some basic questions regarding hybrid cars

rubble2

We are looking at replacing our existing car with either a full EV or possibly a hybrid model.

The operation of a full EV is pretty easy to understand but I have a few questions about hybrids please.

I understand the principle that you have a battery driven electric motor and also an ice engine that cuts in to recharge the battery.

Say for example the car has a 50 mile range on a full battery charge at what point in the battery charge level does the petrol engine take over? (20% - 30%?) also at what precentage of battery charge does the electric motor retake over propulsion of the car?

Another question, is it possible to manually to switch to ice power before the battery charge threshold has been reached in order to 'force' the car to recharge the battery?

Thanks

paul_c123

Hybrid or plug in hybrid? They operate differently.

rubble2

Sorry, hybrid - not plug in

Ayr_Rage

Hybrids take a mix of drive from the ICE and electric motor through a very smart gearbox.

I believe there is a very odd Nissan where the ICE is only used to charge the battery but that is the exception.

The best thing to do with a hybrid is leave it in D and let the computers that the manufacturers spent millions of £, Yen or Yuan developing run the system and keep the traction battery in normal range, it will switch modes automatically.

I've only had Toyota and Lexus, where you can force the vehicle into EV mode but not vice versa.

Personally, I only ever used that button to move the car in and out of my garage to prevent the ICE starting for the 30 seconds need to complete the task.

paul_c123

No hybrid (not plug in hybrid) can provide motive power for much more than about 5 miles, nor can they do it at anything except lowish speeds and moderate power. In addition to the battery level and load demand, they will also use inputs such as cabin heating demand, 12V electrical load and others to determine when to run the petrol engine.

Do bear in mind also, there is a thing called a "mild hybrid". These can typically provide almost no motive power via electricity, save for very low power creeping eg in traffic. They are best thought of a petrol/diesel car with stop/start but can shut down before the car is stopped; and starting it again results in no delay because they typically use an ISG (integrated starter generator) which is more powerful than the average starter motor).

Mildly_Miffed

@Ayr_Rage - "I believe there is a very odd Nissan where the ICE is only used to charge the battery but that is the exception."

There's been a few range-extender/series-hybrids over the years. BMW i3, Vauxhall Ampera, Mazda MX30. Lotus and Leapmotor both have forthcoming REx versions.
It's a drivetrain that makes a lot of sense if you're worried about range anxiety, but is probably just adding redundant weight to a normal BEV for most use cases.

One thing that hasn't been said is that many hybrids (especially "self-charging" - non-plugin) not only have limited range, but limited power in battery-only mode, so will cut the ICE in when higher speeds or acceleration are required.

Either way, just leave it to sort it out for itself, and put it in ZE mode if you specifically want electric-only.

TadleyBaggie

I have one of those "odd" Nissan hybrids (known as e-Power) that only use the ICE to charge the battery, and it is a perfect car for me. As is has been said, you don't get range issues but it drives like an EV. Because the drive to the wheels is purely electric, there is no gearbox.

leosayer

With hybrids and plug-in hybrids it can be useful to programme your destination in the sat-nav.

The car will then work out the most efficient balance of petrol and electric motor power to get you where you are going.

oldernonethewiser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81913479#Comment_81913479

Never experienced that with mine but then I no longer use the inbuilt Sat Nav since it lost the live traffic (via Trafficmaster) function.

Alanp

with my Toyota hybrid I just leave it to do its thing, it works out which power it needs to drive the car, it is affected by weather so in cold weather, with the heaters and heated seats and wheel, ( if it has them) will influence how often the engine will kick in, of course during the summer this is slightly reversed and it uses the ev motors more, it can use the batteries at higher speeds for short periods but, obviously, around town it uses ev mode for longer..

Frozen_up_north

I have a “mild hybrid” Seat Leon. The stop/start is not sluggish, earlier models were prone to delay setting off from, say, a junction while looking for a gap in traffic.

Other than that, the driving of the mild hybrid is exactly the same as an ordinary petrol car with an automatic transmission. It might give marginally more miles per gallon, but it’s hard to be certain.