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Re:World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthroug... by walrus01 on Friday April 21, 2023 @05:31AM (#35651513)
> A modern series hybrid like a Toyota Prius is effectively an electric vehicle and a gas generator (which means it has the same efficiency gains due to regenerative braking). That gets 52 mpg, which is about 493 Wh/km.

Wait, does a new prius or something like a hyundai ioniq (also 52-53 mpg) not have the internal combustion engine mechanically coupled to the transmission and drive wheels anymore?

Re:World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthroug... by masklinn on Friday April 21, 2023 @05:50AM (#35651628)
They do, but also don’t, the Prius and the Ioniq are series-parallel hybrid so the ICE plugs into a power splitter which can feed into both the mechanical transmission and a generator.
Re:World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthroug... by rimliu on Friday April 21, 2023 @05:50AM (#35651630)
I've got Civic e:hev, which has kind of similar setup. ICE does drive wheels in some situations (high speed, much power required), but mostly is just EV. It does not even have a gearbox, so there is only direct coupling from ICE to the wheels that can be engaged or disengaged (this is done automatically, you have no manual control over this).

I really like this setup, because it gives economy, but also a range and I don't need to worry about where to charge the car.

Re:World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthroug... by sidewndr46 on Friday April 21, 2023 @06:17AM (#35651792)
Isn't Honda the dark horse of hybrids? I remember riding in one and the owner explained that apparently Honda chose a hybrid architecture that was different that everyone else. The car's transition from electric to ICE was quite noticeable.
Re:World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthroug... by kube-system on Friday April 21, 2023 @06:37AM (#35651900)
Honda has had two systems, the earlier “IMA” system which is a mild parallel hybrid. And the current “E-drive” system which is primarily a series hybrid. Series hybrids are actually pretty old tech — it’s how diesel locomotives works. The Chevy Volt also works just about the same way.
Re:World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthroug... by walrus01 on Friday April 21, 2023 @07:02AM (#35652065)
Also how azipods work on some very large ships, the diesel locomotive concept scaled up even more, sometimes with big gas turbine for power generation.
Re:World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthroug... by rimliu on Saturday April 22, 2023 @02:55PM (#35669786)
I don't know how it was, but on the current setup you literally (in the literal sense of the word) feel nothing. The only differentiator is "EV" indicator on the dash.
Re:World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthroug... by numpad0 on Friday April 21, 2023 @06:14AM (#35651768)
No, it’s just reframing. Prius is still that transverse mounted engine going into the torque splitter gear with two motors sandwiching it.
Re:World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthroug... by twic on Friday April 21, 2023 @09:27AM (#35653403)
Some do, some don't. As an example the Nissan Qashqai is available as a conventional hybrid, with mechanical transmission, and an "e-power" version, where the engine only drives a generator:

https://www.nissan.co.uk/range/e-power-cars.html

Re:World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthroug... by rootusrootus on Friday April 21, 2023 @11:37AM (#35655386)
Nope, still parallel hybrids. The closest we've gotten to a true series hybrid was the Chevy Volt, but even then, it was technically a parallel hybrid.

I also take issue with anyone calling a hybrid 'effectively an electric vehicle.' That is only true for PHEVs. A regular hybrid still gets exactly 100% of it's energy from gasoline.