Opel Flextreme GT/E Concept gallery
General Motors has developed a power-train architecture that is easily adapted to whatever fuels are locally available. Essentially the only thing that changes as you go from one E-Flex type to another is the source of electricity for that motor. All of the versions have the ability to be plugged in to a local electrical outlet and draw power from the grid or whatever non-centralized sources might be available.
The original Volt added a gasoline/E85 flex-fuel 1.0L three cylinder engine mated to a 53kW generator to provide on-the-go energy to the battery. The version they showed in Shanghai in April of this year swapped the internal combustion engine for a hydrogen fuel cell. This was done because China is expected to take the lead on hydrogen infrastructure development as their energy requirements and air pollution continue to get worse. In Europe, where diesel engines are already the majority in many countries, the obvious choice for the Opel E-Flex was a diesel range extender.
The Flextreme uses an Opel 1.3L four cylinder common-rail diesel engine to drive its generator. There have been some changes to the configuration of the Opel compared to the Chevy. On the Volt, the range extender sits above and slightly behind the electric motor. On the Flextreme the diesel has been moved out in front of the motor. According to E-Flex Vehicle Line Director Tony Posawatz, this was in part due to the monobox design of the Flextreme. The proportions of the design didn’t work as well with the longer hood of the Volt layout. One of the advantages of the E-Flex is that the decoupling of the engine from the drive wheels allows the designers to reposition components like this more easily.
source[CarScoop]
Tags: flextreme concept, flextreme geneva 2010, Geneva 2010 concept, geneva cars, Geneva motor show, opel concept, Opel Flextreme GT/E Concept gallery
