Testing, testing
ILLYA VERPRAET
Was Mazda’s MX-30 R-EV a REx or a PHEV? It didn’t really matter
PHEV, MHEV, Super Hybrid, REx, REEV, DM-i, EM-i… the list of brand-specific names for various hybrid powertrains goes on. Manufacturers can call their cars whatever they like, of course, but the prevailing nomenclature for hybrids is unhelpfully untransparent.
Much of it is nonsense as well: ‘MHEV’ stands for ‘mild hybrid electric vehicle’ yet is often applied to a petrol or diesel car with a beefy starter motor. The technology may very well be useful to reduce fuel consumption, but mild hybrids are electric vehicles in much the same way that a person wearing roller skates is a train.
Given that we have reviewed a couple of novel hybrids lately, it’s a good time to take a whistle-stop tour of how Autocar sees the hybrid world.