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Toyota have been making hybrids since the 90s. How is it that BYD have managed to come out of nowhere and doubled the range of any Prius?
by amanzi 2y ago
Toyota have been making hybrids since the 90s. How is it that BYD have managed to come out of nowhere and doubled the range of any Prius?
- alephnerd 2y agoThe battery, because at the end of the day BYD is a battery manufacturer. Most PHEVs are Hybrid ICE first and battery second. BYD's is the other way around because Japanese companies didn't ToT Hybrid engine technology in the 2000s unlike battery tech (BYD's was initially a ToT JV by Panasonic EDIT: NTT, Sony, and Sanyo. CATL was TDK and Panasonic).
- maxerickson 2y agoHow is a modest size battery going to extend highway range?
- alephnerd 2y agoThe Blade Battery used in the BYD Qin seems to have a 500-600 KM range [0]. Essentially, it's an EV that has a Hybrid ICE option instead of the other way around. [0] - https://en.byd.com/search/the%20Blade%20Battery https://en.byd.com/search/the%20Blade%20Battery
- maxerickson 2y agoThe article discussed here plainly states that the batteries in the hybrid cars are about 10 and 16 kW. The article you link is about the technology being used in buses, with capacity up to 500 kW giving buses ranges of up to 600 km... Anyway.
- XorNot 2y agoI'm curious what's actually been done here, because a regular hybrid is just an efficient gas powered vehicle - so you could have any range you want by sizing the tank appropriately. The Prius Gen 2 (my car) has a 45L tank, which is smaller then equivalent Toyota vehicles in that size range and good for about 800km. I imagine that under the right test conditions, if you were using a plug-in hybrid design and have a fairly substantial battery pack, then it would be different - because then you're just using EV mode for part of the range, and the gas for the rest of it (and choose your speed for optimal ICE performance vs. drag losses).
- raincole 2y agoDo we know how large the tank is?
- otherme123 2y agoI'll guess about 60L (https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/105488/BYD/SEAL%20U%20ESTATE/1.5%20DM-i%20Boost%205dr%20Auto/spec https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/105488/BYD/SEAL%20U%20ES...)
- rsynnott 2y agoThis seems more like a BMW i3 than a Toyota hybrid; it's an electric car with a low power (but presumably quite efficient) petrol generator. (In the i3 the range booster was an optional extra.)
- ZeroGravitas 2y agoBYD made the world's first plug-in hybrid in 2008, so they've been at this a while too.