Carmakers have turned towards range-extension powertrains.
In a bid to bridge the gap between internal combustion engines and pure electric vehicles but do not expect GWM to drive down that path as the Chinese company compares it to ‘cutting corners’ and not aligning with their goals.
Great Wall Motors President Mu Feng clarified that bit about the company’s technical direction during the global launch of its new modular GWM One platform that will carry it into the future.
He explained that range-extenders do not present a meaningful technical barrier and in fact brings more disadvantages than advantages when compared to direct-drive solutions, going so far as to vow the company will “never produce range-extended electric vehicles.”
Range extenders use an internal combustion engine as a generator to produce electricity. In some setups, it directly charges the battery and does not drive the wheels. Other setups sees the engine being able to directly drive the wheels if necessary.
Mu Feng said that the electricity generated will have to pass through multiple systems and transformations that possibly see if converted into mechanical energy before eventually being converted back into electricity, its original form, to drive the wheel.
He stated that the multiple levels of conversion resulted in layered efficiency losses, especially at medium- and high-speed operation.
According to GWM’s internal testing, range extension systems were shown to be at least 13% less efficient than their own direct-drive powertrains.
This prompted the ‘corner cutting’ comparison as to them, it represented a ‘compromise on the essence of mobility.’
