Four Types of Electrified Vehicles

With “Electrified” meaning that it includes an electric motor, the four types of Electrified vehicles currently available are:

1. Hybrid: The combination of a gas engine and electric motor(s) propel the vehicle, with the motor switching over to become a generator under deceleration and braking. (A motor — which is fed electricity and turns it into rotational force — and a generator — which is fed rotational force and turns it into electricity — are mechanically the same. Thus a motor can be turned into a generator and a generator into a motor.) This is enough to keep the relatively small battery charged, so a hybrid doesn’t need to be — and can’t be — “plugging in.”

Usually the gas engine does most of the “propelling,” with the electric motor primarily used to re-start the engine after it shuts off at stops (to save fuel) and help out under acceleration. The motor may also drive the wheels itself, though usually only under light-throttle conditions for short distances. Under deceleration and braking, the motor is switched over to become a generator that helps recharge the battery and also slow the vehicle down — a process called “Regenerative braking.” A Hybrid subset is the Mild Hybrid, which typically uses a lower-power motor and battery, but for similar purposes. A hybrid is sometimes referred to as an “HEV,” meaning “Hybrid Electric Vehicle.”

2. Plug-in Hybrid: Also combines a gas engine with electric motor(s), but they usually have closer to equal power output than in a hybrid, and the battery can be plugged in to recharge it. In most cases, the vehicle can run on just electric power for roughly 20-50 miles until the battery runs down, after which the vehicle switches over primarily to gas power. As in a hybrid, the electric motor switches over to become a generator during deceleration and braking, which both recharges the battery and helps slow the vehicle down — a function known as “Regenerative braking.”

Some plug-in hybrids offer the ability to “save” the battery power for later in a trip, running first on the gas engine, switching over to electric power at the driver’s direction. A plug-in hybrid is sometimes called a “PHEV,” for “Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle.”

3. Battery-powered Electric Vehicle: “Pure electric” that runs strictly on an electric motor powered by a large battery pack. This is what’s commonly meant when talking about an Electric Vehicle or EV (though “EV” can also mean “Electrified Vehicle,” which encompasses all four types), and is what’s making the biggest news nowadays. Under deceleration and braking, the electric motor switches over to become a generator that helps recharge the battery and slow the vehicle down. In some electric vehicles, this “Regenerative braking” can be set to be so strong that the driver may rarely need to hit the brake pedal; just lifting off the throttle will be sufficient to slow the vehicle under most conditions. The ability to do this is sometimes referred to as “one-pedal driving.”

A very few electric vehicles offer a range extender, which is a small gas engine/generator combination that can recharge the battery, but usually not as fast as it’s depleted during constant-speed highway driving, and the gas engine doesn’t drive the wheels directly. A battery-powered electric vehicle is sometime referred to as a “BEV,” for “Battery Electric Vehicle.”

4. Fuel-Cell Vehicle: Although it’s not included in the name, a Fuel-Cell Vehicle is an electric vehicle that gets its electric power from a fuel-cell stack rather than a battery pack. So “Fuel-Cell-powered Electric Vehicle” would be a more descriptive name, but also a longer one.

What helps the fuel-cell stack generate electricity is hydrogen — carried in a high-pressure, on-board tank — which combines with oxygen from the air to “feed” the fuel-cell stack. Hydrogen can be purchased and pumped in at a filling station much like those used for gasoline, though they are far fewer in number and currently found mostly in California around Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Although few in number now, Fuel-Cell vehicles are considered the wave of the future, as it’s much faster to refill the hydrogen tank than to recharge an electric car’s depleted battery, and the only “emission” is water vapor. A fuel-cell vehicle is sometimes called an “FCEV,” for “Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle.”

–Rick Cotta