For the last 100 years or so the powertrains motoring us down the tracks haven’t changed a great deal. Sure, they’ve gotten more complex, but the same basic things are happening whether you’re cruising into camp in a Model T or a twin-turbo V6 Ranger Raptor. Fuel and air makes its way into a chamber, it’s combusted, pushes a piston down, spins a crank, goes through some sort of gearing arrangement to make the power usable, turns a diff, drives a wheel. You can look at a supercar and a flathead V8 and see the same basic principles.
But things are rapidly changing.
With the push for electric vehicles that paradigm has shifted so dramatically someone from 2004 could barely recognise the propulsion systems in an all-electric F-150 Lightning. But are hybrids much simpler? They promise to be the perfect middle ground between old and new, proven technology and the stuff of the future. But how do they actually work? We take a closer look at this often understood technology and do a deep dive to see its viability in a 4X4 landscape.
WHERE’S THE MOTOR?
When it comes to talking hybrid drivetrains the actual ‘how’ can be far more confusing than the ‘what’. Like any new technology there’s a whole host of different manufacturers trying to get a jump on the competition with out of the box thinking, but the fundamentals don’t really change much between the different types. Perhaps the easiest to visualise is Ford’s MHT, or Modular Hybrid Transmission. Shoe-horned in between the output of a traditional petrol or diesel engine, and the transmissions input is a small electric motor/generator. Depending on the mode, it can operate as a generator, sending charge to a battery for use later, or as a motor either entirely driving the vehicle, or in combination with the petrol/diesel engine under the bonnet. After that, the transmission works like any other, including a transfer case on the back for 4X4.
There are other methods with multiple motor/generator units, although for now these are more typically found in smaller SUVs. In some cases, the vehicle’s petrol/diesel engine just runs at a constant RPM spinning a generator when required, while a second motor/generator powers the wheels. In other cases, a planetary gearset can allow numerous combinations of the two motor/generators and the petrol/diesel engine depending on the mode.
It sounds complicated, but in reality isn’t really any more complicated than different types of transmissions. The actual inner workings of a 10 speed automatic transmission sound complicated on paper as well.
WHAT POWERS THEM?
To understand what powers a hybrid it’s important to understand the two distinct classes. These are Hybrid Electric Vehicles, or HEV, and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles. At their core, the two function very similar. An on board petrol/diesel engine and a motor/generator provide forward motion, and excess charge gets stored in a battery on board. The only real functional difference is the size of the battery.
In a HEV, the battery may only store enough power to get you rolling off the line, or to shut down your engine while decelerating before it needs to be recharged. A PHEV by comparison, has a significantly larger battery, and the ability to plug-in with either a standard 240v socket at home, or one of the public chargers available. The larger capacity and ability to charge externally means a PHEV can operate entirely off the electric motor for a given distance. In the case of the upcoming PHEV Ranger, it’s around 45km.
DO THEY OFFER ANY BENEFITS OVER DIESEL OR FULLY ELECTRIC?
That 45km figure before from the PHEV Ranger is the real key here when looking at benefits. The national average distance travelled by car is 15,000km. Ford have done their own studies to back that up with the majority of Rangers in urban environments travelling less than 40km on a typical day. That’d mean for the typical day, most PHEV Ranger owners would be able to do their entire commute entirely on the battery, using zero fuel in the process. Of course electricity isn’t free, so you’d be paying between $1-$5 a day in electricity instead of $12 per day in fuel. Fuel costs are expected to rise, and home solar can get the price down considerably as well.
Of course, a fully electric ute could do the same, but with a range of 500km to a charge instead of 45km. So why a hybrid over a full EV? Well, when a PHEV runs out of power in its battery, it can still function like any other petrol or diesel ute on the market. Drive into Mt Dare, fill up the fuel tank in under a minute, and be off motoring again. The hybrid drivetrain is more efficient than a straight petrol or diesel option too, typically by around 20%. That standard tank of fuel could easily get you 1000km of range.
The benefits of a PHEV extend to camp as well. A 1700Ah battery pack under your tray means you can run a campsite for a week at a time straight from the standard plugs in the tray. Ford call it ProPower onboard but other manufacturers will undoubtedly offer the same options. It also means your vehicles on-board petrol or diesel engine can function as a generator, idling at its most efficient RPM to power your house in a blackout, your work site, or your camp site in remote back country.
DO THEY ACTUALLY PERFORM ALRIGHT?
This largely depends on the type of hybrid system in play. Some are designed for maximum efficiency, while others, are quiet frankly, insane. We’ll look to Ford again for their F-150. It was offered in a turbo-diesel V6 (186kW, 596Nm), a five-litre V8 petrol (300kW, 555Nm), a twin-turbo petrol V6 (300kW, 677Nm), and that same V6, just with the addition of a hybrid system (320kW, 772Nm). The hybrid system not only made it the most powerful engine option in the F-150 (Short of the Raptor R’s insane supercharged V8) but also made it the most economical. Around town the fuel usage of the V6 dropped from 13.8L/100km to 10.69L/100km. It is worth mentioning though the non-hybrid V6 gets 9.4L/100km on the freeway with the hybrid getting 9.8L/100km.
In real-world performance, the hybrid F-150 can outrun a WRX from 0-100kmh (5.3 seconds vs 5.4), still tow the same 4500kg, and fuel up just as quickly as any other petrol or diesel 4X4 on the market without waiting for a charger. A Plug-in version just means you can do all that without using any fuel on your daily commute.
ARE THEY RELIABLE?
Yes and no. It’s complicated, but not in the way you’d expect. A reason Consumer Reports study out of the U.S. puts hybrid vehicles 26% less likely to cause their owners issues compared to a traditional petrol or diesel vehicle. On the flip side, full electric vehicles are reported to cause 79% more issues than a petrol or diesel option. Hybrids being more reliable makes sense. If you’re commuting on battery only for 80% of the time then that 100,000km Ranger actually only has 20,000km on the engine. The other 20% of the time it’s seeing less load too as the electric motor helps shoulder the burden.
Where this gets interesting though is what that Consumer Reports study actually found was going wrong with modern vehicles. Overwhelmingly, the problems reported, weren’t actually the drivelines. Instead, most reports were things like screens glitching, safety systems causing problems, automatic wipers failing, and body control modules causing grief. It seems that manufacturers have figured out how to make reliable drivetrains, whether they’re hybrid, petrol/diesel, or fully electric. But they haven’t figured out how to make reliable computers on wheels.
It’s worth making a quick point on battery replacement too. Most manufacturers now offer a 8 year, 160,000km warranty on the battery. Significantly more than they offer on the petrol or diesel engine under the bonnet. There are a few companies in Australia that offer remanufactured, aftermarket, or genuine hybrid batteries for just a few grand and promote them as a DIY replacement.
PARTING THOUGHTS
Putting the emissions discussion aside for just a minute, a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle seems to make a great deal of sense in a 4X4 situation. You get more power and torque, improved range, better fuel economy, huge versatility being able to run your campsite in the bush and your house in a blackout, and the reliability concerns seem to be largely unfounded. If anything, the data shows them more reliable. So, what are the cons? Price is a big one, you’ll expect to pay around a $10,000 premium, but you’ll make that back in around 4-5 years with fuel savings. From where I stand, it really comes down to fronting up a little extra cash now to lock in your expenses (smart with rising fuel costs) and reaping the benefits of versatility. Now I wonder if you can fit 35s?
