I would think that most EVs use fossil fuel to power the vehicle. It is just the source that differs. One is "remote" and the other "portable". 😀
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EV Towing
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It’s either a hybrid _or_ fully electric. If it has a petrol tank it’s a hybrid. If it has no plug socket it’s not a plug-in hybrid. Sounds like a) he has bought a petrol car, and B) if he thinks it’s a fully electric car he was miss sold or mistaken or conned. Nissan make 2 electric cars. The leaf and the Arya. Anything else is hybrid.
The long warranty on the Vauxhall Ampera was necessary to sell it - it took 4 years to sell through the first delivery allocation which should have taken a few months - no further deliveries were made from the USA and the model was dropped from the Vauxhall range.
There is plenty of solid evidence that shows using hybrid technology can make make some significant improvements in the fuel efficiency of a vehicle. By harvesting otherwise wasted energy, and reusing it to help manage moments of peak load for the ICE, can save quite a lot of high fuel demand. It can allow the car manufacture the opportunity to fit a lower powered engine than in non hybrid ICE vehicles and yet maintain or even exceed their performance at least when operating solo.
I have been pleasantly surprised by how much energy my own hybrid Passat GTE can recoup on long journeys when the plugin power has been used up, using adaptive cruise control, it will often show it's recovering energy just due to small declines in the journey, and of course when traffic ahead slows even just a little. This so far has been enough to ensure they car usually starts to move from standstill in electric mode before the engine needs to start. This is enough to enable it's 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine to return 45 to 50 mpg on a car that weighs (with driver passenger and wheelchair) close to 1900kg
The 9.9kW battery charged on Economy 7 is usually enough for our local journeys. In ambient temperatures above 8C it's returning 2.5 m/kWh and about 1.8 with lower temperatures.
I have been pleasantly surprised by how much energy my own hybrid Passat GTE can recoup on long journeys when the plugin power has been used up, using adaptive cruise control, it will often show it's recovering energy just due to small declines in the journey, and of course when traffic ahead slows even just a little. This so far has been enough to ensure they car usually starts to move from standstill in electric mode before the engine needs to start. This is enough to enable it's 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine to return 45 to 50 mpg on a car that weighs (with driver passenger and wheelchair) close to 1900kg
The 9.9kW battery charged on Economy 7 is usually enough for our local journeys. In ambient temperatures above 8C it's returning 2.5 m/kWh and about 1.8 with lower temperatures.
We may be able to afford a hybrid at some point in the future, but unlikely we will be able to afford a full EV if we were so inclined. Hybrid takes away range anxiety and can probably tow the heaviest UK caravan. The new Jeep can tow up to 2300kg, but we would never be able to afford one unless we win the lottery so the 3.0L diesel we will still use.
I’ll find out
Could it be a "mild" or self charging hybrid as some makes are selling such...viz Ford, Suzuki, Subaru ... they are not plugged in for any recharge.
Looks like an E-Power hybrid. X-Trail or Quashqai. A petrol engine charging a battery with an electric motor. And no plug.
Fuel it at all the cost of petrol, none of the low emissions advantages of pure electric, and add in the extra inefficiency of a combustion engine driving a generator and charging a battery. And you can’t charge it at home on cheap electricity over night. Odd.
For some folks EV may work very well. For me, based upon where I live and what I expect of a car - not to mention buying cost differentials - a pure EV wouldn't work for us. Even a hybrid make's no sense to me either. Again based upon my requuirements the hybrid would add little value over my conventional diesel ICE.
What also concerns me about hybrids is the additional complexity - ICE and battery This seems to me pushing the potential running costs up in terms of maintenance and repairs even more than a conventional ICE.
A conversation this morning with a friend touched upon all the additional complexity being added to cars and the potential for heavy bills when things go wrong. For instance, I need to get a TPMS valve fitted since the old one got damaged. £65 just for the valve - fitting is simple but will still add a few pounds to the bill. Always used to manage without this feature.
What also concerns me about hybrids is the additional complexity - ICE and battery This seems to me pushing the potential running costs up in terms of maintenance and repairs even more than a conventional ICE.
