for the simpler way to do things. Even if it gets worst MPG (And I drive more than the average clown) because in the end the expensive toys will cost more.
Just my opinion.
