We explain what is a mild hybrid vehicle or MHEV
The mild hybrid vehicle has been in our market on sale since the arrival of the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius decades ago. Both Honda and Toyota have been delivering mild hybrids to Malaysian showrooms for decades and without any ownership issues.
The system saves fuel, needs to ‘plug-in’ to charge the battery and resale values maintain good as these are relatively trouble-free vehicles with reliable technology.
So, a mild hybrid refers to a vehicle with an internal combustion engine (ICE) which is powered by a petrol or even maybe a diesel engine and it is supported by a small electric drive system.
The electric motor recovers braking energy (“recuperation”) and makes it available later as additional drive power to reduce overall fuel consumption.
So, a mild hybrid has a small electric generator instead of a traditional starter motor and alternator (the device that keeps the 12-volt battery charged), plus a small lithium-ion battery (that does not cost too much to replace (in a Toyota Prius (Lexus CT200) its about RM7,500 including installation and about the same RM7,500 or so for a Honda CR-Z hybrid).
In contrast to a full hybrid or an electric car, a mild hybrid can be driven in purely electric mode only to a limited driving distance and so it is best in heavy traffic commuting when you are crawling along.
There are also some mild hybrids operating on 12V. In most cases, therefore, a more powerful 48V machine is used, which recuperates more energy and thus also reduces fuel consumption to a greater extent. Experts, therefore, often use the terms “mild hybrid” and “48V” interchangeably.
Thanks to significantly reduced consumption, mild hybrids are a better solution not just for the environment, but also for the driver’s budget: Over a lifetime of 150,000 km, for example, the 48V Boost Recuperation Machine saves over 1,500 liters of fuel compared with a conventional combustion engine. This translates into around 4 tons less CO2 emissions.
An electric car is not an option for everyone today. Reasons for this could be a lot of long-distance driving or the lack of a sufficient local charging infrastructure.
In this case, 48V hybrids are a practical solution that minimizes the climate burden and makes driving yet easier over time and resale values are much better over electric cars.
