Hype, or the future of hybrids?
Our first car was a Mazda GLC. We bought it new in 1981, after living without a car for four years. It was a stick shift, front wheel drive ICE car. It got about 32 mpg in town and about 38 mpg on the highway, driving at 55 mph. Since then, we’ve owned four other cars (two that we still have); all were ICE cars and none topped that GLC for mileage. “Great Little Car” indeed.
With my wife’s 21 y.o. Pontiac Vibe ticking over 100,000 miles, we’ll probably be in the market for a new car in the near future. We’re not ready for a EV, but would consider a hybrid. The reports I’ve read on mileage for hybrids have been mixed. But then I saw this:
“BYD claims that the Qin L in particular is good for a maximum range of 2,100 kilometers from both a full battery and full gas tank. That’s a whopping 1,300 miles, or enough to drive from New York City to Miami in one shot. Impressive, but those numbers were generated using the notoriously optimistic CLTC standard, which likely means the real-world range will be shorter.
“Or does it? It looks like BYD hosted a drive event for the Qin L and Seal 06 prior to unveiling the vehicle. The embargos are up, and at least one Chinese automotive journalist has put BYD’s super high-range claims to the test. Known on Chinese social media website BilliBilli and YouTube as “阿喵汽车” which translates to A Miao Car, presenter Miao and his cohost drive the car from BYD’s factory in Xi’An to Changchun, a distance of about 1,367 miles. The goal was to do the distance in with one full charge and tank of gas. Spoiler alert: it passed, with flying colors.”
Obviously, this car won’t be showing up in the US anytime soon. But a car that can get ca. 80 mpg is a quantum leap in automotive travel. Perhaps it will kick-start some innovation in the US car market!
Can the BYD Qin L hybrid really reach 80 mpg?
With my wife’s 21 y.o. Pontiac Vibe ticking over 100,000 miles, we’ll probably be in the market for a new car in the near future. We’re not ready for a EV, but would consider a hybrid. The reports I’ve read on mileage for hybrids have been mixed. But then I saw this:
“BYD claims that the Qin L in particular is good for a maximum range of 2,100 kilometers from both a full battery and full gas tank. That’s a whopping 1,300 miles, or enough to drive from New York City to Miami in one shot. Impressive, but those numbers were generated using the notoriously optimistic CLTC standard, which likely means the real-world range will be shorter.
“Or does it? It looks like BYD hosted a drive event for the Qin L and Seal 06 prior to unveiling the vehicle. The embargos are up, and at least one Chinese automotive journalist has put BYD’s super high-range claims to the test. Known on Chinese social media website BilliBilli and YouTube as “阿喵汽车” which translates to A Miao Car, presenter Miao and his cohost drive the car from BYD’s factory in Xi’An to Changchun, a distance of about 1,367 miles. The goal was to do the distance in with one full charge and tank of gas. Spoiler alert: it passed, with flying colors.”
Obviously, this car won’t be showing up in the US anytime soon. But a car that can get ca. 80 mpg is a quantum leap in automotive travel. Perhaps it will kick-start some innovation in the US car market!
Can the BYD Qin L hybrid really reach 80 mpg?
My son’s neighbor in Nassau city outside NYC on Long Island has a plug in hybrid. 40 mile battery range, on longer trip goes to ICE running hybrid mode.
I did not get more of the spec or recharging scheme, but in suburbs could be an option.
Last year I checked hybrid RAV4. Only drawback for me, I do some highway driving was mpg hwy was about same a straight ICE.
Some ideas.
From what I have heard about their pricing, even a 100% tariff could leave them competitive. If they can get mileage like that in the real world, there are a lot of people living far enough out to make it very attractive, especially if the battery could handle basic shopping trips or soccer practice on electric.
I get 45 mpg driving my 2008 Civic hybrid at 65 mph when I need to go farther than my (inherited) Leaf can go on a charge. When I went looking for a new plug-in hybrid to replace the two cars with a single car, I did not find any choices which seemed better than figuring out how to park both of them.
I conclude that the US market has been so focused on supplying high margin vehicles that it has ignored customers who want small efficient cars. (Of course, I have not bought a new car since 2008, so the ignoring is a two-way street.)
The new (’25) eMinis are billed at 240 miles single charge, and (broken record) I have yet to have a problem with my ’23 eMini for all of my urban hellhole driving. I have never charged at a commercial charge point (though the onboard computer tells me there are a thousand within my hundred mile range) nor have I seen a substantial (or even notable) increase in my power bill
I would venture long-term, given a complete transition to electric, a hybrid is a bad long-term investment. Hybrid is to the transition what methadone is to heroin addiction
The article notes that China has low speed limits and lots of speed cameras. The test drivers noted that when the speed limit was 100kph (62mph), they kept their speed to 90kph (56mph). In the US, speed limits are higher and everyone speeds, so Americans should expect lower mileage. The testers also kept the interior of the car at around 75F to save on cooling. I’m guessing the Eco mode they used may have compromised on acceleration, but that’s just a guess.
The DM-I technology in the 1.5 liter ICE engine is fairly impressive with a dual zone cooling system so parts of the engine can run cooler than others. A big point of hybrid systems is that the engine can be highly optimized to run efficiently since it drives a generator at fixed speed. This is how diesel locomotives work, FYI.
One article I found says that Toyota is considering licensing the technology for a car it would be selling in China. Toyota has a lot of bright engineers out of Hiroshima, so, if they are considering the technology, they are impressed. Of course, it could just be a way of getting the Chinese government to approve the venture.
P.S. If you check the Prius mod forums, there are some guys claiming 80-100 mpg with others furiously mocking them. If you go to Fuelly, you’d see about 0.5% of the 9000 reported mileages are over 70mpg.
P.P.S. I’ll also guess that the two zone cooling might let them cut air flow. Air flow eats mileage.