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While most hybrids are said to use one to two litres of fuel per 100km, a study claims they need six litres on average
Plug-in hybrid electric cars (PHEVs) use much more fuel on the road than officially stated by their manufacturers, a large-scale analysis of about a million vehicles of this type has shown.
The Fraunhofer Institute carried out what is thought to be the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, using the data transmitted wirelessly by PHEVs from a variety of manufacturers while they were on the road.
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According to the study, the vehicles require on average six litres per 100km, or about 300%, more fuel to run than previously cited.
The scientists of the Fraunhofer Institute found that the main reason for the higher-than-stated fuel usage was due precisely to the fact that the PHEVs use two different modes, the electric engine and the combustion engine, switching between both. Until now it has been claimed by manufacturers that the vehicles used only a little or almost no fuel when in the electric mode. The studies showed that this was not in fact the case.
With the Toyota kind, it’s both, but they have a special transmission/eCVT for it, rather than just bolting a motor to the driveshaft.
The motor’s also responsible for the engine gearing in that case.
The PHEV just uses a beefier motor, so it doesn’t need the engine to move the vehicle.
That is a hybrid, not a plug in hybrid. No transmission on a PHEV, it’s an electric car.
I have a PHEV with 130-ish kilometer range, but the ICE part has an actual automatic gearbox with clutch. There is multiple ways to combine combustion and electric, not just the range-extender way of the Volt. Had a Volvo V60 before this with combustion engine in the front with gearbox and electric motor in the back. If you turned both on you got four wheel drive or loads of power.