Tuesday 7 June 2011. The Green Piece Column.
It’s been 14 years since the Toyota Prius burst on to the scene with its hybrid engine offering a revolutionary method of passenger car travel. However, despite all its promise, and indeed the individual popularity of the Prius itself, hybrid cars are yet to break out of the wilderness as vehicles for little more than an environmentally conscious few.
Now after what could have been more than a decade of domination there is a chance that this technology will be usurped in favour of pure battery powered vehicles. So with governments starting to invest heavily in charging points for pure electric cars, are we about to wave goodbye to the hybrid car – the friend we barely knew?
Bigger is better
A number of vehicle sectors have already jumped beyond hybrids – for example, golf buggies, forklifts and most mobility vehicles are generally powered purely by battery electric only. However, in the larger vehicle sector, the true value of hybrids continues to shine. For example, a report by IDTechEx suggests that there will be 91,000 hybrid electric buses made in 2021.
Where hybrid buses have an advantage over their counterparts is that they will sell for up to 65 per cent more but still offer total cost savings over the lifetime of the vehicle. With governments and other leading authorities determined to go green, it means that the global hybrid bus market is expected to reach $40billion by 2021.
Range extenders
When it comes to hybrid cars, it appears that the most significant role of the technology going forward will be the introduction of plug-in and range extending vehicles. Range-extended vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Volt/Vauxhall Ampera, have batteries that store more energy and have more plug-in capacity meaning they provide the all-electric range that is craved by users – but because they have an internal combustion engine too, there are no fears regarding range anxiety.
Range extenders are effectively the second generation of hybrid systems. They retain piston-driven, internal combustion technology and have already had great success.
For example, Lotus Engineering has received enquiries from several manufacturers to take 5,000-10,000 of its simplified internal combustion engines annually. It is a device that has been optimised for the constant revs and torque of a hybrid range extender and is a three-cylinder mono-block motor, meaning the head is inseparable from the block and weight and production costs are lowered.
Speaking to Autocar, chief project engineer Lee Jeffcoat commented that the main interest had come from three major passenger car manufacturers with several small-scale carmakers also enquiring about the unit. It has undergone an array of testing and was even featured in Jaguar’s Limo-Green supercar, while Lotus has also been preparing a supercharged variant alongside the naturally aspirated version.
Preparing for the future
In case anyone thought that range extenders would just be a short-term stopgap until pure battery powered cars take over in a few years, it might be time to think again because several companies are working on a third generation hybrid system – one that suggests hybrid technology will be around for another 15-20 years at least.
Third generation hybrid systems dispense with pistons to improve their environmental credentials even more. For example, they offer further benefits in terms of size and weight; and also boost reliability and economy while being better suited to the use of alternative fuels.
Among them are the fuel cells from Intelligent Energy and the Bladon Jets mini turbines. The latter is an investment of Tata Motors Europe and will incorporate two of these devices into the planned Jaguar CX75 electric super cars. Mercedes Benz is also planning to release a vehicle with a fuel cell range extender.
Our verdict – Hybrids here to stay
Technology naturally moves on over time as advancements and refinements are made. In the case of hybrid cars, it appears that the traditional parallel and series hybrid systems we associated with vehicles such as the Honda Civic IMA and the original Toyota Prius are on their way out – but that a new wave of hybrid systems in the form of range extenders, plug-in and fuel cell systems mean the future is still bright.
The fact is that while battery electric cars are starting to emerge, their limitations in terms of range will still be woefully exposed until the planned investment in charging infrastructure comes to fruition. Until then, consumers are likely to turn to hybrids in increasing numbers as a safe “halfway house” bridging the gap to the next generation of vehicles.
So yes at some point hybrid numbers will diminish in favour of other technologies. However, the serious investment from car manufacturers into the technology as a short-term solution suggests that hybrid cars’ decade of dominance hasn’t even yet begun.
Faye Sunderland.
