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by ScottBurson 3831 days ago
I had always thought the Volt was a series hybrid, but I just checked [0] and it turns out there's a mechanical bypass mechanism that can connect the gasoline motor to the drivetrain, under control of the engine computer. Sounds like at low speeds it operates as a series hybrid, but at highway speeds, once the batteries are drained, it turns into a parallel hybrid. Clever!

EDITED to add: dwhall posted a link with much more detail [1] -- very interesting!

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt#Drivetrain

[1] http://gm-volt.com/2015/02/20/gen-2-volt-transmission-operat...