Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Electric Cars

My thoughts exactly, larger petrol for distance and fun, small EV for local. BUT SWMBO won't give up her larger petrol for a small EV.....and nor will I. So, stalemate...

Surely a PHEV can't be fully self charging as well. I understood as with all EV's, that regenerative braking puts some power back into batteries but only self charging hybrids use the ICE as well to replenish their small capacity batteries. This might explain your findings TBM. Happy to be corrected though

Yes, ours is a plug in, with the braking thing. I thought they were one and the same, but every day a learning day

Mitsubishi Plug-in Hybrid EV
Gives you the best of both EV types, with a battery supplying energy to the electric motors, backed by an engine. The battery is recharged by plugging into a power source, and can also charge via regenerative braking while driving. The engine can also act as a generator to charge the battery while driving, powered by fuel.




I think from the Mitsubishi Outlander Website quote above it can be a plug in and also charge itself. So I feel a PHEV can be fully self charging as well.

Watching videos I think it has a petrol motor that is a generator but also can drive the front wheels in top gear as a direct drive, no gearbox. So I think it can do the following;

• Charge with a home power point or road side charger and drive up to 80km as an EV.
• Drive at below highway speeds using the electric motors like and EV but using the petrol engine to charge the batteries as they are used for driving.
• Drive at highway speeds using the direct drive petrol engine with the electric motor just kicking in to cope with hills and overtaking.

The petrol engine is only connected to the generator and the front wheels so when running on the highway using petrol as a direct drive it is a FWD car unless the rear electric motor kicks in. There are two electric motors, one driving the front wheels and one driving the back wheels. So it can be a AWD when required.

As it appears EV's are not efficient at highway speeds and Petrol not efficient around town it appears the Outlander uses what is best depending on the situation.

Don’t get confused with ‘mild hybrids’

What is a mild hybrid system?

It's a relatively inexpensive and fairly simple technology that reduces the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of petrol and diesel-engined cars. Generally, it involves a small electric generator that replaces the traditional starter motor and alternator (the device that keeps the 12-volt battery charged), plus a small lithium-ion battery.

Most mild hybrids run on a 48-volt electrical system – a higher voltage than the electrical systems of traditional combustion engines use. The 48V system powers components that would have previously been powered by the engine, enabling it to operate more efficiently.
How do mild hybrids work?
As the name suggests, a mild hybrid system offers only gentle electrical assistance to the engine – not enough for the car to drive on electric power alone. The systems work in slightly different ways from brand to brand, but in general, they assist the engine under hard acceleration and help make its stop-start system smoother in operation.
Such systems can also harvest energy when the brakes are applied, converting it into electricity that's fed to the lithium-ion battery to provide extra assistance when it's needed. On average, a car with mild hybrid technology is said to be up to 15% more efficient than its conventional counterpart.

Source What Car

A PHEV can certainly charge its own battery from the ICE as well as from regenerative braking.

FWIW, the lighter battery in a hybrid can be just as efficient as the one in an EV - at around 3 miles per KWh in the case of my i8 and a new BMW EV. Personally I prefer the dynamics of a hybrid weighing 1.5t than an EV SUV weighing over 2.5t.

Will

Thanks for replies and info. I guess given the technology available and reading between the lines, manufacturers can offer anything from the mildest of hybrids to an ICE engine dedicated to just charging the batteries (with attendant benefits to it's efficiency) and full electric traction plus the ability to be plugged into mains as well, as the ultimate in versatility, with never a worry about next charging point. This would certainly keep the battery weight down.

More than 160 K km of electric driving, first Tesla Model S 85 D and since 2 years BMW iX3, so 7 years experience and I love it. The BMW was in Norway and in Austria, no problems at all, a bit more planning in advance.
As backup we have a Petrol Mini Cooper and of course our Morgan(s), from which the PlusFour will do the main driving part during holidays from now on. We already used the 4/4 for our main holiday trips abroad. The Netherlands are fortunate with a good charging infrastructure and we have a home 11 kW charger since the beginning. During day time we can charge via solar panels.
So, for everyday use, the EV is perfect, a little bit further away requires planning but gives no stress. I think after 2 to 3 years years we "condense" the BMW and Mini in one intermediate sized EV. And have a nice PlusFour for our holiday trips!

Toyota are planning on bringing out PHEVs with 124 miles of pure electric range in a few years so definitely one to watch

Every time I do Lexus customer surveys I give 'em a spanking for not concentrating on Plug-In development when they already have 90% of the drivetrain and tech sorted