Proton’s first production hybrid vehicle will be launched this year, researchers report based on Proton’s major shareholder DRB-HICOM analyst press conference on March 2. This report, the Proton X90 will be a mild hybrid vehicle (MHEV).
The MHEV hybrid system is expected to be a 48V 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine + engine combination producing 190 hp at 5,500 rpm and 300 Nm of torque from 1,500-4,000 rpm. / min, higher than the non-hybrid version with a capacity of 177 horsepower, torque of 255 Nm. of the engine.
We speculated that this would happen based on two reasons. First, the Proton was show this engine at Proton’s Center of Excellence showroom in Shah Alam in November 2021. Second, this engine was used by the Proton X90’s ‘brother’, the left-hand drive Geely Okavango in the Philippines market. .
How does the Proton X90’s 48V hybrid system work?
The system takes the usual 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbocharged engine and adds some extra components to it. The hybrid system can deliver 13 PS and 45 Nm of torque, which is what brings the 177 PS and 255 Nm figures of the non-hybrid up to 190 PS and 300 Nm in the hybrid.
Electrical support in this system is provided by the BSG, or Belt-Driven Starter Generator. It is basically an extremely powerful generator that can be used to provide some power to an engine.
Unlike other more complex hybrid systems that clamp the engine between the engine and the transmission, the BSG delivers power through a belt, which is connected to the crank. It runs on a 48V electrical system, powered by a 48V battery.
BSG will also be able to charge this 48V battery by recovering brake energy and turning it into electricity. This is the only way to charge the battery because there is no outlet for external charging.
There’s also a 48V to 12V DC to DC converter in the system, so the 48V system can power a car’s regular 12V system, which runs everything else like air conditioning. gas and lights.
Since it’s called a ‘light’ hybrid system, the possibilities are also modest. The Proton X90’s BSG hybrid engine will not be able to power the car in all-electric drive mode like other advanced systems such as Honda’s e:HEV system or Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system.
What it can do is allow the Proton X90 hybrid to have extended shutdown times at speeds below 15 km/h, such as when stopped. The 13hp and 45Nm also come into play when you’re accelerating from a stop or even on the go to overtake, providing extra torque when you need it most. The Proton X90 can also slow down at highway speeds with the engine off and the transmission disconnected.
48V hybrid systems are trending up these days, for example this is actually more common in showrooms than you might think, but they are no longer marketed as hybrids because of the industry. Industry has moved to use this term only for more powerful hybrid systems.
If every 48V hybrid engine was marketed as a hybrid in first world countries, there would be no more non-hybrid engines on sale, especially in the last 2-3 years. For example, both the M254 W206 engine of the C200 and the C300 of the Malaysian market use a 48V hybrid system with BSG.
Are you excited when Proton’s first 48V hybrid hits showrooms? Or are you more adventurous and waiting for a plug-in hybrid like Volvo’s T8 hybrid? Let us know in the comments section.
LIBRARY: Proton X90 spy shots 2023
GALLERY: Geely Haoyue/Okavango
