Workhorse BEVx pickup truck launched in the US

cros13

http://workhorse.com/pickup/

So Workhorse have finally launched their BEVx (extended range BEV) pickup truck in the US.

340kW motor power
Dual motor AWD
0-100km/h in 5.6 seconds
130km BEV range (500km inc extender)
Power Export function for powering tools etc. (7.2kW)
1000kg bed capacity with towing
2250kg towing

goz83

Would it not be classed a a PHEV? It has an ICE....even though the range of the EV is 80 miles

cros13

Well it's technically a long range plug-in series hybrid. The combustion engine never drives the wheels and in day to day use will probably rarely/never be used.

I'm not quite comfortable putting a vehicle with a 60kWh battery and 340kW of purely electric motors driving the wheels in the same category as an outlander or 330e.

The range is given with a full load.

zilog_jones

I think more generally, a PHEV refers to parallel or series-parallel (or power split) plug-in hybrids. "BEVx" is CARB (California Air Resources Board) terminology for a "range-extended battery-electric vehicle" like this truck and the BMW i3 REx - they classify PHEVs separately from these.

Personally I would consider BEVx as a different thing from a PHEV similarly. With a PHEV you could just rely on the petrol engine and it will drive like a normal petrol hybrid (more or less). With a BEVx you're in for a bad time if you're relying just on the ICE as they're not going to return particularly great fuel economy - it should be treated more as a backup power source.

cros13

Yeah... though the official BEVx classification also requires the fuel tank of the combustion range extender to give less range than the main battery which is the requirement the i3 was designed against.

goz83

I don't understand. Aside from the truck in the op having more EV only range, I don't see the fundamental difference between it and the likes of the outlander, which also uses the combustion engine to power the electric motor and give more range. I don't see how it's not a phev.

BoatMad

A hybrid traditionally is a car where both engines have mechanical linkages to the drive train

A range extender is not a hybrid , no more then putting a petrol generator in the boot of a leaf suddenly makes it a hybrid.

cros13

very different

The Outlander is a combustion vehicle with a short range low power EV mode that until recently didn't even have a way to force it not to use the combustion engine if you pushed the accelerator too hard.

The Workhorse is a BEV with a tiny generator on it's back which has no mechanical connection to the drivetrain. The generator is not able to supply more than 20% of the peak power output of the motors at it's highest output.

Vehicle|Workhorse W-15|Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
Combustion engine mechanically connected to driveshaft|No|Yes
Battery Capacity|60 kWh|12 kWh
Electric motor combined output|340 kW|80 kW
Kerb Weight|3270kg|1860kg