What are BEV, PHEV, And HEV Electric Cars? | Pros & Cons

As fuel prices continue to rise globally and the climate crisis continues, interest is growing in electric cars and hybrid vehicles for more economical and sustainable mobility.

With increased interest, several terms and abbreviations have emerged, such as BEV, PHEV, HEV, and FCEV, to express electric vehicle engines and “alternative fuel” engines that have replaced fuel or internal combustion engines (ICE), as they are called.

But what do these terms mean, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of engine?

Battery electric vehicles (BEV)

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs)/electric cars (also called fully electric) combine a large, high-voltage battery pack that sits under the car (usually 20 kW to 120 kWh) and one or more electric motors to propel the car.

The “fuel” in these cars is electricity obtained from any household socket, or from charging stations designated for electric cars. Vehicle batteries can be charged using alternating current (AC), which charges the battery at a slow speed, or using direct current (DC), which provides fast charging, which provides up to 350 kilowatts of ultra-fast power that can recharge some compatible electric models in less than 20 minutes. minute.

The driving range of fully electric vehicles (BEV) ranges between 200 km and 700 km in general, and varies depending on the manufacturer and model, and of course, the battery capacity and driving conditions.

BEVs are more expensive than equivalent ICE models due to the battery pack they include, which contains expensive metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt.

Despite this, the total running and ownership costs can be much cheaper than other engines depending on how much the driver uses the vehicle and the additional price difference paid for a BEV may eventually lead to it “breaking even” in costs with a similar ICE model. Many companies are developing battery packs with new technologies to reduce the initial cost.

Positives

• No exhaust emissions
• Theoretically better reliability and lower maintenance costs
• Easily charge at home overnight

Negatives

• The prices of these cars are currently higher than the prices of gasoline cars
• Public EV charging infrastructure cannot always be relied upon
• Among the most prominent BEV fully electric cars, we mention the famous small sedan from Tesla , the Tesla Model 3 , the Hyundai Ioniq 5 crossover from Hyundai, and the sports Porsche Taycan .

PHEV hybrid electric Vehicles

PHEVs (also marketed as “Plus EV” or “Plug-in EV” by some car brands) balance BEVs with ICEs by automatically switching between using a 10kWh battery To 20kWh with the electric motor when driving within the city or at low speeds, and the fuel engine for driving at high speeds.

PHEVs require filling the small battery and fuel tank, with electric charging limited to slow alternating current (AC) charging speeds of up to 7.6 kW depending on the model, meaning owners need to plug into a power socket or charging box to charge overnight.

The main benefit of PHEVs is longer driving distances than fully electric cars (BEVs), as the fuel engine is switched on when the battery charge is low to act as a generator that carries out the charging process in addition to, of course, propelling the car.

Positives

• Long driving range
• Most transportation can be relied upon solely on electric power

Negatives

• Heavy weight and need to combine two components of movement, traditional and electric
• Limited range for electric driving only
• Their prices can be comparable to BEVs
• Among the most prominent PHEV models are the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV , the Lexus NX 450h+ SUV, and the Mercedes S 580e.

HEV hybrid electric cars

Hybrid electric vehicles (or HEVs ) combine a fuel engine with a small battery to help improve fuel economy, reduce emissions and enhance driving power.

HEVs do not need to be plugged in and charged since they rely only on small batteries, and multiple braking while driving is enough to fully charge the battery for daily use. They are mostly based on the traditional combustion engine, so they come at a cheaper price than BEV and PHEV electric cars.

Positives

• Little additional cost compared to traditional ICE cars
• No need to charge
• Lower fuel consumption

Negatives

• It still relies on traditional fuel
• Electric driving is limited only to low-speed situations
• There are not many models except from some brands like Toyotas
• Among the most prominent HEV hybrid models, we mention the famous Toyota RAV4 and Lexus RX 350h

Other engine types

Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicles (MHEV): These cars use an electric motor to provide engine assistance during acceleration, enable the fuel engine to stop when it is not needed, and improve the engine stopping/starting processes to become smoother. MHEVs cannot be driven using the electric motor alone.

Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV): Fuel cell electric vehicles are seen as a zero-emissions alternative to BEVs, as they fuel up with hydrogen fuel in about five minutes to provide driving ranges similar to fuel cars.

Unfortunately, hydrogen models are much more expensive than BEV and hydrogen fuel pumps need to be re-pressurized for up to 20 minutes after servicing a few vehicles and are rarer than public electric charging pads.

E-fuel cars: Electric fuel for traditional internal combustion engines is manufactured through a nearly carbon-neutral production process by recovering and recycling its resulting emissions. But the manufacturing process is very inefficient and is only considered sustainable if it is fully powered by renewable energy, and car exhaust still emits some harmful emissions.