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SAE TECHNICAL
PAPER SERIES 2007-01-0273
Defining the General Motors
2-Mode Hybrid Transmission
Tim M. Grewe, Brendan M. Conlon and Alan G. Holmes
General Motors
Reprinted From: Advanced Hybr id Vehicle Powertrains, 2007
(SP-2101)
2007 World Congress
Detroit, Michigan
April 16-19, 2007
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Printed in USADefining the General Motors 2-Mode Hybrid Transmission
Tim M. Grewe, Brendan M. Conlon and Alan G. Holmes
General Motors
Copyright © 2007 SAE International
ABSTRACT
The new General Motors 2-Mode Hybrid transmission for
full-size, full-utility SUVs integrates two electro-mechanical power-split operating modes with four fixed
gear ratios and provides fuel savings from electric assist,
regenerative braking and low-speed electric vehicle
operation. A combination of two power-split modes reduces the amount of mechanical power that must be converted to electricity for continuously variable
transmission operation. Four fixed gear ratios further
improve power transmission capacity and efficiency for especially demanding maneuvers such as full acceleration, hill climbing, and towing. This paper explains the basics of electro-mechanical power-split
transmissions, input-split and compound-split modes,
and the addition of fixed gear ratios to these modes to
create the 2-Mode Hybrid transmission for SUVs.
INTRODUCTION
The 2-Mode Hybrid transmission for SUVs is an
electrically variable transmission, which uses electric motors to operate at nearly any speed ratio through the transmission. The electric motors in the transmission also allow hybrid functions: electric vehicle operation,
electric boost, and regenerative braking, as well as engine starting. The 2-Mode Hybrid transmission is also an automatic transmission, without a torque converter
but with conventional hydraulically-applied wet-plate
clutches to allow automatic shifting among two continuously variable modes and four fixed gears, a total of six mechanical configurations: EVT mode 1, EVT
mode 2, and fixed gears 1 through 4. This combination is fully integrated into a package very much like a
conventional automatic transmission, with added wires
leading to electronic controls and a high-voltage battery.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE 2-MODE HYBRID
An electrically variable transmission or EVT uses electric
motors to control its speed ratio, giving it a continuous choice of ratios. The input, output, and electric motors are connected to planetary gearing. In a set of planetary gears, the speed of a p