A small combustion engine for more range in electric cars

Unlike a hybrid vehicle, such an engine does not operate directly on the drive train. Instead, the combustion engine produces electricity via a generator, which is used to continuously power the Drive battery This principle ensures that the engine always operates in the optimal load range and therefore produces as few pollutants as possible and runs as efficiently as possible. The range depends on the fuel supply, a charging socket is superfluous.

In a few years, the Genesis GV70 could also be offered as an electric car with a range extender – giving it a range of 1,000 km.

Image: Genesis

Hyundai is not only concerned with the range problem, reports the business newspaper “Korea Economic Daily” (KED Global). The manufacturer also wants to supply the range extender to markets in which a Comprehensive network of charging stations is still a thing of the future for the time being. The manufacturer sees this shortcoming as a decisive obstacle to the spread of electric cars. “It will be years before we see affordable electric cars with a range of 1,000 km. This principle will be competitive for over ten years before the real electric car era begins,” KED Global quoted a Hyundai manager as saying.

The Korean company also wants to use this to bridge the current stagnation in electric car sales. Hyundai expects a two to three year decline in this area globally. The range extender, together with hybrid vehicles, is intended to be the remedy for the ailing demand for electric cars. A working group has already been formed for this purpose in Hyundai’s development center in Namyang near Seoul.

Hyundai’s idea is not exactly new: Back in 2013, BMW parallel to its innovative Electric small car i3 an optional two-cylinder combustion engine, which gives the carbon vehicle an additional range of up to 150 km. Nissan with the same principle as the compact SUV Qashqai as a model “e-Power” two years ago also equipped with a combustion engine that almost permanently generates electricity for the main electric drive and has a range of around 1000 km. Chinese brands also offer the technology.

The range extender makes the vehicle a hybrid between an electric car and a combustion engine. And could therefore also be of psychological importance in making it easier for conservative drivers to make the transition from one type of drive to the other: Although the car runs exclusively on electricity, it still needs to be refueled regularly – and thanks to the large number of filling stations, there is never any danger of being stranded in no man’s land with an empty battery.