How Does It Work? Honda's 2 Motor Hybrid System Explained!

There are plenty of modern

hybrid

system

s, but how

does

Honda's

hybrid

system

differ from the rest of the competition? What makes it unique and, more importantly, how it

work

s. That's what we're going to talk about in this video. This is the hybrid. system that we find under the hood of the upcoming CRV hybrid, the Accord Hybrid Insight hybrid and, of course, the Honda Clarity, as well as the upcoming Fit hybrid that we are all waiting for but has not yet been announced. Honda calls this particular system a two-

motor

hybrid system because we have two

motor

-generator units under the hood and both motor-generator units are generally a little larger and more powerful than what we see in some competitive hybrid systems before To dive into Honda's hybrid system specifically, we need to talk generally about how competing hybrids

work

.

The easiest thing to explain is the Pancake motor system. This is the hybrid system that we find in a wide variety of luxury vehicles. Mercedes hybrids. BMW hybrids. Volvo Hybrids. We also see Hyundai and Kia using this and vehicles like it. Sonata and hybrids that compete with Honda's product line, basically what these manufacturers have done is take a normal automatic transmission or a normal dual-clutch transmission, eliminated the torque converter and then inserted an electric motor and clutch pack correctly. There, instead, when driving the electric vehicle, only the engine is disconnected from the equation, the electric motor drives the vehicle through the automatic transmission, so the automatic transmission is still there, it is still changing gears, etc and then when running as a parallel hybrid you simply close the Clutch on the engine and the electric motor can be used to move the car forward.

Regen braking is also done through that transmission. Unfortunately, that's one of the downsides to that particular system, as the regenerative braking power goes from the wheels through the transmission to the electrical system. The motor is not as smooth as some of the other options out there, but it is relatively inexpensive to manufacture. So we have hybrid systems with planetary power division. This is the system we find under the hood of the entire Prius, the Highlander, the Rav4, etc., but also the Chevy Volt, Chrysler Pacifica, Ford Escape and several other vehicles in those categories. This system operates around a set of planetary gears.

We have two motor generator units and the motor that can feed power through that planetary gear set to the wheels if you want to know more. About that we are going to have a video on how that particular system works, it is a little more complicated, but the important thing is to know that this is not the system that Honda uses, but that Honda uses a two-motor generator system, here is the image. of the transmission that we find in, for example, the Honda Accord, you'll notice that we have the two motor-generator units right there on the side of the transmission, the larger one is connected directly to the wheels, the smaller one is connected directly to the engine . and that's really the important thing to understand about this particular vehicle: there is no such thing as a true transmission in the truest sense of the word.

Now Honda calls it electronic variable transmission or e CVT, that's just to make it easier for some people to understand. because if Honda said "hey", this car

does

n't really have a transmission, that would sound strange to a lot of people, so this is the best way people have decided to describe this system, but when you drive an Accord hybrid or a CRV hybrid . You'll notice that it doesn't drive like a vehicle with a traditional belt and pulley CVT and that's all because of how this system works. At the heart of the system we have the motor generator unit connected to the engine to make the engine rotate.

By generating power through that motor generator unit, the energy can go to the battery to be stored for later use or it can be transferred to the larger motor that drives the wheels forward. Honda mixes and matches components here to make them hybrid systems. Based on a 2-liter four-cylinder engine or a one-and-a-half-liter four-cylinder engine, the 2-liter four-cylinder produces just under 150 horsepower, the one-and-a-half-liter four-cylinder produces just over one hundred horsepower. strength, depending on which vehicle you find it in, then we have two different electric motor units, so far we hope that perhaps a smaller one will be installed under the hood of the next hybrid, the larger of the two current electric motors in the Honda line that produces 181 horsepower and 232 lbs. -ft of torque is a pretty healthy amount of torque because it's a relatively large electric motor, this is the one we find under the hood of the Accord the Clarity and the upcoming Honda CRV, then we have a smaller electric motor that we find under the hood of the insight that produces just under 130 horsepower and 197 pound-feet of torque, perhaps the most critical number to understand in Honda's hybrid systems is actually the outputs of this electric motor unit because the Accord Hybrid, the Clarity hybrid, and the CRV hybrid for for most Americans, that's all the power they're going to get from the hybrid system and let's look at why, depending on exactly which vehicle we're talking about, at 40 to 45 miles per hour, just this one electric motor can drive. the vehicle forward, that is simply due to the overall design of the system, whether we draw power from the battery pack or the generator that is connected to the engine, only this traction motor will propel the vehicle forward.

Because the engine can only connect to the wheels through a fixed ratio that is about the same as a manual transmission in sixth gear at over forty or forty-five miles per hour, a clutch can close between the two drive units. generator engine and a consent. mechanically from the engine to the front wheels without involving any electric motor, this seriously improves overall efficiency at certain speeds compared to Toyota's hybrid system or planetary power split systems for one important reason because the power does not have to move from one generating unit to the other. electric motor when you generate power with a generating unit and move it to a series hybrid style motor, this is not terribly efficient, it will always be lost depending on the overall design, it could be as high as, say, 20 percent now in a planetary. power split system which is not a big deal because most of the power goes mechanically from the engine to the wheels, but there will be a part of this power, say around 20% overall mechanically, that will go from mg 1 to mg 2 . 40. to 45 miles per hour, so in stop-and-go or slow-and-go traffic it is possibly less efficient than a planetary power-split system because it can only operate as a series hybrid at such low speeds, but if it is operating at smooth highway speeds so we've improved efficiency now the downside here of course is that at higher highway speeds you can't change the ratio beyond that fixed maybe sixth gear ratio depending on how you want to look at it in steady state operation at those higher speeds on the highway.

