What Happens to a Chevy Volt's Old Gas?
There are many questions about the upcoming Chevy Volt. One concerns what happens to the gas in the tank when you only drive the car short distances, using its electric power supply and not the gasoline-powered backup engine.
Local varieties notwithstanding, U.S. gas stations generally pump two types of fuel: winter blends and summer blends. The latter one, formulated to burn cleaner during high-pollution summer months, doesn’t work as well when the icicles form; in fact, it can make engines downright difficult to start. What’s more, fuel will slowly degrade as it sits in your tank. As MSN Autos reports, the components that allow fuel to combust will evaporate over time. And the chemical composition of the gas can degrade, leading to harmful deposits in your fuel system. Bottom line: If it sits, it quits.
So what will happen in cars like the upcoming Chevy Volt, whose gasoline drivetrain could potentially remain dormant for weeks at a time while its driver commutes, recharges and commutes again — all on electric power? At the Washington, D.C., auto show, we queried GM’s manager for hydrogen and electrical infrastructure commercialization, Britta Gross.
It’s certainly a concern, Gross said, but it shouldn’t be a problem: The Volt’s system stirs fuel in the tank about once a month to fight fuel-system buildup. At most, “it’s a minor impact on performance and emissions,” she said.
That doesn’t really get to the bottom of the old-fuel issue, so we asked Volt spokesman Dave Darovitz for more. Darovitz offered up a non-answer. In short: For competitive reasons, GM can’t reveal information about that right now.
“I wish I could talk about it,” he said, “but we will have solutions in place to address the aging-gasoline situation. It’s a great problem to have … [and] the engineers are addressing that situation.” The issue came up long ago during the Volt’s development, Darovitz said.
Take that answer for what you will. We’ll withhold judgment until the Volt arrives in real buyers’ hands to see if GM’s solutions, well, solve the problem. For now, share your thoughts below.
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The strategy adopted by GM for avoiding stale gas involved both resizing the gas tank to half its original size (some auto mags falsely claimed that was to reduce weight!!!)
and also to pressurize the gas tank to eliminate evaporation.
very nice and informative post about Chevy Volt.
My solution:
Gasoline conditioner that will be dispensed automatically, when needed. For the driver - warning light "Low Conditioner." Immobilize engine when conditioner is out. Conditioner can come in the form of canned liquid that will be as easy to replace as to check the oil.
Good information. I would appreciate similar information on the problems of diesel fuel (gelling, degradation, clogging fuel filter and injectors). Folks need to know that highly sophisticated modern diesel cars can be stopped in their tracks by the unstable nature of the fuel they use.
Just use a little fuel stabilizer and it will we fine.
Old gas, old oil, and probably at least six hundred pounds of extra weight to haul once all the on-board recharging is installed. I would be happy to see a Volt variant offered that put a couple of extra batteries in place of the engine/generator set. Instead, I guess I'll just have to wait until Ford and Nissan show us what they've got.
I'm glad to hear they're wise to the issue and working on it, but I question how much of a problem it will be. When we were working on a major Cars.com upgrade many years ago, I had to abandon work on my Fiat, from which I'd stripped the entire brake system. By the time I got it operational again, the gas (stabilized) was more than a year old, and it started and ran. By then it was probably summer blend that had sat through a winter and most of a second summer. In my experience, it's small engines that are a problem with old gas. I used to run my lawnmower on older gas that had stalled a touchy chainsaw.
Granted, these are all crude examples, but you'd think if a 1970s Fiat with a crappy carburetor could run on old gas, a modern, computer-controlled, fuel-injected engine could do so, even if it's smaller than a normal car engine.
We'll have to corner some engineers who don't represent GM to see what they think. Old gas would affect efficiency and power, but I suspect technology can compensate for starting and emissions issues. Remember that we're talking about a simpler task here: driving a generator over a limited rpm range. And you have a lot more than 12 volts to get the engine started.
The concern for age of the gas in the General Motors Volt is a non-concern. A squirt of "Stable" gas conditioner once in the winter takes that concern safely away. I wish to see GM survive and their "Volt" is the "number" that GM is betting all of their money on. I am afraid that when Honda and Toyota come out with their diesel / hybrid mid-size cars (Accord/Camry/etc.) that this will be the final nail in the coffin for GM.
If it's really that big of a concern you could just run the battery totally out of energy about once every couple of months and use the engine and gas for the 300 miles or so and then fill er up. Seems to be making a mountain out of molehill. Your still using WAY less gas than a conventional setup even doing it this way. It would also be a great excuse to bring back the "Sunday Drive" through the country!
Look for the Volt to have a function in the control system to run the gasoline engine at various times, including when you floor it. They're going to develop battery management strategies that will include the gasoline engine running even when there's substantial charge in the batteries. The fuel tank will only hold six gallons, so there shouldn't be a problem with old gas.
If they are going to pressurize the gas tank to avoid furl build-up, will it be to difficult to fill the fuel tank then. I really dont have any idea on to what GM is up to, Why can't they build another hybrid then? at least there will be less combustibles because the car will running from both electric and gas fuel. I think what's GM up to is just to be unique.