[Santa]

Hyundai seems to be on a roll when it comes to power train options for one model. The Ioniq has three powertrain options as does the Kia Niro. For all we know, the Santa Cruz could come in hybrid form in the future or PHEV. What do you guys think?

 

[Santana]

i would like to see them come out with a Hybrid Pick-Up and if that happens odds are it will be in line with what other car makers have planned. Already Ford has plans for an F150 Hybrid due around 2020.

 

[Santa]

That would be ideal, especially for petrol powered pickups because of the extra torque it provides. More redundant with diesels but it will still save on gas. Hyundai seems to be well versed in offering various powertrain options on one platform. Just need to look at the Ioniq.

 

[Morrison]

If they actually plan on bringing this concept to market, I think that will be an ingenious way to separate themselves from the segment leaders. My only concern with going full electric is it may be difficult to find a balance between weight and range capacity. I can almost guarantee that there will be a hybrid model, as this seems to be the next step for every pickup atm.

 

[don4331]

GMC has had a hybrid pickup out in California for couple years already and it is now available nation wide.

RAM announced their '19 hybrid pickup at NAIAS a month ago.

As noted, Ford will have their hybrid our in '20.

Hyundai continues to be day late and dollar short. They now have to have a hybrid just to get into game.

 

[Santa]

Hyundai is taking their time on the Santa Cruz and concentration their efforts in bread and butter segments, which is understandable but stinks for those of us who were interested in getting a Santa Cruz. To stand out, Hyundai will need to release a hybrid pickup since everyone else is doing it and maybe make it available right when it's released.

 

[Morrison]

It would make sense for them to delay the initial release, to fall in line with when their competitors release their hybrid pickup variants. They should wait to see what exactly is missing from the segment, so they can more easily differentiate themselves. That being said they don't want to wait too long as it looks like Nissan has interest in a Raptor rival.

 

[BeelineS82]

Don't think so upfront..

 

[MontanaEd]

I have to put this out there. Hyundai needs to do a plug in hybrid version. For the target audience of this vehicle driving around town with 35-40 miles of all electric range, then the ability to get out of town and away from charging infrastructure just makes sense.

 

[Robin_Adee]

I'd be interested in an all-electric version. As long as it had 250 miles range at a very minimum and they kept the price to about $35K.

The Alpha Wolf would fit the bill for me if it could deliver on the price and specs the company is touting. But from what I can tell it's just vaporware at this point.

WOLF — Alpha Motor Corporation

www.alphamotorinc.com

 

[MontanaEd]

I'd be interested in an all-electric version. As long as it had 250 miles range at a very minimum and they kept the price to about $35K.

The Alpha Wolf would fit the bill for me if it could deliver on the price and specs the company is touting. But from what I can tell it's just vaporware at this point.

WOLF — Alpha Motor Corporation

www.alphamotorinc.com

Yeah, the Alpha Wolf looks cool. Their website says there will be a more street oriented version, assumabley at a lower price point. But, I will believe that when I see it. Lordstown Motors just failed to pay the property taxes on their facility. They actually had some prototypes running and were attracting commercial interest. Sadly, I think a bunch of the electric start ups are not going to make it. Even Rivian needs to get some product on the road or they are going to get passes by by the electric F-150 or Tesla's cyber truck.

 

[Robin_Adee]

Yeah, the Alpha Wolf looks cool. Their website says there will be a more street oriented version, assumabley at a lower price point. But, I will believe that when I see it. Lordstown Motors just failed to pay the property taxes on their facility. They actually had some prototypes running and were attracting commercial interest. Sadly, I think a bunch of the electric start ups are not going to make it. Even Rivian needs to get some product on the road or they are going to get passes by by the electric F-150 or Tesla's cyber truck.

Yeah, it might be akin to the first half of the 1900s, when a lot of car companies sprung up for a couple years before going bust or being absorbed into another company. Eventually there'll be a handful of companies delivering a vast majority of units--some of them we probably haven't heard of yet.

Lordstown might be an anomaly. From what little I've heard about them, it seems like they've been up to some shady practices, so if they go bust it might be due more to corruption than the market itself. I hope they make it, because the trucks they're trying to build look good.

 

[ToadVine]

For anything more than day trips, 400 miles is probably the minimum range required.

 

[MontanaEd]

For anything more than day trips, 400 miles is probably the minimum range required.

I think that depends on where you are and where you want to go. If you are in LA and want to go to Tahoe for the weekend, the charging infrastructure is there. You don't need that much range. If you are in Billings, MT and want to go to Missoula, MT or Great Falls, MT (about half way across the state), You better plan your charging stops carefully because even 400 miles of range may not cut it. Chargers are few and far between. But really that is just an argument for a PHEV. Electricity around town, gas for longer trips.

 

[JMII]

I would not be surprised to see a hybrid version in the future. Since this is an entirely new vehicle class (and market) for Hyundai they likely want to see strong sales before offering a more expensive and complex hybrid SC.

Also the weight of the batteries will remove payload and towing capacity. I posted before I believe the marketing team likely bet most owners are looking more at hauling for camping, biking, etc vs pure fuel savings. When compared to your typical "truck" the SC should get impressively MPG without any hybrid tricks.

