So Long Old Friend

This will be my last entry here at the Sparky ‘n Me blog. Our company car rotations last 6 months and I’ve picked up a new CTS wagon today. I’ve had fun writing the posts, trying to educate, pointing out some different locations in my travels. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

As I wrote in my first posting when I started this adventure, my automotive tastes are more in tune with say a CTS-V than an Escalade. But after 6 months and nearly 19,000 miles, I have enjoyed my time with Sparky. Recently we had to visit all of our dealership in as short amount of time as possible to conduct sales meetings about the recently announced price reduction for the 2010 CTS. The first week I drove over 1100 miles and spent 22 hours staring at the inside of Sparky’s windshield. I pounded the pavement with a smooth, quiet, enjoyable ride and in an economical manner.

The trick now will be to convince management that in order to maximize the exposure of the new CTS-V Coupe that we should all receive one as a company car. A real sports car equipped properly of course with a manual transmission. No slush box for me.

Not Your Ordinary Snowmobile

If any of you have had the opportunity to ride a snowmobile you know how much fun they can be. They are use a very simple drive train to get the power to the ground by using a transmission called a Constant Velocity Transmission or CVT. The basic principal of a CVT uses opposing cone shaped “wheels” for the engine output and another for the drive wheels. The driving force uses a belt or a chain between these cones. The cones move in or out to make the belt travel slow or fast depending on the needs of the driver. By using this system it allows the engine to reach the engine’s peak torque and stay there to get the sled moving.

While we all associate fast cars with high horsepower, it is an engine’s torque that we feel leaving the line. If you see an engine’s torque plotted on a graph it typically builds as the engine RPMs rise, reaching its maximum levels somewhere around 4,000 to 5,000 RPM. If you want to pick up your pace and do it quickly, your transmission selects a proper gear and you have to wait to build to the maximum torque to get to where you want to go.

The Escalade Hybrid uses slight variation on the CVT transmission concept. It is called Electronically Variable Transmission with Four Fixed Gears. Under normal driving conditions the transmission shifts up and down through the four gears as needed. When additional torque is needed, the electric motors will come on line to assist. However, if you need to get to a higher speed and do it quickly then the transmission does what you may not expect.

This is where the Escalade Hybrid separates itself. If you floor the accelerator on the Escalade Hybrid the electric motors come on-line and get the engine up to its maximum torque levels. The transmissions shifts as your speed builds, but the engine RPMs remain at the peak torque RPM levels to take full advantage of what the engine has to offer. This drive train not only takes full advantage of what the engine has to offer, but performs in a much more efficient manner.

So while the four wheel drive Escalade Hybrid will handle all sorts of hazardous road conditions, it’s not your average snowmobile.

Crashes Don't Have To Be Shocking

One of Walt Disney’s most revered full length animated films has to be Bambi. This is a wonderful story of innocence and tragedy about some of the cutest animals of the forest. We smiled and laughed at the antics of Bambi and Thumper and we cried at the loss during the forest fire.

Real life can also take on a tragic tale as well. One of my co-workers is driving a twin to Sparky. Every year during the Christmas holidays, he and the family make their way to Michigan to spend time with family. This year however, their trip was interrupted when a deer suddenly ran out onto the highway. It was night as they were traveling through Virginia. Bill said the first time he saw the deer was when it was about two feet in front of the car.

Sadly the deer was killed, while causing considerable damage to the Escalade Hybrid. Bill and his family learned first-hand about one of the safety features built into the Hybrid. You can imagine the force of hitting a 200 plus pound animal at highway speeds. The crash sensors automatically disconnected the hybrid drive system from the battery.

The electric motors of the hybrid drive system operate using the 300 volt battery stored inside the vehicle. This sort of power is not something that you would want to escape outside of a controlled environment. For these sort of situations General Motors made available training to fire and rescue personnel across the country on how to handle a hybrid in the event of a crash.

This system did however deactivate the entire drive system, which meant the hybrid had to be towed to the nearest dealer. OnStar assisted in sending a tow truck and finding a hotel nearby that would accept dogs. The next day the dealer was able to reactivate the system allowing Bill and his family to finish their trip.

It’s comforting to know that in a crash situation the Escalade Hybrid has safety measures built in to protect you from the electrical system.