Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies
Originally Posted By: twoheeldrive
The bottom line is, the Volt is a pure electric car with an engine powered generator.
That's a contradiction in terms. If it's a "pure electric" the word pure means there is no gasoline engine on-board. .. You can say that it operates "like" a pure electric vehicle, but then so does every hybrid ever built, so it doesn't really say much.
---> For example, my C-Max Hybrid (non-plugin) operates with the engine off, on electric motors alone, for up to several miles. Ditto Prius, Fusion Hyb, etc....
Originally Posted By: twoheeldrive
And from Automobile Magazine: ..
Chevy Volt Surprise (Automobilemag.com) ..“To trump both the Prius and the Leaf, Volt combines their merits in one handy advanced-technology sedan. It employs cheaper and cleaner electrical energy drawn from the grid. It provides efficient electric drive without the usual compromises. It uses gasoline intelligently in a supporting role. It is a pure electric, a series hybrid, and a parallel hybrid all rolled into one.”
Priuses, C-Maxes, Fusion Hybrids, just about every one of them ever built operate as electric-drive, Series Hybrid, and Parallel Hybrid, and the Volt even uses the same planetary gearset the Priuses, C-Maxes, and Fusions do.
And the Leaf, along with every BEV (real "pure" electric vehicles) dispense completely with a heavy gasoline engine and fuel tank, skipping the weight, complexity, purchase price, and volume an engine+tank takes up. There is no "trumping" going on, only compromises made in every direction.
To understand this better, see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80E1fOp95rA for a simplified explanation that skips the planetary gearset stuff.
For engineers like me, or techies, you might want to brave the deeper look at the Prius-like and C-Max-like
Volt planetary gearset, see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqM3YXEf1js&t=3s
Summary: The Volt can turn the wheels using the engine DIRECTLY, using the motors to merely balance out the kinematics in the planetary gearset just like Toyota and Ford hybrids do and have done for many years before.
Ok, so the Volt can couple the engine in one very specific situation to improve efficiency on the highway, but here's the big difference between the Volt and the Plug in Prius and the C-Max:
It doesn't have to.
Yes, they all use planetary gears... like every other car with an automatic transmission. The Volt's engine's primary role is to generate electricity for the electric motor
after the battery runs down. The Volt's electric motor provides 100% of the power needed for the car. The C-Max and Prius need the engine to reach their top speed.
The Volt
is a fully electric car that gets 100% of its power from electricity stored in a battery and powering an electric motor. The Volt has a gasoline powered generator to extend its range, but that doesn't change the fact that it is powered 100% by electricity (which has to be generated somewhere). Think of it as an electric car with an unlimited range.
Here's a quote from a Motor Trend examination of the Volt's drivetrain:
On paper, the Voltec drivetrain has more in common with a Prius (and other Toyota, Ford, or Nissan Altima hybrids) than anyone suspected. Each system employs a single planetary gear set, a gasoline-powered piston engine, and two electric motor/generators. But the way Chevy connects them is entirely different, and—if you ask me—superior.
And here's a link to that article:
Unbolting the Chevy Volt to See How it Ticks 
