I thought my 2012 XKR had a sophisticated charging system but my new Chevy Silverado is even more complicated. I was driving the truck today (which has a full set of gauges) and I glanced down at the volt gauge and it was reading around 12V. Considering I just turned 500 miles on the truck I couldn't believe it was the battery or the alternator but got concerned . Up until now it ran around 14+ volts so I thought this was unusual. So called the dealer service manager and he enlightened me about the new charging system. I then went to the web and found this articial. So if anyone is interested in seeing how the car mfg's are trying to squeeze mileage out of these cars this is one of the ways. Oh I also have the 5.3L engine with 355 HP. When you cruise down the road in 6th and in a pretty flat area it switches and runs on 4 cylinders and back to 8 when you touch the peddle. It is pretty seamless. Just an FYI if interested.
Chevrolet Silverado 1500: How does the charging system work

 

My 2015 Corvette C7 (yes, a Corvette) also goes from 8 cylinders to down to 4 cylinders. This technology has been around for several years. Nothing new.

It is a great way to enhance fuel mileage and does not sacrifice power when needed, as the technology and computer systems onboard quickly make the engine change back to 8 cylinders on the push of the gas pedal.

Actually, pretty cool to be driving a high-performance vehicle like a Corvette in 4 cylinder mode.

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There were a number of manufacturers using the technology on production cars in the early 80's so although it didn't really catch on then it has been around for at least 35 years!

 

Yeah I remember the 4-6-8 set up the GM introduced years ago and heard of some of the problems. I was aware of the 4-8 deal but it seems it's not an option with these engines. I'll see if it's a feature that I like although I won't have a way to turn it off. The feature that I will most likely have trouble adapting to is the volt gauge. I have to readjust my thinking that any voltage between 11 and 15 volts is OK .

 

Sounds like a gauge that they'll revert to an 'idiot light' just to save them from having to answer questions like yours.

 

$2.70 at Amazon......works great.

https://www.amazon.com/Cigarette-Lig...+voltage+meter

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+1 Yes it does.

 

Rich that's not the issue as I have 3 of these units. It won't make a difference if I see 12.1V on a digital gauge or 12V on an analog gauge. Here is a picture of the gauge which is considered normal.

 

So at least they delineate a 'normal' range.

 

I was going to say that.

 

This is most likely the reason almost all modern cars don't have a voltage gauge.