Wikipedia says no. Wikipedia is wrong. It correctly identifies electric vehicles as those propelled by an electric motor for some or all of the time. However, from the first volume production of 48V hybrids in 2017, most will be capable of just that in the form of silent all-electric take-off just like a strong hybrid. That will be at half the cost. Find out more at the IDTechEx Show! session on Electric Vehicles: Everything is Changing in Berlin on 27-28 April. www.IDTechEx.com/ElectricVehiclesEurope
As a new IDTechEx report fully analyses, 48V mild hybrids are now about much more than the original dream of making things smaller and more economical by employing higher voltage and efficient regenerative braking. Now 48V can even meet the most stringent planned emissions regulations while improving both driving pleasure and fuel economy and making many new things possible.
No, the 48V mild hybrid is not the ultimate product: that is pure electric, sometimes as an Energy Independent Electric Vehicle (EIV) needing only sun, wind etc. Nor will 48V replace the plug-in hybrid that has long all-electric range. The Chinese government encourages those buses to help tackle severe city air pollution killing millions.
Nonetheless, IDTechEx sees more 48V mild hybrid cars sold over the coming 15 years than conventional hybrid and pure electric cars combined. After a slow start, they will grab most of the conventional on-road vehicle business near the end of the coming decade.
Chairman of IDTechEx, Dr Peter Harrop, explains, "The latest evolution of 48V designs confers unprecedented emissions and user benefits. It makes a conventional vehicle into an EV but only just! We now forecast 48V mild hybrids separately because the new figures would drown many conventional electric vehicle categories. The car can now handle many times traditional power levels and store much more. That is deeply significant in coping with both more regenerative and harvesting technologies and in feeding newly electric loads such as superchargers and climate control and pumps. Torque assist drives engine downsizing not just silent electric take-off. A $250 billion 48V components business awaits so it is no surprise that all the leading parts manufacturers are now chasing this one."
Learn more at the parallel IDTechEx conferences, Electric Vehicles: Everything is Changing and Energy Harvesting and Storage Berlin, April 27-28 with a large exhibition. Also see the new IDTechEx report, "Mild Hybrid 48V Vehicles 2016-2031 - www.IDTechEx.com/48V
