are the car batteries the same as non-hybrid cars? if it’s lithium batteries, why are there no charging ports like ev vehicles?
In: Engineering
So let’s start with a Prius. The ‘first’ hybrid. It uses a differential gear, like in your wheels, which is a gear that allows one input and two outputs. Ie an engine is the input and it can turn wheels at different speeds so the car can go around the corner. The Prius flips the differential around and two inputs with one output. Then there is one electric motor and one gas engine . Both can contribute to one output ( there still is a differential in the drive train).
Now, if you spin and electric motor with magnets you can generate electricity this means you can charge the battery by using the same electrical motor running without electricity. This is called regeneration or regen. So when the battery is empty the electric motor spins and regenerates electricity. Regen due to the law of thermodynamics is not as efficient as charging so some cars plug in to charge the high voltage battery faster.
More modern cars such as the Chevy volt and Honda hybrids use planetary gears in the transmission to switch and combine the motors to either discharge ( and provide power to the wheels) or charge ( regen either with the engine or by slowing the car down ie breaking). The larger high voltage battery such as 100v, 200v etc is used for the hybrid engine. The electronics are powered like other cars with a 12v system.
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