Here come 48V full hybrid EVs – report

The new Hyundai Tucson switches off the engine when coasting or braking at under 30km/h – a bridge to the 48V full hybrids that IDTechEx foresaw.

IDTechEx predicted they would come sooner rather than later and not just as cars – thus the report 48V Mild Hybrid and 48V Full Hybrid Vehicles 2020-2030.

The 48V mild hybrid cars are appearing in great variety from small economy versions to a 2020 Ferrari, the report notes.

“There will be more 48V pickup trucks and SUVs arriving. They prove to be an excellent and easy adaptation of existing designs to keep them legal in the face of tightening emissions regulations. They even provide significant gains in fuel economy, but it does not stop there.”

Faster than previously anticipated by some in the industry, 48V full hybrid versions for cars, buses and trucks are being prepared that are a fraction of the cost of the high voltage versions currently offered, the report says.

“That means powertrains providing pure electric drive, engine off – leaving, creeping in traffic, active coasting, silent parking.”

As the report explains, today’s full hybrids are now under severe pressure from two directions.

“Engine-dominant parallel and series-parallel hybrids will lose to the quieter, lower cost 48V full hybrids. Battery-dominant series hybrids like the LEVC London taxi and the BMW i3 range extender version will hand over to rapidly improving pure electric options.” Meanwhile, the 48V mild hybrid car is proving a bridge to 48V mild hybrid trucks and buses.
The report captures huge gains and opportunities for a little publicised massive new sector that will involve more than 14 million cars yearly.

One chapter focuses on a new arrival – supercapacitors in 48V mild and full hybrids. Others look at the battery entirely being replaced by a fit-and-forget supercapacitor with effectively infinite cycle life.

“Meanwhile, we are certainly entering 3kWh/30kW territory for 48V cars transitioning to remarkably capable 48V full hybrids. What was once seen as a quick fix is becoming something that may outlast the conventional hybrid,” the report says.

Visit www.IDTechEx.com/48V for more information.