For people who are new to Vivace REEV, please check this link: Vivace REEV. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Arcanox since Arcanox's hybrid powertrain inspired me to develop more hybrid powertrains for BeamNG. My desire to create hybrid powertrains stems from my daily interactions with many hybrid vehicles. I am Chinese and currently living in Mainland China. In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese automakers have been launching various plug-in hybrid electric vehicles with different kinds of hybrid powertrains. Among these hybrid systems, the series hybrid system, AKA 'range extended system', is quite popular. Many popular models have adopted this form of powertrain, such as the AITO (SERES & Huawei partnership brand) M-Series, the Li Auto (Lixiang 理想) One and L-Series. I have driven these models of vehicles since I first experienced Li Auto One in 2020, and I am impressed by these vehicles. Due to their complete reliance on electric motor drive, these cars exhibit very direct power response, resulting in rapid acceleration, smooth driving experience and excellent NVH performance. More importantly, these vehicles also perform well in terms of fuel efficiency. As a result, I'd like to recreate the series hybrid system in BeamNG, and finally Vivace REEV is made! Now, I'd like to introduce how this powertrain works. How this hybrid powertrain works. The following is a brief diagram of the entire system: The combustion engine is not mechanically connected to the wheels. It only drives the M/G motor to generate electricity. M/G is an electric motor directly connected to the combustion engine. This motor is driven by the engine to generate electricity. When starting the combustion engine, the M/G motor reversely drives the engine to start it. The other motors are mechanically connected to the wheels to drive the vehicle. The system have following states: EV State. When the battery's state of charge, AKA 'SOC', is high enough, the combustion engine will not work. The drive motors draw electrical energy from the battery to drive the vehicle. RE-low State. When the SOC is low, the combustion engine will start working, drive the M/G motor to generate electrical energy. When power demand is low, such as during a moderate-speed driving, the inverter distributes electrical energy as needed to the drive motor, with any excess energy being stored in the battery. RE-high State. When power demand is high, such as during overtaking or climbing slopes, the inverter also draws electrical energy from the battery. Regen State. When braking, the kinetic energy is recovered through the drive motors and stored in the battery. Engine-Starting State. When the combustion engine is needed, the M/G motor reversely drives the engine to reach the appropriate speed to ignite, making the fuel efficiency higher. The whole system is controlled by several lua scripts. Later I will make it clearer so that everyone can use it to create their own range extended vehicle. Why this hybrid powertrain eco-friendly? EV mode 0 emission. With a high capacity battery, you are able to only charge the vehicle and drive it as a EV. Engine runs within its high-efficient range. Since the combustion engine only runs to generate electrical energy, it will almost always operate within its high-efficient range, which means more energy from the fuel is converted to electrical energy which will be used to drive the vehicle. The energy efficiency of electric motors can exceed 90%. As a result, the fuel efficiency is higher than traditional vehicles. Regen. Kinect energy can be recycled.
