Quote:
Originally Posted by colonelk
I was always lead to believe that series hybrid was better than parallel?
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It is, if done right. The Volt is a poor series hybrid. A proper series hybrid truck would use solely electric propulsion to the wheels, and keep the batteries charged (and send power directly to the motors, if appropriate) with a small highly efficient diesel that always runs at its sweet spot. In delivery service, the engine could kick on at, say, 50% DOD, and off at 75%. Topping off and equalization would be handled by the grid at night.
A parallel hybrid, on the other hand, either runs the engine throughout its RPM range (reducing efficiency), or uses a complicated transmission that may not be long-lived enough in a medium duty application.