The engine drives only the front wheels with a 0.8 to 1 overdrive ratio and then a 3.4 to 2 1 final drive ratio, so again, that's very similar to saying a six-speed automatic transmission in that top speed, but if you start going faster you can't change that ratio down or up like we would see in a planetary power split system like a Toyota Prius, so let's say at 70 to 75 miles per hour you'll see a fuel efficiency benefit on something like towing a Camry Hybrid over a Honda. Accord Hybrid, although most everyday driving maneuvers will be relatively similar, the clutch pack that connects these two motor-generator units is really the interesting part of the system because if you drive the vehicle gently, it will operate in hybrid or Eevee mode . mode up to about 40 to 42 miles per hour somewhere around there the clutch will close, the motor will start driving the front wheels forward, maybe regenerate the battery a little and then honestly the batteries will be taken out of the equation to be softer.

Driving it will be used to regain power from regenerative braking or apply a little extra torque when you need to get up and go over that freeway overpass, if you were to pass someone on the open road then it will actually open that up. Clutch, the reason is that the engines will need to spin faster to produce more power, send it to the electric motor, but you will notice something here, as long as the clutch is open, the maximum power of the system that you could get in the clarity of the Accord or the CRV is the 181 horsepower delivered by that electric motor and in fact the average American will never experience the full system output of 212 as long as my calculations are correct and I'm sure you all will correct me at that point. comments section below, if I'm wrong the peak power of 212 horsepower will actually occur somewhere between 100 and 110 miles per hour, that's because that's the point where this clutch can close and the engine can spin at 6,200 rpm to create its peak 143 horsepower with the 2-liter engine.

Now there are other speeds where you could get close to 212 horsepower, but if you want that absolute peak based on the numbers, it looks like it will be pretty high. We see very similar things happening in the middle of the abhi sheet. Outlander plug-in hybrid because it works on essentially the same principle, now the interesting thing here is that it doesn't really matter too much for the average driver because Honda hybrids are still pretty fast thanks to that direct drive electric motor, that's what makes the Accord be the CRV and the clarity feels so lively and makes them feel more like an electric vehicle to most buyers because it really is an electric vehicle, it's only backed by this gasoline engine, that's why the Accord system Hybrid, even though it is delivering only about 180 horsepower in a 0 to 60 run is still as fast as the camry hybrid system which theoretically gives you a little over 200 horsepower in that same 0 to 60 run. 60.

A big benefit to Honda's hybrid system is the regenerative braking capability because we have this very large electric motor, it's considerably larger and more powerful than the electric motor we find in, for example, the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. We have better regenerative braking capability, whether we're talking about a plug-in hybrid like the Clarity or the average one. hybrid like the Honda Accord and due to the location of the motors directly connected to the front wheels, we can have a very consistent regeneration braking field, which is different from what we see in systems like the hyundai ioniq, the Kia Niro or the Sonata , where the engine is in the other. side of a stepped automatic transmission, so as you slow down even gently in those hybrid vehicles, you will feel the transmission go down, sixth gear, fifth, fourth, etc., when you come to a complete stop, we don't have that feeling on the Honda.

Hybrids will again feel much more like an electric vehicle, and from a business perspective, having a common family of components to draw from and large electric motors to use it with makes it easier to develop future electrified vehicles quickly; For example, Honda has said that we will soon have a large number of electrified vehicles in the United States, probably not full battery electric vehicles too soon for the United States, but hybrids and plug-in hybrids are definitely on the horizon. Planetary energy splitting systems like the ones we find under the hood of the Toyota product. line, does it require any modifications to use the plug-in hybrid?

For example, in the Prius Prime we have some additional features inside the transmission case that allow both electric motors to propel the vehicle forward in easy mode, something we don't see in normal hybrid models, but for the Honda hybrid system everything What you have to do is provide a larger battery and a larger inverter because we already have that 181 horsepower electric motor, you just need to give that motor more power and you will instantly have a more powerful motor. plug-in with a more powerful electric mode option let's digress here for a moment and talk about the upcoming CRV hybrid.

The CRV hybrid is different from the Outlander plug-in hybrid or the rav4 hybrid because it does not use a rear axleelectric instead of Honda. They decided to modify their existing hybrid system and give it a mechanical connection to the rear, so although it does not use a CVT - it has no relation to the normal CVT we find under the hood of the CRV - it is still completely mechanical. -wheel drive system, so the generator motor drives still work the same way, but instead of sending power to the front wheels, it will send power to all four wheels with that big electric motor, so it still It has 181 total horsepower, but is now fully powered. mechanical connection to the rear wheels, meaning the system could lock a central coupling and deliver power absolutely perfectly and equally between the front and rear wheels if necessary, it will also mean you'll have a more traditional and more secure footing.

Feel better on snow or slippery surfaces than you'll find in the rav4 hybrid. Now on the downside, this system may be a little more prone to mechanical losses since we have those mechanical components, however it will give you a better feel on the road. road and of course we'll know more about that very soon, so if you haven't seen that video and you're watching this after mid-March 2020, be sure to check out our channel for that full CRV Hybrid review coming very, very soon and there we have it, here's howHonda's two-motor hybrid system works differently than the hybrid system we find under the hood of the Acura MDX or Acura RLX, so if you want to know more about those systems, send me a note on the comments section below.

We'll see what we can do as far as making a video for that, but in short, most Americans will never see the system's rated 212 horsepower out of the system; They may approach those higher speeds on the highway, but most of us will actually be there. around 190 or 180 horsepower, but honestly it's not a big deal because the overall performance of this hybrid system thanks to that big electric motor is better than the numbers would indicate, we have a really healthy amount of torque and the system in general It's very, very soft. let me know what else you'd like us to discuss down there in the comments section below, check out our related videos and I'll see you all next week.