#City car blueprint plus#

He says that acceleration will be less engaging and more ‘expected’ like braking performance. ‘Noise is a big part of the driving experience and will not form part of the EV experience unless it is contrived by the manufacturer,’ says Muddell. The competitiveness of EV options will depend greatly on continued reduction in the cost of batteries and purchase tax incentives.’ A high-voltage HEV powertrain will improve CO2 and performance feel via instant electric power, but will be higher cost and more suited to premium brands. The package with the best mix of customer attributes, including cost, is likely to be a mild-hybridised ICE, though this would increase the manufacturer’s fleet average CO2.

Phil Hopwood, head of engine and emissions control products at Ricardo Automotive and Industrial: ‘We should expect both electrified ICE and BEV-powered hot hatches in the future. The generation after that is likely to be BEV, as we see increasing levels of pure electric vehicles come onto the market.’ Initially this is likely to be a 48V mild-hybrid, moving to PHEV. Giles Muddell, chief engineer of advanced technology at Prodrive: ‘It may well be predominantly ICE-based with increasing levels of hybridisation to meet emissions requirements. > BMW i3 review – the city car perfected? If it’s BEV this is dependent upon electrochemistry development in order to deliver the right entry price.’ The obvious trade between these two is that an HEV’s battery is charged from fossil-fuelled ICE and not from renewables. For cost and packaging HEV is better than PHEV.

#City car blueprint plus#

HEV gives the instant torque benefits of an EV plus the range performance of an ICE. Richard Moore, propulsion director at Lotus: ‘It could be BEV or HEV. That puts it on exactly the same performance level as the GTI.’ The new Golf GTE has a system output of 180kW, for example. What is the best package for a next-generation small performance car such as a hot hatch: BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle), PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), or FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle)?ĭr Frank Welsch, board member for technical development at Volkswagen: ‘PHEV is currently the best solution it can drive with zero local emissions, has the advantage of lower maintenance costs, and also offers very good performance values with its two drives. To find out just what this means for the future of the driver’s car, we spoke to the people that know best. Electrified powertrains are making their way into every corner of the car market and the end would now seem to be in sight for new combustion engined cars.