We're all pretty well used to the hybrid concept by now, electric motors and normal engines combining to provide more efficiency, sometimes more power, depending on the driving conditions. Toyota has and deserves the credit for sticking with development of the systems until everybody else had to tag along in some form or other.
Then we've had, not nearly as quickly as the makers would like, some level of acceptance of pure electric cars, mainly as suburban commuting vehicles. Still a long way off mainstream, though.
Electric and hybrid work best in city traffic, where much of the time the latter type does operate in EV mode quite a lot. Out on the highway, the EVs range will suffer, and the hybrids are working in petrol engine mode anyhow, so there's no advantage in most conditions.
Enter the PHEV, or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The Outlander PHEV launched here this week is the first of its kind on the market in Ireland. And where it makes a difference is that for a quite respectable distance of over 50km, it works totally in electric mode, at speeds right up to 120km/h or our national speed limit maximum.
When the battery discharges to minimum, the 2.0 petrol engine will recharge it. In normal suburban/city traffic conditions, the electric motors will still be the direct power to the wheels. If travelling at highway speeds, the engine will both drive the wheels and recharge the battery until there's enough stored electric power to take over the drive completely.
And there's the usual regenerative charging from the car braking, or travelling downhill under momentum, so there's a constant reinvigorating of the battery unit as you go.
None of that matters in terms of driving, or the feel of driving, because all the three modes shift between each other seamlessly, not requiring driver input to make any difference. There are a couple of options, where the driver can set the car to recharge the battery more constantly, if, for instance, he knows at the end of the journey there's a period of city driving where running as an EV will be more efficient.
But like I said, let's not get too bogged down in technicalities. Except one more, because I found it interesting. There's no gearbox as we know it, not even a CVT automatic as is mostly used with hybrids from Toyota and Honda. Because all the lower speed driving is courtesy of the electric motors (one on each axle), where full torque is instantly available at the lowest revs, the petrol engine only operates things directly at speeds where it would normally be in top gear.
Again, in everyday driving it doesn't matter. Where all this does show, however, is in the fuel costs bill.
It is, for instance, possible that an owner's driving needs will mean that the petrol engine never cuts in, and the car is an everyday EV-only one if it is regularly plugged in for recharge. On the other hand, constant long-distance driving will mean a more typical fuel consumption, but the car will still be overall more efficient to run.
All that understood (or not, it's not an easy read, I know), the Outlander PHEV is possibly one of the most useful EV/hybrid vehicles around now because it's a big-sized working car. A very practical medium SUV that also looks smart. And with no spatial or performance compromises because of all the technology underneath.
It has full AWD capability, which is all-EV too, because that's done by having separate electric motors for the front and rear sets of wheels. Most of the time it operates automatically, but there's also a button to lock it in AWD for difficult terrain. Again, instant torque from electric motors makes it a very swift-acting system, also making things very safe in fast highway manoeuvres.
The Outlander PHEV is not cheap, at close to €42,000 after deduction of the SEAI €5,000 grant and the €2,500 Government VRT relief for PHEVs. But that puts it within a few grand of the standard diesel variant. And there are other benefits, such as the 44g/km CO2 rating that easily has this car in the second-lowest possible Road Tax Band. For the business buyer, there is an Accelerated Capital Allowance scheme operated by the SEAI, which allows the full cost to be written off in the year of purchase.
That's all more technicalities, though. For the moment, after a decent run at launch, I'm impressed. Both by the way the car operates, and what makes it run the way it does. There will be a commercial version, but there's no price for that yet.
More on it when I get it for a proper review.
