Electric Vehicles

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles

What is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle?

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) combine the benefits of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicle. They have an all-electric range of 40 to 60 km. If you need to go farther than that, then the drive system operates as a normal hybrid with the petrol engine assisted by electric motor as needed. Drivers can pre-charge the batteries through a standard wall socket. This efficient combination of petrol and electricity can achieve greater than 130 km per gallon of petrol. However, auto manufacturers are also developing Flex Fuel PHEVs that can operate on bio fuels like ethanol (E85). This further reduces emissions and petroleum use. Plug-in hybrids can get as much 90% of their driving energy from the electric grid. And if this energy comes from renewable sources like wind or solar, then those all-electric miles are truly emission free.

What type of plug-in electric vehicles are available?

At this time, only Toyota and Lexus sell hybrid cars in South Africa. However, these hybrids are not plug-in hybrids. Potentially, all sorts of cars and trucks can be built as PHEVs or Flex Fuel PHEVs.

How do basic hybrids and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles differ?

Basic hybrids receive all their energy from petrol. Electricity generated by the engine or recovered during braking is stored in the batteries. Plug-in hybrids get their electricity from those sources as well as the power grid. PHEVs have a larger battery than the basic hybrids and can pre-charge from a standard home outlet. PHEVs will be able to operate several kilometres solely on electric power before switching into hybrid mode and using energy from the liquid fuel. Drivers will notice the engine starts running, but the transition from all-electric to hybrid will be seamless.

What are the benefits of using plug-in hybrid electric vehicles?

• No need for new infrastructure because outdoor plugs and liquid fuel are readily available
• Reduced operating costs
• Dramatically reduced petroleum consumption by switching to domestically produced electricity
• Zero tailpipe emissions while running on electricity, and higher gas mileage when running on petrol
• As battery technology improves, plug-ins will have greater all-electric range, further reducing the need for traditional fuel

A hybrid vehicle (which will later be converted to Plug-In mode) is being used at the centre for denonstration purposes (see picture above).

Electric vehicles

Electric vehicles utilise one or more electric motors for propulsion. The vehicle motion may be provided either by wheels or propellers driven by rotary motors or in the case of tracked vehicles, by linear motors. Unlike an internal combustion engine (ICE) that is tuned to specifically operate with particular fuel such as petrol or diesel, an electric vehicle needs electricity. This electricity couls come from sources such as batteries or a generator. This flexibility allows the drive train of the vehicle to remain the same, while the fuel source can be changed.

The centre has recently received vehicles that were converted to electric and electric bikes from Eskom. The vehicles are kept at the centre for further research and demonstration. The vehicles include utility vehicles, a game viewing truck, mini buses and others. The centre also received a vehicle donation from a car manufacturer; the car is being converted to an electric

Also moving to the centre from Stellenbosch University is the Corsa-Lite above. The car was also converted to an electric propulsion system by the University of Stellenbotch.