Nissan going plugless hybrid route like Chevy Malibu

9478 Views 18 Replies 10 Participants Last post by rmay635703, Feb 3, 2017

JoeReal

Discussion Starter · Feb 2, 2017 (Edited by Moderator)

Moderator Note: The OP was misinformed in the post below. The Nissan is not like the BMW i3 EV. Instead it's like the Chevy Malibu, e.g., a very small battery ICE hybrid with no plugin capability.
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Nissan is taking a step backwards while GM is taking the step forward. It is going to copy the concept of the iBMW 3 Rex, limping home when the battery rans out. The Chevy Volt has still enormous power even when the battery rans out. Now GM is going the next logical step, the Chevy Bolt EV, a pure electric with no range anxiety at an affordable price. Nissan has gone the other way!

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN15G3VM

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viking79

· #3 · Feb 2, 2017 (Edited)

JoeReal said:
Nissan is taking a step backwards while GM is taking the step forward. It is going to copy the concept of the iBMW 3 Rex, limping home when the battery rans out. The Chevy Volt has still enormous power even when the battery rans out. Now GM is going the next logical step, the Chevy Bolt EV, a pure electric with no range anxiety at an affordable price. Nissan has gone the other way!

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN15G3VM

It isn't taking a step backwards, it is a great idea. No, brilliant idea. If you can sell a series hybrid like the Note e-Power for about $16,000, and sell say 5 times as many of those as you do the Nissan Leaf. Suddenly all your electric powertrain components get cheaper because they are shared with your "gas" cars and you are producing 6 times as many as with just the EV. Your power inverters and your electric motors all get cheaper. The manufacturer is able to sell the car cheaper as it has a small battery, no complicated automatic or shifting transmission, and no on board charger (chargers are expensive). To be fair, the components aren't identical to the Leaf, but an idea like this does allow sharing and production cost decreases.

The engine is 80 hp so it will not have the issues that the i3 has. This is as much power as the engine in the Gen 1 Volt.
http://www.goo-net-exchange.com/catalog/NISSAN__NOTE/10106993/

To me, doubling the efficiency of a compact car without increasing the price is pretty good.

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viking79

· #5 · Feb 2, 2017

The point is to not compare the Note e-Power in anyway to the Bolt EV and was in development probably at the same time. This is competition of the most entry level car market and costs 1/2 the price of a Bolt EV ($16,000 vs $38,000). The next Nissan Leaf replacement will be competition with the Bolt EV. This car is not targeted towards you or EV buyers, but rather to reduce prices for other EVs and make users more comfortable with an EV.

Nissan is perfectly capable of coming up with competition for the Bolt EV, but they (and every one else) were taking their time not expecting GM to pull off what they did in the time line that they did it.

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viking79

· #8 · Feb 2, 2017 (Edited)

You get rid of the complicated (and inefficiency of the) transmission and share costs with your normal electric vehicles. Easier to package too, the engine can be anywhere in the car. This e-Power should get over 80 mpg in Japan, maybe nedc rating or similar (maybe 55-60 mpg EPA)

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viking79

· #13 · Feb 2, 2017 (Edited)

jsmay311 said:
Adding more energy conversions (mechanical->electrical->mechanical, or worst-case: mechanical->electrical->chemical->electrical->mechanical) is likely to be less efficient than direct engine-to-wheel mechanical powertrains like other conventional hybrids.

Of course, if this car is small and light, it still might get impressive MPG.

A series hybid drivetrain will likely do better than ICE in stop-go driving. At high speeds, no. This is why Volt switches to parallel at high speeds to the angst of EV purists. By using series hybid instead of ICE only you can prevent wasteful idling, use regenerative braking, and run engine at ideal RPMs. So even though you have conversion losses, you will likely do better than straight ICE.

I don't understand why people are complaining about this, it is a definite step in the right direction for ICE. It also means common AC and other high voltage components to take alternator and engine belt loads off.

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