BEV, PHEV, HEV, FCEV What’s in a name?

A beginner’s guide to Electric Vehicle types & applications

Some EV terminology

1. EV: Electric Vehicle (General term for vehicles with some form of electric drive )

2. BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle

3. FCEV: Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

4. PHEV: Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle

5. HEV: Hybrid Electric Vehicle

6. PEV: Plug-in Electric vehicle (includes 1, 2 & 3 above)

7. AFV: Alternative Fuel Vehicle (EU use: includes 1 – 4 above, plus LPG)

8. NEV: New Energy Vehicle (China. 1 and 3 above)

9. ICE: Internal Combustion Engine

Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)

• The first of the ‘new generation’ EVs on the market in the late 90’s.

Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)

• Are still primarily an ICE based vehicle

i.e. they DO NOT plug-in to recharge the battery directly

• battery is charged via regenerative braking.

Regen braking saves about 20% of the fuel used by an ICE.

• Best known current examples in Australia:

Toyota Prius

Toyota Camry hybrid

Honda Insight.

HEVs: advantages & disadvantages

Advantages:

Reduced fossil fuel costs/use.

Brake wear reductions

Eases consumer introduction to EVs (i.e. are part electric, but still refuel via a fuel bowser).

Disadvantages:

Higher maintenance costs as they require maintenance on both ICE and BEV systems.

Higher purchase cost due to complexity of construction (ICE and BEV together in one car)

Still tied to using at least some fossil fuel as well as engine oil, etc.

Best use scenarios:

Congested city stop-start driving;

A useful EV when charging options are poor

- eg: no off-street parking, no workplace charging, etc

• Point of difference from a HEV: have plug-in recharge capacity

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)

• PHEVs can refuel either from a fuel bowser OR power point/EVSE.

• Generally - smaller ICE and larger battery than HEV1

• Unlike a HEV, a proportion of the vehicle’s travel can be done by battery alone1.

• The battery in a PHEV can be recharged in up to three ways.

a) From a power point/EVSE

b) from the ICE directly (acting as a generator)

c) by regenerative braking.

1: Some recent PHEV variants exist with larger ICE motors and smaller batteries and offer only 20 – 30km BEV only range. i.e. are only using the EV component to boost vehicle performance whilst reducing emissions, not provide an ‘EV experience’.

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)

• Australia has quite a number of PHEVs available, both new and second-hand. Below is a list of (most) new PHEVs currently available in Australia*:

* Reference: EV Buyers Guide, article for ReNew edition 145, Oct-Dec 2018

EV EV typeBEV range in km

(Real world) CostAvailable now

Y/N

BMWi3 REx PHEV 180 $72,000 Y

BMW i8 PHEV 22 $300,000 Y

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 50 $50,000 Y

Range Rover Si4 PHEV PHEV 45 $210,000 Y

Mercedes Benz E350 e PHEV 30 $132,000 Y

Mercedes Benz C-Class PHEV 30 $75,000 Y

Mercedes Benz GLE-Class PHEV 30 $125,000 Y

Mercedes Benz S-Class PHEV 30 $320,000 Y

PHEVs: advantages & disadvantagesAdvantages:

Allays ‘range anxiety’;

Can charge/run exclusively on battery power for short trips;

Longer range/can still refuel via fuel bowser if not time for charging/EVSE not available;

Significant fossil fuel costs/use reductions possible if EV range .

Disadvantages:

Higher maintenance costs.

Higher purchase cost.

Still tied to using at least some fossil fuel, plus engine oil, filters etc.

Best use scenarios:

• Single car households: most commuting is within the EV-only range but need to do longer runs.

• Multi-user households: when home charging time too short between trips/use by different drivers.

• General user: EVSE shortage in areas that you plan to use the vehicle in.

• Towing needs: only BEV with a tow rating is Tesla Model X, SUV based PHEVs generally do have.

Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)

Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)

• BEVs refuel from:

1) Ordinary power point (slow)

2) AC EVSE (faster)

3) DC fast-charge EVSE (fastest)

• A BEV recharges the battery in two ways:

a) From a power point/EVSE

b) by regenerative braking

BEVs: advantages & disadvantagesAdvantages:

Low fuel costs. (Nil if using own PV power)

Simple and low maintenance, including much reduced brake wear.

