NEWS
Honda hybrids let off the chain
Three new petrol-electric drivetrains in the pipeline will introduce full EV mode at lastHonda is rolling out three new variations on the hybrid theme to replace its aging Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system. But a local introduction remains the best part of a year away at least, according to Honda Australia's Director and General Manager Sales and Marketing, Stephen Collins.
“No, no immediate plans for any of them in the Australian market. Possibly 2014, more likely 2015,” Mr Collins told motoring.com.au at this week’s launch of the IMA-powered Jazz Hybrid.
Of the three, the new drivetrain system likely to arrive here first is positioned at the junior end of the scale. Honda's single-motor Sport Hybrid i-DCD (Intelligent Dual Clutch Drive) package has been designed specifically for smaller vehicles, and it's the system likeliest to reach Australia ahead of the rest, simply because Honda doesn't offer larger hybrid models in the Australian market at present. An all-new 1.5-litre Atkinson-cycle four is coupled to a seven-speed DCT transmission with built-in “high-output” electric motor powered by a lithium-Ion battery. Honda claims efficiency improvements of more than 30 per cent against IMA systems of the kind it uses at the moment.
The i-DCD moniker refers to the transmission’s capacity to open the clutches when it detects the petrol engine isn’t needed. At higher speeds it harnesses the two in concert by reengaging the clutches. It also uses the clutches to disengage the engine during deceleration, placing the onus on the regen systems to absorb the momentum and convert the resulting friction into energy to top up the battery.
Unlike Honda's current mild-hybrid formula, the single-motor system is capable of full electric drive from standing start as well as low- to medium-speed rolling starts. Honda has made no announcements as to where it will turn up, but it’s considered likely to replace the 15 year-old Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) formula currently used in models like the Insight, the Civic and Jazz Hybrid models and the CR-Z.
Mid-level is the twin electric motor unit Honda dubs its “Intelligent Multi Mode Drive/Plug-in” system. By the company’s reckoning, this package “realises the world's highest efficiency”. It combines a 2.0-litre Atkinson cycle four with two electric motors and a CVT.
Drawing power for the motors from Li-ion battery packs of different sizes for standard and plug-in hybrid variants, it’s designed to shift between three different drive modes according to conditions, battery charge level and driver demands.
Capable of all-electric drive from standstill and good for up to 25km before it calls on the petrol engine for assistance, the twin-motor system shifts to pure-petrol mode for medium-to high-speed cruising, uniquely deploying a lock-up clutch in a direct-drive configuration. The electric motors kick in during low-demand urban driving and to add muscle in kickdown moments.
This system has made an appearance in the US, in the recently launched 2014 Honda Accord Plug-in. It will reappear mid-year in the standard (non plug-in) Accord Hybrid.
On top of the heap sits the triple-motor hybrid interpretation of Honda’s “Super Handling – All Wheel Drive” (SH-AWD). Honda’s used the name before, but this is an all-new iteration of the technology. It hitches up a new, direct-injected 3.5-litre V6 to a seven-speed DCT with an inbuilt electric motor up front, with twin electric motors set astern delivering independently variable torque to the rear wheels. Honda claims V8 performance – 276kW/609Nm – with fuel efficiency “better than that of an inline four-cylinder engine”. It’s on its way this and next year in high-end fare like the NSX – the reprise of Japan’s first supercar and its RL-X flagship sedan.
Honda is often taken to task for dragging its feet in the hybrid segment, but the new engines provide evidence they’ve not been idle at Earth Dreams HQ.
Although the company is yet to announce more radical “sports hybrid” packages for volume models like the Fit/Jazz and Civic Hybrids, Insight and CR-Z, early indications are that the base Sport Hybrid i-DCD drivetrain might take the initiative away from Toyota and other rivals in the hybrid sector.
Honda was first to market with a hybrid drive system in 1999, its oddball first-gen Insight beating Toyota’s Prius to market by seven months. But it has remained the also-ran ever since – by the time it announced a million hybrids sold worldwide in October 2012, Toyota had sold more than 4.5 million.
But with the three new variations on the hybrid theme in the offing under the “Earth Dreams – Sport Hybrid” banner, it looks like Honda might be finding its feet.
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Written byJeremy Bass
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