Need help understanding this so am asking Substack land for their thoughts.
Watching the an advert for new Nissan X-Trail powered by their e-power system.
Nissan says it's 100% electric powered and describes how - the Lithium Ion battery which powers the wheels is charged by a petrol engine.
Composed of a fuel efficient petrol engine and lithium ion battery, working together to power an electric motor, e-POWER is unique. The result is a responsive and quiet driving sensation without the need to plug in to recharge.
So how does this make it "greener" than just being powered by a petrol engine without the lithium ion battery?
I can't figure it out.
You lot have any ideas?
Internal combustion engines (ICEs) are most efficient when run at wide open throttle. The most efficient ICEs are turbocharged, so as to scavenge waste heat and use it to reduce pumping losses and increase effective displacement (improves power to weight. So an optimized ICE runs at constant speed to charge the battery when needed (the Chevy VOLT used this technique).
Whether or not this is more efficient than a hybrid like the Toyota Prius will have to be decided by real-world driving.
What's definitely not most efficient by any measure is battery-only vehicles, which are just a bad idea all around, from manufacture to power consumption.
Sounds like those Intercity125 trains that used diesel fuel to generate electricity