Car 101: what do HEV, MHEV, PHEV, BEV and FCEV mean?

Monday, 30 May 2022

Car 101: what do HEV, PHEV, BEV and FCEV mean?

Car 101 is a regular feature in which we take a look at the basic stuff that us ‘petrolheads’ (and ‘voltheads’ now too!) take for granted, but normal people who aren’t obsessed with cars might be confused about – and we want your questions!

Remember, there are no silly questions, and no question is too basic for us to tackle – if there is anything you have always wanted to know about cars, driving or anything related, but have been too embarrassed to ask, then fire an email to motoring@stuff.co.nz.

Confused by all the acronyms surrounding Electric vehicles and hybrids? Here's a quick overview of the differences between HEVs, PHEVs and BEVs.

Going low or even zero emissions for your daily travel is a great idea, but it can be confusing to figure out the differences between the various acronyms being thrown around. Here’s a handy guide to figure out what HEV, PHEV, EV and FCEV all mean, and why you should care.

HEV – Hybrid Electric Vehicle

Starting with the most common type, HEV simply stands for ‘Hybrid Electric Vehicle’, and they are more commonly just called ‘hybrids’. This is almost every Toyota you can buy and with the rise of the Clean Car Programme, most manufacturers will have at least a couple of hybrids in their range.

**READ MORE:

Probably the best-known HEV of them all – the Toyota Prius.

* Not ready for an EV? There are low emission alternatives

* Toyota planning to release two new EVs this year

* Hybrids and electric vehicles: What's the difference?

Even things as big as Range Rovers are now available as PHEVs, complete with impressive electric-only ranges.

* What you need to know about buying an EV in New Zealand

HEVs use an electric motor and a small battery to allow the petrol engine to take a break from driving the vehicle. There’s no plugging in involved, as hybrids charge their batteries using the petrol engine, as well as other things like regenerative brakes.

Older HEVs tend to work only at urban speeds, offering torque bumps when setting off and allowing engine-off coasting at certain speeds, while newer ones can propel the car for longer distances and at higher speeds.

MHEVs are hybrids that you probably wouldn’t realise are hybrids, thanks to their lower level or electric assistance.

These vehicles also generally don’t qualify for any Clean Car rebates, although you won’t be paying any fees. Some might squeak into the rebate zone if the vehicle emits less than 146g/km of CO2, and if it falls under the $80,000 limit.

PHEV – Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle

A PHEV, or ‘Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle’, is basically an upgraded HEV. The overall power system looks similar, with an engine, fuel tank, electric motor and battery all bundled into the same chassis, but in this case, the electric motor is more powerful and the battery is larger.

When you say EV, everyone thinks of a Tesla. Or a Nissan Leaf. But the range is growing all the time.

All PHEVs will offer an amount of pure-electric range, usually around 60km but sometimes as high as 100km, which means you can do general day-to-day driving, like commuting or shopping, on electric power without touching the fuel reserves.

They can be (and to get the most out of them, should be) plugged in to charge the battery, but because you do have fuel reserves, you can still go on long road trips without worrying about running out of electricity, so no range anxiety.

PHEVs qualify for Clean Car rebates, up to a maximum of $5750, depending on the car.

Hyundai’s Nexo is one of the very, very few FCEVs in New Zealand.

MHEV – Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle

MHEV stands for ‘Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle’. Mild hybrid vehicles have an even smaller motor than standard HEVs, often inside the transmission itself, along with a baby battery. You can’t travel any real distance on electric power alone with an MHEV, but you will save fuel through the motor taking care of start/stop functions, allowing the engine to be decoupled from the driveline, and the extra electricals taking over functions like air conditioning, to save the engine from working harder.

If PHEV is like a more powerful HEV, MHEV is sort of a HEV-lite.

These vehicles will mainly be zero-band dwellers, meaning they don’t cop a fee nor a rebate. Some will incur a small fee, however. It all depends on their CO2 emissions.

BEV – Battery Electric Vehicle

This one is easy. BEV, or more commonly just EV, equals ‘Battery Electric Vehicle’. These don’t have any combustion components at all and run entirely on electric power from big batteries mounted underneath the floor of the vehicle.

They can generally drive for around 400km, although some dip as low as 200km while some push above 600km. It really pays to research what EV you want, and what you want to use it for.

Every EV under the $80k cutoff gets an $8625 rebate.

FCEV – Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

FCEVs are a bit different, as you can’t really buy them here, but there are some floating around. It stands for ‘Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle’ and are basically BEVs that use hydrogen stored in an on-board tank to generate electricity for a smaller battery rather than using massive batteries to store power.

These shouldn’t be confused with cars that actually burn hydrogen in an ICE engine, which a number of manufacturers like Toyota and diesel engine specialist Cummins are working on, as they operate in quite different ways, despite using the same fuel.

FCEVs are better than BEVs in some ways, in that with the right infrastructure they offer the total freedom of an ICE vehicle, without the emissions, but that is also their biggest drawback – there are literally no places for the general public to refuel them here yet. Expect these to remain in the domain of heavy commercial transport for the near future at least.