Elect'road

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Renault Kangoo Elect'road plug-in hybrid van. Renault Kangoo plug-in hybrid.jpg
Renault Kangoo Elect'road plug-in hybrid van.

The Elect'Road is a plug-in series hybrid version of Renault's popular Kangoo. Sales began in Europe in 2003, mainly in France, [1] Norway and a few in the UK. The Elect'Road was sold alongside Renault's Electri'cité electric-drive Kangoo battery electric van. Renault discontinued the Elect'Road after selling about 500, primarily in France, Norway and the UK, for about €25,000. [2]

Plug-in hybrid type of vehicle

A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery can be recharged by plugging it into an external source of electric power, as well by its on-board engine and generator. Most PHEVs are passenger cars, but there are also PHEV versions of commercial vehicles and vans, utility trucks, buses, trains, motorcycles, scooters, and military vehicles.

Renault automotive brand manufacturer and conglomerate

Groupe Renault is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured trucks, tractors, tanks, buses/coaches and autorail vehicles.

Contents

The Elect'Road had a 150 km (93 mi) range using a nickel-cadmium battery pack and a liquid-cooled gasoline "range-extender" engine.

Although the Elect'road had a range extender it is effectively the very first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). In hybrid terms it operates in a blended mode, using engine and battery power simultaneously. [3]

Passenger compartment heat is powered by the battery pack as well as an auxiliary coolant circuit that is heated by the range extender engine.

Motor

The synchronous motor does not require brush replacement (e.g. as in the Citroën Berlingo Electrique) and therefore reduces required maintenance.

Batteries

The vehicle is equipped with a Saft nickel-cadmium battery and has a range of 60 km (40 mi) to 100 km (60 mi) when in all electric mode. The battery consists of two cases underneath the chassis, one with 8 monoblocks and the other with 14. Each is fitted with a fan cooling system and has a minimum 100 A·h capacity. The 312 kilograms (688 lb) battery provides 132 V and 13.2  kWh. [4]

The onboard 3.5-kilowatt charger could charge a depleted battery pack to 95% charge in about four hours from 220 volts. [5]

The battery life is guaranteed for 5 years (1500 cycles) and the cost to replace them if needed was 7000EUR [6]

Range extender

The range extender is a Lombardini [7] (LGW 523 mpi) liquid cooled 500-cubic-centimetre (31 cu in)16-kilowatt (21 hp) gasoline generator. The generator used two high voltage/high output/low volume alternators, each of which supplied up to 5.5 kilowatts (7.4 hp) at 132 volts at 5000 rpm. [2] The operating speed of the internal combustion engine—and therefore the output delivered by the generators—varied according to demand.

It is equipped with a multipoint injection system and catalytic converter (consistent with the rules of euro 2000 in the MVEG cycle). [8]

The fuel tank had a capacity of 10 litres and is housed within the right rear wheel arch. The range extender function is activated by a switch on the dashboard.

The Elect'road also offers a “boost” mode which provides better acceleration, by increasing the maximum power from 22 to 29 kW, together with a “snow” mode which is better adapted to driving on low-grip surfaces. [2]

That being said, if you choose to run the RE engine all the time, the fuel economy drops to a disappointing 7 liters/100 km (39 miles per imperial gallon). However, a user has found that they only needed to use it 10% of the time in which case economy improves to a much more responsible 3 liters/100 km (91 miles per imperial gallon). [5]

Summary of Features

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Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) is the brand name of Toyota Motor Corporation for the hybrid car drive train technology used in vehicles with the Toyota and Lexus marques. First introduced on the Prius, the technology is an option on several other Toyota and Lexus vehicles and has been adapted for the electric drive system of the hydrogen-powered Mirai, and for a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius. Previously, Toyota also licensed its HSD technology to Nissan for use in its Nissan Altima Hybrid. Its parts supplier Aisin Seiki Co. offers similar hybrid transmissions to other car companies.

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Blended mode is a charge-depleting mode of operation for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in which most of the motive energy is supplied by the battery pack but supplemented by the internal combustion engine (ICE). In contrast, all-electric or battery electric vehicles use only the electricity provided by the battery pack as their sole source of energy in a charge-depleting manner. Both types of advanced technology vehicles use regenerative brakes to recapture kinetic energy that should not be considered a fuel source but rather an efficiency aspect of these types of electric vehicle powertrains not found in traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.

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Cleanova are a set of plug-in hybrid vehicles by the Société de Véhicules Electriques (SVE), a joint venture between Dassault, Heuliez and Hydro-Québec. Cleanova II is based on Renault Kangoo. In January 2010, SVE has been taken over by Dow Kokam. In 2009 Dow Kokam received a $161 Million U.S. Department of Energy Grant for Next-Generation Battery Production for the hybrid and electric vehicle markets. The Michigan-based facility - Townsend Kokam Advanced Battery -is expected to produce enough batteries to supply 60,000 hybrid or electric vehicles per year. Three battery technologies are currently used in the cleanova: Li-Mn2O4, Li-FePO4, and Li-NiCoAl, with storage capacity adjustable to customer needs. Half the battery capacity can for instance be restored within 30 minutes.

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Range extender (vehicle)

A range extender vehicle is a battery electric vehicle that includes an auxiliary power unit (APU) known as a 'range extender'. The range extender drives an electric generator which charges a battery which supplies the vehicle's electric motor with electricity. This arrangement is known as a series hybrid drivetrain. The most commonly used range extenders are internal combustion engines, but fuel-cells or other engine types can be used.

Range anxiety

Range anxiety is the fear that a vehicle has insufficient range to reach its destination and would thus strand the vehicle's occupants. The term, which is primarily used in reference to battery electric vehicles (BEVs), is considered to be one of the major barriers to large scale adoption of all-electric cars. The term range anxiety was first reported in the press on September 1, 1997 in the San Diego Business Journal by Richard Acello referring to worries of GM EV1 electric car drivers. On July 6, 2010, General Motors filed to trademark the term, stating it was for the purpose of "promoting public awareness of electric vehicle capabilities". The Norwegian equivalent rekkeviddeangst was assigned second place in a list of Norwegian "words of the year" for 2013 by the Norwegian Language Council.

Hyundai Blue-Will

Hyundai Blue-Will is a plug-in petrol-electric hybrid concept compact car designed by the South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company. The vehicle was debuted at the 2009 Seoul Motor Show in South Korea.

Hyundai Ioniq line-up of electric drive mid-size hatchbacks manufactured by Hyundai

The Hyundai Ioniq is a compact five door liftback manufactured and marketed by Hyundai. The nameplate Ioniq is a portmanteau of ion and unique. It is the first automobile to be offered in hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and all-electric variants.

References

  1. Forum Auto (September 17, 2004)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Renault (December 27, 2007) "Kangoo reinvents the electric car" Archived 2007-04-12 at the Wayback Machine . (PDF) press release
  3. Dragon Jambala (October 30, 2007) "Plug-in hybrid"
  4. Advanced Battery Technology (January 2003) "Renault Launches Electric Vehicle" accessed December 31, 2007.
  5. 1 2 Holinger, H. (2003) "Renault Electric Kangoo Can Do" Archived February 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine .EVWorld.com accessed July 6, 2007.
  6. Marc Chapel "A user's summary" accessed December 31, 2007.
  7. Lombardini "LGW 523 mpi" Liquid cooled gasoline generator
  8. Autoline (October 16, 2002) "New model began production of electric vehicles, Kangoo - Elect'road."

The new electric vehicle "Renault KANGOO" [ dead link ]