SAE 2009: Raser's PHEV is a 100 mpge HUMMER
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Apr 14th 2009 at 8:49AM 
Last week, we heard news that Raser had teamed up with FEV to develop a plug-in hybrid powertrain for large trucks, but we weren't yet sure what the first platform to get the extended-range electric hardware would be. Now, we know. Interested? Hint: it's from what's generally accepted as the least eco-friendly automaker in America. That's right, HUMMER.
In reality, using a large SUV like the HUMMER H3 as the basis for an electric vehicle isn't necessarily that far of a stretch. A good deal of space will be taken up by a battery large enough to provide 40 miles of range, a 200 kW electric motor and a 100 kW gasoline-powered engine. Even with its brick-like aerodynamics and heavy platform, Raser claims an equivalency of 100 miles per gallon or more.
Further, some people (though, likely, a very small number) really do need the capabilities of an SUV, and Raser claims that its EREV maintains its acceleration and towing capacities. Because the H3 shares much of its chassis with GM's midsize pickup trucks, the technology will likely be adaptable to that platform as well. The demonstration vehicle will be on display at the 2009 SAE World Congress in Detroit starting on April 20th.
[Source: Green Car Congress]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
PeterG 9:11AM (4/14/2009)
Getting tired of these bullshit EREV MPG numbers. Actually I got tired of it about a dozen such stories ago.
When i reality it means 15MPG and multiple charges on the $20000 battery.
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dwarg 9:57AM (4/14/2009)
Is it just me or is the worm starting to turn here on AutoBlogGreen? The number of negative comments and trolls posting here seem to be consistently rising.
I'm feeling pretty bitter by now as well. Since there is still no affordable highway-speed car I can buy. But the majority of these posts come from people that hate hydrogen, or people that hate little eco-toy cars, or people that hate big cars pretending to be green, etc.
Yeah, it sucks that our niche's haven't been filled yet, but if all you have to contribute to the discussion is, "this sucks, my every wish hasn't been fulfilled!" that's isn't really contributing.
If someone wants to stick a battery on a Hummer, than more power to them. I don't really see the point myself, but whatever. Anything that brings PHEV and EV technology more into the main stream is a good thing--even if it isn't an ideal application.
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gorr 10:52AM (4/14/2009)
There is one kind of car-offer that most car manufacturers have, it's hydrogen fuelcell cars and light trucks. But actual car manufacturers have accepted to betray car consumers and have accepted huge billions of dollars coming directly from tax-payers for a new battery mandate even if they have all said that battery don't work.
They didn't succeed of offering an alternative to gasoline because they try to apply an internationnal communist plan where goverments,high-financial circles,actual car manufacturers, citizens, taxpayers, scientists, journalists, welfare peoples, ozone layer, big-oil, ants, polar bears, forests will all sign a law providing a new green car, LOL.
Communism just plain don't work, it's a theory from the criminals where nothing is allowed. Just one individual can make a decision of have an idea or discover something. Group session is just an emotional experience. head works are done by the individual.
These communists in goverment and some protected corporation are just explaining how they stopped biology before the bible, they talk with false identity, alway saying the peoples names and money(tax) for the common good while at the same time destroying biology because they never learn how to f&ck in their past live before the bible. Now they barrelly try, putting doubts by the tons like al gore do each day about the sustanibility of sexual reproduction living kind of life in a biology planet ???
Honda have discovered the way of sustanable car moving forward process in 1998 with their hydrogen fuelcell fcx but must have hit the communists in the face and have retracted themself since and let communist win and since that time billion of gallon have been paid and burn into the air. They just cannot put the product in showroom for sale because they are communist too like the rest now that they finnally agree with communist in reality. I tell you communist is a slow death where nobody is allowed anything at all , always for good reason. Don't disturb the deads, they will invent a new law or a new urgent study about sustanibility of living..
PeterG 12:41PM (4/14/2009)
My hate is directed at the telling of lies. I have no problem with people doing EV Hummers if that turns their crank. I do have a problem with bogus 100mpg claims.
None of the EREVs/PHEVs get 100MPG. It is a meaningless made up number, based on the "free MPG" from plugging it in.
Have you noticed that Plug in Prius conversions, Chevy Volt and now this EREV Hummer all claim the same 100mpg?? It is BULLSHIT.
Since the number is completely made up based on some number of charges before you use a gallon of gas, they all claim the rather convenient 100MPG.
If I jump in this truck and drive 200 miles, will it use 2 Gallons of Gas? NO! They are lying.
dwarg 12:56PM (4/14/2009)
I actually agree with your point PeterG the MPGe (or whatever they want to call it) is bullshit. I was just responding to the majority of comments I've been reading here lately and it just happened to come after reading yours.