Easy to recharge from home on a standard power point (if you have the time).

Recharge within reasonable time frame if using an AC EVSE.

DC fast charging already provides acceptably quick recharge times when travelling a long distance.

Disadvantages:

higher purchase cost (Parity to ICE predicted around 2024).

Slow to charge on an ordinary power point.

Few DC fast chargers around, unless you choose a Tesla.

Public EVSE charging can be annoying if needing different charging provider charge cards .

Best use scenarios:

• City driving and/or longer trips up to 300 – 400km per day (depending on BEV chosen).

• Occasional interstate travel where BEV has three phase AC or DC fast-charge capacity.

• For Teslas - regular interstate travel on supercharger routes.

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV)

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV)

Why classified an EV?: drive motor is electric.

Features:

• Similar to a BEV: no ICE.

• Similar to a HEV: no external charging system, battery is only used to save and return the energy from regenerative braking.

• Point of difference: swap a large part of the battery for a hydrogen fuel cell.

Operation:

• Hydrogen is refuelled via a hydrogen bowser (like LPG).

• Fuel cell uses a hydrogen reaction to produce electricity for the electric motor.

• Only exhaust product is water vapour.

FCEVs: advantages & disadvantagesAdvantages:

No tailpipe emissions except for water vapour.

Reduced fossil fuel costs/use.

Disadvantages:

Negligible hydrogen refuelling stations anywhere in the world.

Wasteful in terms of electricity use to generate hydrogen (see next slide).

Energy costs per km much greater than for electricity to charge a battery directly. (Or even for fossil fuels!)

Higher in purchase cost due to complexity of construction.

Most hydrogen is currently sourced from fossil fuels.

Best use scenario:

• Long range EV driving that needs very fast refuelling or is far from the electricity grid, for example interstate trucking or large farm machinery. (Neither currently available/possible)

HydrogenRenewable AC electricity

100kWh

Electricity

Electrolysis75% 71 kWh

AC-DC conversion:95% efficiency

95kWh remaining

Compression90% 64kWh

AC grid transmission90% efficiency

90kWh remaining

AC-DC conversion and

battery charging85% 77kWh

Liquefaction65% 46 kWh

Fuel cell50% 26%

Transport/transfer80% 51 kWh

FCEV90% 23 kWh

FCEV90% 19kWh

BEV 90% 69kWh

Transport/transfer90% 42 kWh

Fuel cell50% 21%

Source: “Does a Hydrogen Economy Make Sense?” Proceedings of the IEEE. Vol. 94, No. 10, October 2006.

In summary:PEV

Plug-in Electric Vehicle

And the winner is… BEV, PHEV, HEV or FCEV?

Question: will one of the EV technologies prevail over the others?Personal prediction: BEV.My reasons:(a) Not PHEVs & HEVs:- More complex & costly to build- Maintenance costs higher (ICE plus EV) - PHEVs & HEVs ultimately cannot get off the fossil fuel ‘treadmill’

(i.e. there is a floor to their CO2-e reduction capacity)

- HOWEVER they have been a good interim technology to:i. help familiarise the public with EV technologyii. assist legacy manufacturers to grapple with EV techiii. Fill the cost & range gap to offer EVs whilst BEVs mature/reduce in cost

And the winner is…?

(b) Not FCEVs:- Same tech as BEV, swaps a fuel cell for most of the battery- Fuel cell technology not as mature as lithium batteries- Refuelling infrastructure rare (and has trust issues)- Hydrogen economy inherently energy wasteful (see next slide)- Follow the money: vast majority of investment is in battery technology,

not fuel cells- Predominant hydrogen source is natural gas

(i.e. fossil fuel)

- Does have potential niche uses:Eg: off-grid applications such as submarines, farm machinery, long journey trains/trucks??

Pic: burlingtonhyundai.blogspot.com

Conversions your thing?

Next AEVA meeting topic:

Conversions - learning from experience!

- Owner/converter talks.

- Panel Q&A.

- Display of vehicles (undercover carpark)

Date: June 13th

Time: 7pm (6.30 for quick inspections beforehand)

Address: 271-273 Wellington Road, Mulgrave, 3170 Melway: map 71, A12.

Note: Entry off Compark Circuit.