As for range - in commuter duty even just going 40 miles on electrons only will cut your use of dino juice massively if you can charge at home and/or work. My brother had a Cayanne Hybrid and it got 70 to 110 MPG when used around town since 90% of trips could be done in electric only mode.

 

[HSC4ME]

I have to put this out there. Hyundai needs to do a plug in hybrid version. For the target audience of this vehicle driving around town with 35-40 miles of all electric range, then the ability to get out of town and away from charging infrastructure just makes sense.

^^ THIS ^^

IMHO the Chevy Volt got the combination right, although more all electric range would always be better. The new CEO of GM made a big mistake cancelling that without a replacement day one (the Bolt just doesn't cut it). Rumors of a SUV Volt plugin hybrid with 50-75 mile electric range are out there, but nothing concrete so far.

Zero interest in any ALL electric vehicle here. PHEV is the best compromise in my opinion.

 

[JASmith]

One thing that a lot of people forget to take into account thinking PHEVs are the best of both worlds is to look at how the power is split between electric and gasoline.

If you have a 200hp gasoline engine and a 60hp electric motor on your PHEV, it doesn't matter if they put a big enough battery to give you 100 miles of electric range, the added weight of the battery and electric motor on top of the weight of the ICE means that 60hp is going to feel painfully slow for everything short of hitting cruise control and maintaining speed. You're not going to be able to drive around at a normal clip in the city on just that little power for so much weight.

The other factor is that one of the hardest things you can do to an ICE is to run it for such short periods of time that it never gets up to ideal operating temperature. With a PHEV if the ICE is only occasionally turning on and running on electric for most of the trip, it may never even get up to temp.

So that's why I believe that a lightweight motor and lightweight battery in a regular hybrid is usually going to be better than a plugin hybrid w/ a heavy space consuming big battery that advertises all electric range capability, because the regular tiny battery hybrid is going to give you the benefit of regenerative braking and aids stop/start at stoplights and what not reducing idling but without the big weight, performance (when not running both in parallel), and reliability penalty of PHEV.

tl;dr: I think pure EV or mild hybridization (aka regular hybrid) are the better options over most PHEV.

 

[HSC4ME]

That makes sense. The biggest advantage I see in PHEV is that you don't use the gas engine at all in your short weekday routine or work commute; giving clean in city operation. The gas motor only fires up when you take that longer trip.

What a lot of environmental oriented people don't understand is Hybrid, PHEV and EV are all cleaner while operating, but dirtier while producing. In effect, the production and operation pollution is simply "exported" to a different location and time.

I'm a fan of traditional proven MPI with SHIFTRONIC/STEPTRONIC automatic transmissions. I'm hoping that the new GDI+MPI technology proves to be as reliable.

I have years of experience with lithium ion battery electric bikes. I used them as a physical therapy exercise program after a major surgery (hate indoor exercise). So happy to be back in 100% human peddle mode now. Just plugging in to insure the batteries are always charged up seemed to be a major hassle, and the day you forget you are SOL. Any widespread acceptance of plugin electrics has to address this issue and make the charging process automatic.

No lithium ion battery vehicles for me yet, but who knows what the far out future will bring?

 

[JASmith]

That makes sense. The biggest advantage I see in PHEV is that you don't use the gas engine at all in your short weekday routine or work commute; giving clean in city operation. The gas motor only fires up when you take that longer trip.

That would also work as long as they just put a relatively tiny ICE on it, which is what vehicles like the BMW i3 did where it only has to lug around a tiny 33hp scooter engine and small 2 gallon pressurized fuel tank... which is another point I forgot to mention, if you're going to run electric most of the time, a regular fuel tank won't cut it as fuel will end up going bad especially since ethanol they put in our gas reduces shelf life considerably.

Most PHEVs are not like that though, yet consumers often think they can just use them like EVs most of the time. The Volt was close to that concept, but its dead. Only remaining one like that I think is the Honda Clarity which has a 180hp electric motor and a wimpy 100hp gasoline engine.

What a lot of environmental oriented people don't understand is Hybrid, PHEV and EV are all cleaner while operating, but dirtier while producing. In effect, the production and operation pollution is simply "exported" to a different location and time.

Yeah, but still a good compromise for some locations like Mexico City that have geographical issues and high temperatures that trap smog at ground level where everyone is and doesn't go anywhere. Go nuclear or build the power plant on the outskirts of the city downwind and you're good.

I don't have any electric vehicles yet as I think the tech is too immature, but I did convert over all my landscaping equipment to all electric: mower, blower, pole saw, chain saw, edger, hedge, the whole works Electric seems the best solution the smaller the application, so assisted bicycle makes sense whereas EV truck not really until we get better battery technology.

 

[ToadVine]

I can already foresee YouTube DIY videos showing Santa Cruz EV owners how to mount small Honda portable generators in the truck bed for charging while they drive to extend the range. These will be followed by ready-made after-market plug-n-play versions available on Ebay.

In the present political climate, the Laws of Thermodynamics should soon be repealed, allowing entrepeneurs to get rich quick selling small, portable wind turbines to mount on the roof, so that their EVs are given infinite range -- the faster they go, the faster they recharge the batteries! (Perhaps, they will name the company "Solyndra.")