I may need to stop coming to ABG for a while. Even though there is lots of news in the industry to print, there isn't much to buy and that's ultimately what it's all about. At least not until 2010/20111 when the miracle battery becomes a reality and saves the car companies from themselves.
jeff 10:21AM (4/14/2009)
I think this thing is excellent. There's no doubt plenty of people still need a pickup. I'd be really surprised if this thing got only 15mpg while running in charge sustaining mode with a mostly depleted battery pack. It's a 130hp engine running at a steady state, with the electric motors and batteries there to buffer out the load and provide for acceleration worthy of probably a 350hp engine (200kW= 266hp, plus the effect of plentiful low end torque from an electric motor) for short bursts.
I agree though that the equivalent mpg ratings are pointless. They should give all electric range plus charge sustaining mode mpg.
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X-Environmentalretardist 4:16PM (4/21/2009)
This vehicle will more than likely achieve better than 30mpg even if you never plug it in.
Cellien 11:02AM (4/14/2009)
"In reality, using a large SUV like the HUMMER H3..."
It's not a large SUV...
The H3 is no bigger than any midsize SUV from Toyota or any other perceived "eco-friendly" brand people like to cling to whilst calling all Hummers gas guzzlers. The Toyota 4-Runner and Hummer H3 are the same size and get approx. the same gas mileage.
Large SUV would be an H2, Pathfinder Armada, Toyota Sequoia, etc.
You even go on to say the H3 shares its frame with other MIDSIZE TRUCKS.
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Luke 11:43AM (4/14/2009)
100mpg in what situation? A Hummer-like-vehicle getting 100mpg while crossing a parking lot on battery-power isn't unreasonable at all. The same vehicle could get 7mpg when driving a mile. Maybe it gets 100mpg until it reaches the end of its extension cord?
For instance, my ScanGage II says that my my stock-simple 2.5L Ford Ranger gets well over 100mpg -- but only when the clutch is depressed and I'm coasting toward a stop. I'm hard pressed to beat 22mpg under normal usage, though I can get it as high as 25 if I drove below the speed-limit the Interstate.
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Cellien 4:34PM (4/14/2009)
The 2.5l Rangers aren't quite as efficient as the newer 2.3L. I have a 2.3L with a 5" lift and 32" tires and I average 25 mpg. I drive kinda hard too. I've gotten up to 28 and as low as 23, with the lift. On Ranger forums, people without lifts have been posting impressive numbers by hypermilling, nearing 40 mpg.
fnc 5:42PM (4/14/2009)
My stock 99' Ranger with the V6 (3.5L I think) gives me a consistent 27mpg. I have a mostly freeway commute which I do at a steady 55mph and I coast to stoplights and take it easy off the line. The rating was even lowered to 20mpg (combined I think) after the EPA recalibrated all their testing data recently so beating that by close to 50% seems like a pretty good number for not even doing any crazy hypermiling techniques.
Cellien 3:53PM (4/15/2009)
Thats pretty damn good for a 10 year old v6. However, they never made a 3.5L gas engine.
Luke 11:43AM (4/14/2009)
Gorr,
I know I shouldn't feed the trolls, but someone needs to point out that you have it backwards. Very smart people have been trying to make hydrogen work for decades. I'm 30 and I've been hearing about how wonderful hydrogen fuel cell cars would be since I could read. Hydrogen technology could probable be made reliable and affordable, but that still doesn't solve the problem of trying to make hydrogen in a physically and fiscally efficient way from something other than natural gas. So, until you show a hydrogen mine, hydrogen is just another battery chemistry -- especially if you want to use super-expensive solar electricity to make it. In this case, hydrogen competes toe-to-toe with other battery technologies -- and it appears to be loosing for now.
The engineering picture is *much* more interesting than you suggest. There's absolutely need to invent a pseudo-political narrative to explain why the laws of physics don't play your way.
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X-Environmentalretardist 4:20PM (4/21/2009)
My car already runs on Hydrogen in the form of Hydrocarbons. I'm carbon neutral. I didn't bring any of the carbon I use from any other planet.
shaun 12:32PM (4/14/2009)
Still not big enough.
I need a something green I can haul the wife and our 5 kids in along with some groceries or luggage for a decent road trip.
I'm thinking a REEV Expedition EL.
And don't anybody bother suggesting that little phoenix thing. That's not an suv. That's pickup truck. A hybrid Highlander won't get it either.
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paul 2:53AM (4/15/2009)
I'm glad I'm not alone here. :-)
Thats what I'd like to see - a real family hauler that is cheaper to run. I'm not interested in the little toy cars and I have no interest at all in anything smaller than a full size SUV. I read this blog because there is cool technology coming along but it has not been applied in a vehicle I want yet.
