Electric cars were seen as a great solution when there was a need to replace fuel cars with less environmental impact.
The operation of electric cars was considered to be less harmful to the environment.
Subsequently, various countries are working to develop electric cars and bring them to public use. Today there are various cars on the market that are fully or partially electric.
There are also hybrid cars in the market that can have a mainly electric system. They are a bridge between fuel cars and electric cars. There are many types of these hybrid cars.
Which of these cars have the most electric range? Which hybrid car to choose before buying an electric car? What are the differences between hybrid and electric cars? See all.
Mild Hybrid:
Currently, this mild hybrid technology is used in low-cost cars in India. This is mainly seen in Maruti Suzuki cars. A mild hybrid cannot be categorized as an electric car.
Because this type of car runs completely on fuel only. It does not have an electric motor. Only a small 48V battery is provided. This battery is charged by the kinetic energy available during the movement of the car.
It is then used as a substitute for fuel for the car’s operations. This electric battery operation reduces fuel consumption by 10% to 25%.
Strong Hybrid or Full Hybrid:
This car can be added as a little electric car. Because unlike a mild hybrid, this car will have the ability to run on a fully electric motor to a certain extent.
However, that too is a very small amount. A slightly bigger battery is provided in this type of car. The battery in this car does not need to be charged separately.
The batteries in these types of cars also have the ability to charge using the kinetic energy available during the movement of the car. It is then used to run the electric motor. Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota Hirider are good examples of strong hybrid.
Plug-in Hybrid: (PHEV)
These plug-in hybrid cars have the features that act as a true bridge between gasoline cars and electric cars.
These types of cars can run on equal amounts of fuel and electricity. We can use this type of car as a full fuel car or as an electric car. As it has fully electric features we need to charge its battery separately, just like an electric car.
However, these plug-in hybrid electric cars are provided with small batteries without the size of electric cars. As such, it’s worth noting that these plug-in hybrid cars won’t have the same range as a fully electric car. However, this plug-in hybrid system is currently offered only in the more expensive cars. The Volvo XC90 model is a good example of a plug-in hybrid.
Battery Electric Vehicle: (BEV)
These battery electric vehicles are fully electric cars. Whenever a place mentions an electric car, it refers to this battery electric vehicle. These do not have any fuel dependent mechanical parts.
They run on a fully electric motor with the help of a battery. We have to charge these batteries separately from outside. Tata Nexon EV and MG Comet EV are good examples of battery electric vehicles.
Fuel Cell Vehicles:
These are also electric vehicles, but the power to run them comes from hydrogen fuel cells rather than batteries. This hydrogen combines with oxygen to produce electricity for the vehicle. Various companies including Toyota, BMW, Hyundai are working on developing fuel cell vehicles.
Automobile companies are trying to develop fuel cell vehicles due to various reasons such as low operating cost of fuel cell, no need to charge as long as electric cars and no environmental impact. An example of a fuel cell car is the Toyota Mirai.
