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| A couple things on my workbench at home one day. OEM R32 fuel tank top. Flex fuel sensor. BAS alternator/motor |
My wife worked at GM, and she worked on/around the GM BAS system. It’s pretty basic. It’s pretty mild. It was a stop gap type of thing. The part that interested me the most, was that the footprint of the BAS was about the same size as a conventional alternator. That got me thinking.
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| RB26 alternator on the left, BAS on the right |
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| RB26 alternator in the background, BAS in the foreground |
The RB26 is a small displacement, short stroke engine. It doesn’t make a lot of bottom end. It just doesn’t. You don’t get a ton of torque down low, out of an engine with a 73.7 mm stroke, and a 121.5 mm C-C rod. So, could you take a BAS, add it as an assist to an RB, and have it work from say idle to maybe 3000 rpm or so? Standing on it coming out of a corner, make up for some of that “Turbolag?” Maybe you could even use it a little at cruise? It doesn’t take much horsepower for a car to cruise at a steady speed on the freeway. Maybe it might help improve fuel economy, maybe emissions. Emissions may not be on your mind, but with California regulations, and an engine that never was made for them, it’s always on my mind.
These early BAS :
in the 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line. The BAS system is also used in the 2008–2009 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid. It operates similarly to other mild hybrids with a start-stop system, in that it shuts down the engine as the vehicle comes to a stop and instantly restarts it when the brake pedal is released.[1]
The BAS system is capable of providing modest levels of power assist during launch/acceleration and similarly modest levels of “blended” regenerative braking during deceleration. Although unable to operate in pure all-electric EV mode, the BAS system provides improvements to both city and highway fuel efficiency over similar non-hybrid versions. In more powerful eAssist versions, a BAS system can add power to prevent excessive gear changes under variable load. According to the EPA the 2009 Saturn Vue BAS hybrid garners an improvement of 32% city (19>25mpg) and 24% highway (26>32mpg) making the combined economy improvement 27% (22>28mpg) over the base 4cyl FWD version.[2] The system is reasonably simple and inexpensive, making BAS equipped vehicles some of the least expensive hybrids available.[3][4][5]
A 36 volt electrical system (operating at 42–45 Volts) is used to operate a permanent magnet motor/generator unit mounted to the engine in a similar fashion to a conventional alternator. Then through a high-tension drive belt, the BAS system is capable of starting or assisting the 2.4L Ecotec engine. A conventional 12V starter motor is retained and used whenever the engine is cold as during initial start-up. The air conditioning compressor continues to be operated through a belt-driven pulley, but for fuel economy improvement it can be disabled in auto-stop mode if the “ECO” A/C mode has been selected by the operator.
Vehicles with the BAS system use a conventional 4T45-E automatic transmission which has been modified to include a more efficient final-drive ratio and includes an electrically driven pump to provide pressure in auto-stop mode.
One perceived benefit of the BAS technology is that it fits in the same space as a conventional engine. No significant modifications were required to the vehicle chassis to accommodate the BAS system, with the 36V battery pack housed in the trunk or spare tire well. This allows the vehicles to be produced on the same assembly line as the non-hybrid versions, producing substantial cost savings and allowing the company to adjust production more easily.
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| The green line being the early BAS system. 36v run at 42-45 volts |
- About $250-$300 used on eBay
- About $270 on eBay
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| GM BAS connector on the controller. Need to start looking at pin outs |
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| GM BAS connector on the controller. Need to start looking at pin outs |
Converting a Car Alternator into a Go Kart Motor:
Hall Effect Sensor Placement Article:
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| Honda Clarity Battery |
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| I know what this does. + battery voltage |
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| What do all these pins do? |
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| GM BAS connector on the controller. Need to start looking at pin outs |
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| GM BAS connector on the controller. Need to start looking at pin outs |
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| GM BAS connector on the controller. Need to start looking at pin outs |










































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