The GM 2 Mode hybrid was a start but it's not available in anything big enough for me yet.
I think the clear problem with people using this MPGe rating is that people KNOW that the EPA windows sticker and economy rating is the only thing your average person comes close to understanding and I think thats a stretch actually. When they hear "hybrid" they think "Prius" and when start talking about EV miles and range extender miles their eyes are going to glaze over. Thats assuming you've got them in a place where you can even HAVE a discussion about that.
Getting people to think in something other than miles per gallon of gas is going to be DIFFICULT. Look at CFL's - I paid attention to lumens of output for years before a CFL ever showed up but you have to rate them as equivalent watts for incandescent to get people to understand.
A wise man once told me the problem with most things is that "Most people are stupid".
Dennis 9:56PM (6/15/2009)
And now for "the rest of the story…"
How do these guys at Raser come up with their 100 MPG? Simple, they claim that if you drive 60 miles per day that the first 40 is powered by electricity and the next 20 is provided by their 33 MPG onboard engine. Therefore, only 1/3 of the distance traveled was provided by gas at 33 MPG, so it's as though you got the equivalent of 3 times 33 MPG, which equals 100 MPG.
Now let's see what Raser isn't telling you. First, their 200KW electric motor costs MONEY to operate! How much, you ask? Easy. If you drive 40 miles on electric power -- half in the city and half on the freeway -- you will spend about 1 hour driving (20 miles @ 30 MPH = 40 minutes, plus 20 miles @ 60 MPH = 20 minutes). Raser's 200KW motor is rated at 100KW continuous, so 1 hour of driving will likely consume roughly 100KWH worth of electricity (100KW times 1 hour). The average cost of electricity in the U.S. is 11.5 cents/KWH; therefore 100KWH costs you $11.50, got it? That's eleven dollars and fifty cents to go forty miles!!! Luckily, you get to go the next 20 miles on good old gasoline @ roughly 33 MPG, which would consume 6/10ths of a gallon of gas if the gas engine powered the vehicle directly. Unfortunately, it first has to power a generator, which then charges batteries, which then powers the electric motor. Still, lets be generous and assume that this gas engine takes you 20 miles on 2/3 of a gallon of gas, which costs $1.67 (2/3 times $2.50).
So the grand total to travel 60 miles in Raser's shiny EREV (Extended Range Electric Vehicle) only cost you $13.17!!! Isn't that great? Of course, you would've only spent $5.00 if you could've driven all of that distance powered by their good gas-mileage IC engine. Or you could've paid $7.50 in any vehicle that averaged 20 MPG. However, where's the fun in that? Look, you're driving a high tech "EREV"... ooooh! One that cost you an extra $25K, and that added an extra 1,000 pounds of weight to the vehicle. Nice extras, huh?? BTW, did I forget to mention that their 200KW motor only provides 134HP in continuous mode? But wait you say, it gives 268HP at peak operation. Yes, that's about what the new Ford Taurus provides (except for the Ford Taurus SHO, which gives 350HP). So you'll be riding around in your new EREV Hummer in a reduced 134-268HP powertrain... can you say "put, put, put"?
Does anyone see anything wrong with this?? Now do you see why Raser omitted mentioning the cost of electricity and only focused on their fuzzy-math MPG gas equivalent calculation? In reality, at today's prices, their Hummer only got the equivalent of 11.4 MPG ($13.17 divided by $2.5/gallon = 5.27 gallons, and 60 miles/5.27 gallons = 11.4 MPG)!!!!!!!!
The fact is that electric vehicles have NOTHING to offer in solving America's transportation needs. They are not cost-efficient nor are they technologically superior. The demand for electricity in the U.S. is expected to grow by a taxing 25% over the next decade. Raser's Hummer draws 100KWH of electricity in order to travel it's first 40 miles, which is well over 3 times the power that your house draws in a complete day! Talk about an instant energy crisis! It's a good thing that battery technology is still limited and that they added an IC engine to extend the range, otherwise their Hummer would've used 150KWH of electricity, or more than 5 times the daily draw of an average home!!
This conveniently omitted information might explain why Raser has also entered the geothermal power market… they realize that switching to EV's would require well over a 300% + increase to America's annual electric power consumption.
My question is this, why couldn't Raser be upfront and honest with us about the true costs of Electric Vehicles? Afterall, consumers have shown that they are willing to pay more for efficient green power.
Could their hesitancy in telling us the whole story be due to the fact that EV's are neither cost-efficient nor green compared to standard IC engine technology?
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