On 27-Jul-17 10:18 AM, NY wrote:
....
As a matter of interest, are most hybrid cars propelled entirely by
electric motors, with the power coming from either batteries or
petrol/diesel-electric generator? Or does the engine drive the wheels
*mechanically* (as in a conventional car) when you no longer need
low-pollution electric propulsion. ...

I think it varies. Some, such as the Jaguar I mentioned, use only
electric motors to drive the wheels, while others, often described as
electric assist, use either or both systems to drive the wheels. The
former is mechanically simpler and probably cheaper to implement.

If it's the former, you have the
advantages of the extra control (eg automatic acceleration profile) and
of single gear ratio, with none of the discontinuities that auto/manual
gearboxes cause as you change ratio and the dreaded surge of power when
an auto box unexpectedly changes down as you call for more power in a
situation where in a manual car I'd hold onto my present gear and simply
press the accelerator a bit further - it is this thing that I find
hardest to adjust to when driving an auto car: gauging the accelerator
pressure to give me the acceleration that I want, neither too little in
a higher gear nor too much in a lower gear.

You need to drive a better quality of auto :-)


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Colin Bignell