Is the 48V mild hybrid system a "tax on IQ"?

When it comes to hybrids, many people will think of Toyota's hybrids, or BYD's plug-in hybrids. There is no way, these two hybrids are too well-known in the market, the former has excellent fuel-saving effects, and the latter is fuel-saving and comes with a green license plate.

However, when everyone carefully understands the new cars launched on the market recently, they will find that more and more new models on the car market are equipped with 48V mild hybrid systems. Seeing this, many netizens began to wonder, what is 48V mild hybrid, is it a "IQ tax"? Today, Jiang Ge will talk to you about this hybrid system.

1. What is 48V mild hybrid?

48V hybrid is also called Mild Hybrid, which is an upgrade of 12V electrical system. It is mainly composed of BSG (engine belt driven motor) or ISG (integrated starter motor) + 48V battery + DC/DC (converter). It is worth mentioning that the 48V mild hybrid system does not completely cancel the traditional 12V electrical system, but continues to retain the previous 12V system.

2.How is it different from mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid?

After reading the introduction of 48V mild hybrid, many netizens may say: they are all hybrids, so this 48V mild hybrid should be no different from the mild hybrid promoted by Japanese brands and the plug-in hybrid promoted by domestic brands? This is a big mistake. Compared with mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid, 48V mild hybrid is not at the same level.

The 48V mild hybrid mainly stores the energy recovered during braking and helps the engine during starting and acceleration. The mild hybrid represented by Toyota THS II adjusts the engine's operating point to make the engine run in the high-efficiency range, consuming less fuel while the energy required for driving remains unchanged.

As for plug-in hybrids represented by BYD, although they cannot adjust the engine speed and can only adjust the engine output torque to a certain extent, it is difficult to ensure the working conditions of the engine. However, they directly use electric motors to replace the engine, consuming the power stored in the battery to drive the vehicle forward, and in pure electric conditions, they can even reduce fuel consumption directly to 0.

Therefore, 48V mild hybrid and light hybrid and plug-in hybrid are still very different in principle. The most intuitive difference in principle is that the fuel saving effect is worse.

3. Which cars are using 48V mild hybrid?

New energy is a big trend. Since the fuel-saving effect is worse than the other two hybrids, does it mean that there will be few models equipped with 48V mild hybrid? In theory, it should be like this, but when Jiang Ge looked up the installation of 48V mild hybrid, he found that there are actually quite a few models on the market that use this technology, and some of them are very popular, such as Mercedes-Benz C-Class, E-Class, Audi A6L, Geely Boyue, etc.

Although there don't seem to be many brands using this technology at present, judging from the fact that Volkswagen will equip its future new fuel vehicles with 48V mild hybrid as standard, BMW will promote 48V mild hybrid across its entire series, and Korean overseas models will be equipped with 48V mild hybrid, the little-known 48V mild hybrid has already shown signs of spreading rapidly.

4. Why will the 48V mild hybrid system become the mainstream trend?

Seeing this, some people will ask, why can 48V mild hybrid become the mainstream trend when the effect is not as good as mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid? This mainly involves the increasingly stringent emission standards and cost issues. I believe everyone can understand the increasingly stringent emission standards. After all, the reduction of large displacement and the full implementation of the National VI emission standards have clearly told everyone that the fuel consumption level of automobiles must continue to decrease.

But reducing fuel consumption is not something that can be achieved by just thinking about it, it also depends on "money power". For example, Japanese hybrids, in addition to saving fuel, the price of the car has increased by 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. Plug-in hybrids that can get green license plates are generally at least 50,000 yuan more expensive than the original car. But 48V mild hybrids only cost about 5,000 yuan (some are only 3,000 yuan). The price difference is so obvious that not only manufacturers, but even consumers would rather choose 48V mild hybrids than mild hybrid plug-in hybrids.

As for the advantages that many manufacturers have touted, 48V mild hybrid can effectively improve starting smoothness and ensure the normal use of in-car electrical appliances, it does exist. However, these effects are not as great as imagined. The power system composed of 1.5T+48V mild hybrid is always inferior to the excellent 2.0T engine.

Although 48V mild hybrid is gradually becoming the mainstream trend, it is not necessary for everyone to have 48V mild hybrid. After all, after adding this technology, the price of the car and the cost of subsequent maintenance will inevitably increase. Of course, it would be great if 48V mild hybrid can be added without increasing the price or quantity.