A conversation this morning with a friend touched upon all the additional complexity being added to cars and the potential for heavy bills when things go wrong. For instance, I need to get a TPMS valve fitted since the old one got damaged. £65 just for the valve - fitting is simple but will still add a few pounds to the bill. Always used to manage without this feature.
If the issue is with the car's software it is unlikely that your trusted mechanic down the road will be able to do a fix and you are forced to go to a dealer and pay their extortionate prices.
I have an issue with the keys on my Dell laptop which is 18 months old, but it is supposedly a so called software issue that can be repaired at a high price It is nearly impossible to prove that the issue may have been there from day one and it was not the user that caused the issue.
Does it not have the efficiency of regenerative braking?
Some hybrids have been running with high levels of efficiency and reliability for a long while. The ubiquitous Prius and Corolla hybrids., then Outlander too. But wrt repairs I took my wife’s Rio in for its rear bumper to be put back in place and was surprised at the number of very new cars parked in the repairers compound. Some had front end damage and wether ICE, PHEV or EV. The repair bills would be expensive as there isn’t much space in a modern cars bonnet. Although large expensive batteries add a further area of expense.
The Rio had very superficial damage caused when a lady hit reverse rather harder than planned and hit our car. I was just arriving along the road after a visit to fangs. Luckily I saw it happen so details were exchanged. But this superficial external damage hides the structural damage to the bumper support frame, which is not yet available.
Compare the damage in the pics to one at a local dealers.
C
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I did look into this point earlier today, It seems that some nissan hybrids have taken a slightly differnt route. The ICE only powers a generator, it has no mechanical connection the the drive wheels. This allows the ICE to run at its most efficient speed.
I think that some Hondas now do that too?
Stick with a big diesel driving a conventional slush-box - it's probably lost most of it's new value so ongoing depreciation will be very low.
My annual fuel bill is way lower than PCP payments on a cheap EV.
The Lexus is a self charging hybrid which similar to my daughters Toyota Corolla. Hers can self charge to a position where it can drive a short distance on electric such as local shops, into town etc. . A friend has a Ford Fiesta mild hybrid which self charges a very small battery that assists when moving in slow traffic but has zero electric range.
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Similar to my Volvo, it has an integrated alternator/starter motor/drive motor that runs from a 48 volt battery to assist the petrol engine but can’t be propelled by battery power alone. It works well, I average 47mpg driving to Wrexham and back once a week.
My friends EcoBoost Fiesta with the mild hybrid fit is quite a bit different to his previous model. The addition of the mild hybrid system not only makes it more economical but initial acceleration is better as the additional electric boost cuts in before the turbo spins up.
Yes, but so does a normal hybrid. On stop-go trips (like town driving) regen braking has a significant impact. On long distance driving it’s minimal. And there the efficiency of the drive train is more important. A regular hybrid drives the wheels directly from the rotational movement of the engine, rather then converting that motion to electricity and then back again to motion.
Edit. The aforementioned Ampera annd BMW i3 REX operated in this manner, but had a 50 mile electric range and could be charged by the grid.
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV was similar, but when on cruise the engine had a direct linkage to the weeks via a clutch to improve long range efficiency. Again it was charged from the grid. For those three, you could do all short (up to about 50 miles) journeys on electricity only. You only needed the combination engine for long journeys.
The Nissan needs the petrol engine for everything. All the services costs and wear associated with short (cold) engine trips, no efficiency boost of direct drive for long journeys and not able to charge to be electric only for short range. Seems nuts to me.
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There are several different ways hybrid technology can be implemented, and each manufacturer will want to promote their system, even if their system happens to work in the same way as another makers, they still want to make it memorable so the marketing team come up with a new name for it.
"Hybrid" simply means a system that combines two or more alternative individual genre's that work together for a common goal.
I cringed when the term self charging hybrid began to be used, as all ICE & BEV hybrids have some degree of internal charging. It seems Toyota wanted to make it clear their models didn't need to be plugged in to the mains to make them work.
"Hybrid" simply means a system that combines two or more alternative individual genre's that work together for a common goal.
I cringed when the term self charging hybrid began to be used, as all ICE & BEV hybrids have some degree of internal charging. It seems Toyota wanted to make it clear their models didn't need to be plugged in to the mains to make them work.
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