[rhodomel]

https://cleantechnica.com/2016/11/0...wer-series-hybrid-rather-plug-electric-yikes/

Here's my comment to the author:
You are badly mistaken to say that this is just another conventional hybrid. The conventional hybrid is like the Prius, as it is the dominant one out there in the world. This is a serial hybrid that behave in some ways like the Chevy Volt. The Chevy Volt has been practically more successful than Tesla in reducing the amount of gasoline per unit capacity of battery used.

Because of my driving profile, electric cars like the Chevy Bolt and the Tesla would only be the second car to me as they are not reliable to drive to anywhere I go to where my clients live and a big hassle to plan your routes around charging stations, giving you inflexible options. The charging infrastructure is not there, Even for the planned Model 3 release, it is going to cost more driving in Model 3 than a regular Prius simply because Tesla and Solar City aims to make high profit margins from the electrons you pumped from their stations.

This is excellent move for Nissan that at last we found a worthy competitor for my primary car, the Chevy Volt. I would still plan to have a second car, the Chevy Bolt for days when my trips are within safe ranges.

For all practicality, consider that all the Teslas out there outnumber the Chevy Volts by a whole lot, and the Teslas have at least 4 to 8 times the battery range of the Chevy Volt, why is it that the total fleet mileage of Chevy Volt and the Teslas are almost the same? With more numbers and higher battery ranges, the total fleet mileage of Teslas should have been at least 12 times the total fleet mileage of the Chevy Volts!!! It means that Chevy Volt has effectively reduced gasoline much better than the Tesla per capacity of EV battery used. Most of the time the Tesla's battery are dead weight being carried around doing nothing and the cars are not used as aggressively as the Chevy Volt where the battery range are utilized 100% on almost a daily basis.

The pure BEV are still at its infancy and Nissan is correct to have this approach to bring in the rest of the crowd towards the future of pure EV. And compared to the half baked Prius, the serial hybrid where batteries are used first, it tackles the major problem of worst emissions, the most frequent trips of all, the short ones.

There will be price wars between electric utilities and the oil companies. The oil companies won't go down without a fight. As I have correctly predicted from my post in the Volt forum more than 5 years ago, we have this lowered gasoline prices that would provide lower per mile fuel for the Volt than it would be on electric utility rates in many urban areas. With a pure EV, you'll have to suck it up, whatever the electric utility rates would dictate. With a series hybrid like the Nissan and the Chevy Volt, you'll have a choice to go with the lower cost fuel especially if the price of gasoline remained while the electricity rates sky rockets along with the increase of EV sales.

 

[Whatstreet]

Not many details in that article. The Nissan named "Note" only available in Japan. Described as using the Leaf electric motor and an unspecified gas engine to form a series hybrid. Battery size was suggested to be 1.5 kwh. Price at less than $30K.

This is not the EREV we are looking for.

 

[ClarksonCote]

This is nothing like the Volt. Not only is it a far less efficient powertrain, it doesn't even have a plug!

From the article:

That means that, despite being powered by gas and not containing an electrical plug to charge the car, the performance will feel similar to that of a Nissan Leaf

 

[Jeff N]

It's not an EREV. It's just a hybrid gas car. It doesn't plug in and apparently has a typical hybrid sized battery.

The nearest comparison is probably the Honda Accord hybrid powertrain. That runs in series mode also and has a big electric motor but it also has a clutch that lets it run with a parallel fixed gear ratio between the gas engine and the wheels for better efficiency at highway speeds. This new Nissan powertrain is basically just the Accord hybrid but without the clutch. Doing it simpler makes it easier/quicker to design and bring to market and it makes it easier for them to avoid patent conflicts with Honda or other more established hybrid makers. The likely lower highway efficiency is probably not a major problem in Japan which has slower overall driving speeds.

 

[Qinsp]

... all the Teslas out there outnumber the Chevy Volts by a whole lot, ...

I'm not sure of that. There are over 100,000 Volts in the US, but I'm not sure there are 100,000 Teslas in the US. 1/2 the Tesla sales are export?

This is the best year yet for Tesla, and the Model S is outselling the #2 Chevy Volt by 20% so far this year.

 

[16513]

I hate to say this, but I predict that if the Bolt is a huge (and profitable) hit, Gen 3 Volt -around 2019 or 2020-will go pure EV with, say, a 200 mi.+ range. I guess that's OK, as it will happen eventually anyway.

 

[SirSpammenot]

true chevy *Malibu* hybrid competitor almost announced?

An EREV without a Charge Port? Except for the size class, the Malibu Hybrid already does that built atop the Volt's platform. The Nissan will be a smaller car and so should be overall cheaper and downscale. We will have to see how they did on efficiency per KW...

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/04/29/chevy-volt-hidden-inside-malibu-hybrid/

 

[rmay635703]

I really don't understand the extreme hype around

1. A car that will likely never be sold here
2. A shaft in a shaft serial hybrid, yes it makes things cheaper and lighter.
So a cheap Prius c with a Nissan badge? Ooh
3. Lower fuel economy than a Prius 4 per Japanese standards.
4. No plug.

My guess is cheap and fast will sell but still not sure of the real significance.

I guess the more efficient cars in the market the better.

I suppose our only solice is that this car should be very easy to covert to phev

 

[Qinsp]

I think it's a new Fool Cell design.

 

[Steverino]

changed title to the opposite of OP's original headline

 

[JeremyK]

To me, it looks like Nissan is trying to achieve a more premium driving experience (like an EV) while avoiding the high cost of a large battery.

Series configuration will enable the use of a lower grade ICE with a narrower operating range and therefore less expensive materials for block, crankshaft, heads, pistons, rings, etc while at the same time having better emissions.

If you don't have to design an engine to be quiet at idle, have high torque off the line, low emissions during transient driving conditions, great NVH, and durability....you can save a LOT of money.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

To me, it looks like Nissan is trying to achieve a more premium driving experience (like an EV) while avoiding the high cost of a large battery.

Series configuration will enable the use of a lower grade ICE with a narrower operating range and therefore less expensive materials for block, crankshaft, heads, pistons, rings, etc while at the same time having better emissions.

If you don't have to design an engine to be quiet at idle, have high torque off the line, low emissions during transient driving conditions, great NVH, and durability....you can save a LOT of money.

EV motor.
EV reduction gear.
ICE generator.
Nissan re-using prior development and moving away from pure ICEV.

 

[Whatstreet]

This description of the Note may not be accurate.

I will point out that rumors regarding the Volt before the Gen 1 was released described the car as a series hybrid with out any parallel hybrid mode. Then much later rumors emerged that the car might have a way to couple the engine directly to the wheels at high speed to improve highway fuel economy. Then just as the car was released the details of the transmission were revealed.

Many of us supposed that using series hybrid and operating the engine at only one speed would enable more efficient operation of the engine. It was pointed out that drive ability of a car that operated this way was not acceptable. So, I suppose some people might give up drive ability issues of engine always running at high speed and turning on at odd times regardless of the speed that the car is moving for cost. These issues might be tolerated on a lower priced car relative to other hybrids.