Parlez-vous, PHEV?

C4 Hybrid

The lead paragraph to a Green Car Congress story is encouraging… unfortunately, not to the Hybrid Consortium, which (for a price) could promise more all-electric miles. Nonetheless, this is a promising announcement from a company that previously has produced electric vehicles.

As promised, PSA Peugeot Citroën unveiled two prototypes featuring diesel-electric parallel hybrid powertrains, the Peugeot 307 and the Citroën C4 Hybride HDi.

If PSA Peugeot Citroën would state, as DCX has done, that such a diesel-hybrid electric vehicle could run on B20 (diesel fuel that is 20% biodiesel), then, a BioWillie PHEV is a reality.

I see some in the peanut gallery (rancid peanuts, peanut oil, biodiesel was the first diesel fuel, ah, nevermind) are shaking their heads, “No, I don’t see it.” Well, allow GCC to elucidate a bit more about these greener* parallel hybrids:

The driver can use a special switch to access an extended all-electric mode that expands the operating range for the vehicle in this mode. In this case, the ICE is only activated for more prolonged acceleration. The extended all-electric mode is de-activated either automatically, when the high-voltage battery pack no longer has a sufficient charge, or manually, by using the dedicated switch.

“But,” I hear you objecting, “that is not a PHEV,” and you are correct. “It is a French version of a diesel Prius,” you further insist. Mais oui.. On the other hand, it is a French version of a diesel Prius that one could find in Japan, rather than in the United States. In other words, already, without modification, it can provide all-electric miles.

Thus, while conversion still is required, and, currently, at a premium price, such conversion fundamentally requires less. To make one of those diesel-hybrids for BioWillie — to drive en vogue, rather than one of those, frumpy Mercedes — you add a Brusa charger, plug and some super caps. Voila. I wonder if any of those CalCars boyz speak French, non?

* Note: “The hybrids deliver average combined city and highway fuel consumption of 3.4 liters per 100 kilometers (69 mpg US), with 90 grams of CO2 emitted per kilometer—a tank-to-wheel record for compact cars.”

GO-HEV

Other Possibly Related AG Posts Automatically Generated

This entry was written by jcwinnie, posted on 2006-1-31 at 2:49 pm, filed under energy, environment, manufacturing, transportation and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

2 Comments

  1. jcwinnie
    Posted 2006-2-3 at 10:35 am | Permalink

    The lead paragraph to an Electrifying Times article about the Firefly Battery provides some interesting Gallic history:

    In 1859, Gaston Plante, in France, developed the first practical rechargeable battery. His battery remained a laboratory curiosity for twenty years until it was improved by another Frenchman, Camille Fauve. The battery that Fauve developed is basically the same as the flooded cell lead acid battery used today in millions of applications.

  2. jcwinnie
    Posted 2006-2-15 at 4:03 pm | Permalink

    In an article entitled, “The Next Prius?”, Technology Review reports on the same announcement from PSA Peugeot Citroën.

    PSA is well positioned to tackle diesel hybrid technology. It’s the top manufacturer of advanced “common rail direct injection” diesel engines, which feed fuel through engine valves at high pressure and thereby increase combustion efficiency. The company also produces electric vehicles. And this winter it is touring hybrid versions of its popular Peugeot 307 and Citroën C4 compact diesel cars on the auto-show circuit.

    The nonhybrid 307 and C4, built on a common platform, are already among the cleanest and greenest vehicles in their class, consuming just 4.8 liters of diesel fuel per 100 kilometers (49 mpg) in mixed driving. The hybrid versions do much better by supplementing the diesel engines with nickel-metal hydride batteries and electric motors akin to those in the Toyota Prius and in Ford’s Escape hybrid SUV.

    The PSA diesel hybrids start on electric power exclusively, avoiding the use of diesel in low-power, low-temperature modes where the engine is least efficient. During braking, the vehicles recover energy by recharging their battery packs. Fuel consumption falls to just 3.4 liters per 100 km (or 69 mpg), setting a record for a European compact family car, and far surpassing the benchmark Prius (which delivers around 50-55 mpg).

Bad Behavior has blocked 2397 access attempts in the last 7 days.