Buick GL8 may never have dreamed that its position in the domestic MPV field would be the first to be impacted by new energy vehicles. And for Buick itself, the mid-to-high-end positioning of Buick GL8, as well as the current market situation, are still undoubtedly the pillar of the brand. Therefore, the new Buick GL8 in the near future can be called the hope of the whole village. In addition to striving for more luxury and atmosphere, the new Buick GL8 also has the sound of offering a PHEV version. Fighting new energy with new energy, the idea is fine, but what about strength?
The first question that needs to be answered is, is there a possibility that the Buick GL8 will be electrified? The answer is yes, the current Buick GL8 is already equipped with a 48V mild hybrid system. So will Buick be similar to European car companies, standing on the basis of 48V mild hybrid, to launch PHEV technology with P2 architecture? Even if there is no real hammer for the new car yet, the possibility of this is almost zero. Because most American cars represented by Buick have stayed in the P0 position for a long time on the technology tree of 48V mild hybrid motors. Judging from the later development trajectory, including Buick, there is no trend of ISG motors that are integrated with the gearbox. In the general direction, they are more willing to adopt the parallel strategy of fuel vehicles and pure electric vehicles.
So where does the PHEV technology of the Buick GL8 come from? The answer lies in yourself. After all, the U.S. car's attempts at hybridization can even be traced back more than 20 years. Just like the HEV power produced by Ford, the brother next door, the source can be traced back to the cooperation between Ford and Toyota. From a technical point of view, this is a power splitting scheme. And General Motors, the car behind Buick, was also the power shunt route chosen in the development of hybrid technology back then. Just in order to bypass Toyota's technical barriers, as well as the input power diversion of single planetary gears, and the internal friction in high-speed scenarios (at that time, Toyota had not been able to push back the power internal consumption speed node of high-speed endurance to a level other than "regulatory restrictions"), General Motors finally chose to add a set of planetary gear structures.
What are the advantages of double planetary gear structure? First of all, it is natural to bypass the technological conflict with Toyota. The two sets of planetary structures are then able to provide greater power-carrying redundancy, laying the foundation for performance potential. Finally, and the point most closely related to today's topic, two sets of planetary gears can greatly reduce the power internal friction between the two motors through the mechanical structure at high speeds. This lays the foundation for the efficiency of the entire hybrid system, and is one of the core theories that Buick can advance PHEV technology.
To put it simply, although Toyota can postpone the speed node of internal friction, it cannot ** the relative inefficiency of the entire HEV system in the medium and high speed state. Therefore, at high speeds, Toyota's hybrid technology is more willing to use fuel power to solve the problem. Therefore, the system increment brought by a large battery is limited. Toyota itself has only scratched the surface of PHEVs, while Ford, which is on the same road, has basically no such considerations. Back to GM's side, with the blessing of the double planetary gear composite power shunt mode. The energy consumption performance of medium and high speed is one of its major advantages, and it can also bring more increments to the vehicle when it comes to PHEV technology solutions with large batteries.
Seeing this, everyone may ask, since Buick has such inventory, why didn't it use it earlier? Since technology has advantages, it is clear that there will also be limitations. In this part, we will talk about what kind of product features the new Buick GL8 will have if it launches PHEV technology. Let's jump to the conclusion first: I've been to the new Buick GL8 to launch a PHEV version, so there is a high probability that it may be a 1The 5T turbocharged engine adopts a power-split mode (without a multi-gear gearbox in the traditional sense), and the overall performance is not too outstanding (or on par with the current 2.).0T version), and at the same time, there is a potential product with the same price of oil and electricity.
First of all, explain a question, why it is charged, and it is a deeply charged form of PHEV, but the performance will not be significantly enhanced. Because of the common power shunt technology, a coaxial motor layout is used. That is, on the premise of a transverse platform, the engine and two motors are coaxially arranged. In this way, both motor power and engine displacement will be limited. Taking the Buick Micro Blue 6 with plug-in hybrid technology as an example, as a standard-sized A-class car, its internal combustion engine part uses only one 15L naturally aspirated power, the total power of the motor is only 131KW. On the basis of the power shunt mode, the power output of oil and electricity cannot be simply added. The maximum system power of the Buick Micro Blue 6 plug-in hybrid version is 135kW, which can only be said to be decent from the perspective of new energy vehicles.
Of course, the body size of the Buick GL8, as well as the use scenario, determines that its power system will not be too subtle. Refer to Buick's 1The 5-liter engine can also provide a maximum power of 124kW. Coupled with the blessing of two motors, compared with the Buick GL8 with a 48V mild hybrid system and a maximum power of 174kW. The characteristics of the motor, as well as the lack of gear switching, may result in a better low- and medium-speed experience. In terms of high-speed cruise, due to the application of composite power shunt technology, the motor can also provide a more efficient performance supplement to the engine. Therefore, in the face of the reputation of the fuel version of the Buick GL8 running at high speed, the plug-in hybrid version should try its best to match its performance. Of course, the most important part is the energy consumption part, or will completely take off the hat of "oil tiger", so as to open up the potential of more ordinary household markets.
As for the possibility of switching to a parallel shaft layout for the all-new Buick GL8 with plug-in hybrids, further unlocking the performance potential of the two motors? It shouldn't be very likely. First of all, in terms of technology, the scheme of double planetary gear structure and composite power shunt mode is adopted, although there is no gear switching in the traditional sense, but the clutch structure is still retained inside. The advantage, of course, is as mentioned above, that it can cover the high efficiency of low speed and medium and high speed in all scenarios (or even better efficiency in medium and high speed). The disadvantage is naturally that the structure is too complex, and at this time, I still want to find a way to make a parallel shaft structure, which may have a good impact on durability, not to mention that for MPV models, zero hundred acceleration in the absolute sense is not the core demand. At this stage, the official Buick GL8 000 acceleration is also 9 seconds away, but performance has never been an obstacle to its reputation. Even in the context of new energy, as long as it is not a miracle by adding a motor to the rear axle, in fact, the plug-in hybrid MPV of the same level mostly hovers at the level of about 9 seconds.
For the potential new Buick GL8 plug-in hybrid version, it is better to put more attention on "the same price of gasoline and electricity". After all, it is objectively difficult to maintain 2In the case of 0t, as long as the battery capacity is graded, the final is the same as 2The 0t fuel version is close in price and should still be relatively easy to operate. In the end, it can give potential users an equal choice, or it will try its best to maintain the needs of traditional business and business, and cater to more family users who are snatched away by new energy and even new power brands.