– by Julian Sale –
It’s a bold new automotive landscape. Things started to change in the early 1970s with respect to oil prices, and consumers’ hunger for fuel-efficient cars. North America was accustomed to burning colossal amounts of diesel and gasoline to travel. Japanese and German carmakers offered smaller cars with four-cylinder engines. Drivers fell in love with fuel economy, igniting the efficiency war in the early ’80s. VW’s small diesels have been wildly popular until late 2015, when it was discovered that although they burn few litres, they pollute more then their fair share. Others like Toyota and Honda became famous for super reliable four-cylinder cars that sip fuel. Toyota, however, broke the mold with the Hybrid Prius in 1999.
That brings us to what’s on the market today. The hybrid has proven to be the most widely-purchased drivetrain type that’s not a straight-up fuel burner. Hybrids have traditional or Atkinson cycle engines with conventional or CVT transmissions, with a twist. Hybrids can “run” without idling, and they have an electric motor to supply torque when the engine is off. They can run all of their accessories when the engine shuts off. The electric motor, powered by a large battery, gets the vehicle moving from a stop, then the gas engine maintains higher vehicle speeds, reducing the amount of work the gas engine has to do. Next up is the plug-in hybrid, in which the battery size is increased such that after plugging in the car to charge, it can be driven 20 to 40 km on electric power before the hybrid system takes over. The purely electric vehicles (EV’s) are very popular, including the Nissan LEAF, Tesla Model S and X, and BMW i3. They are 100% electric, and have no engine, transmission, fuel system, exhaust, alternator, starter and so forth. You get the picture. No gas, ever, meaning two cents per kilometre to commute. The Chevy VOLT embodies yet another segment coined “Extended range EV’s.” These vehicles are EV’s with a gas-powered generator that charges the battery and powers the vehicle via electricity. There is no transmission to connect the engine to the drivetrain. The Volt drives 60 km on electric power, and the BMW i3 REX takes you 150 km or so on electric before the generator fires up.
