The "classic" hybrid car, also called "full hybrid" is the most popular of the more environmentally friendly cars. You have inevitably seen them on the road before: they are often Toyota models. In 1997, the Japanese manufacturer launched the Toyota Prius, the very first hybrid car on the market. An innovation that marks the beginnings of the cleaner automobile for the general public and makes it possible to democratize the idea that an energy other than oil can propel our cars.
How a hybrid car works :
There are two engines on board conventional hybrid vehicles: a primary heat engine and an electric secondary engine. The gasoline engine drives the wheels in the vast majority of models. It is supported by an electric motor which allows the vehicle to be moved at low speed in 100% electric mode and to assist accelerations at higher speeds.
Thus, a classic hybrid car does not consume fuel below 30 to 50 km / h most of the time. In a traffic jam, in a “Zone 30”, maneuvering in a parking lot, the heat engine is no longer supplied with fuel but drives the wheels thanks to the integrated electric motor.
A small capacity battery placed under the floor, the rear seat or part of the trunk, provides the electricity necessary for its operation. It is recharged during the braking and deceleration phases using the inertia of the vehicle. The electric motor then works like a generator: by rotating in a vacuum, it produces electricity which is thus stored.
There are several types of conventional hybrid technologies which distribute the force differently between thermal and electric motors and employ specific transmission systems. While the most common combines a heat engine and an electric motor driving the same axis, some vehicles are equipped with independent electric motors at the rear and a main heat engine at the front. This is the case, for example, with the Hybrid4 technology developed by PSA.
Conventional hybrid cars are the most affordable of the “clean” vehicles. The additional cost compared to a non-hybrid model is around 5000 €. For example, the Toyota Yaris Hybrid starts at € 19,450 while its non-hybrid version starts at € 14,150.
The advantages of the classic hybrid
- Reduced fuel consumption ( around 5L / 100 km for a Yaris Hybrid against 6.5L / 100 for a non-hybrid Yaris in the combined cycle).
- Use of the kinetic energy of braking and deceleration, which is wasted in 100% thermal vehicles.
- Driving comfort in town at low speed (silence, fluidity of propulsion, ease of maneuvering).
- Does not need to be recharged from an outlet.
The disadvantdges of the classic hybrid
- Still high price compared to a 100% thermal model (additional cost of around 5000 €)
- Low battery capacity, which does not allow driving in 100% electric mode for more than ten kilometers and at more than 30-50 km / h.
- Exclusive use of gasoline as primary energy. It is therefore impossible to choose the origin of the electricity consumed on board, unlike a plug-in hybrid.
- On highways and at high speed, the electric motor is inoperative and constitutes overweight which leads to slight overconsumption.
- Can no longer benefit from the ecological bonus since 2017
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