A plug-in that relieves range anxiety
In electric mode, tires chirp and the sedan zips through its six gears like a race car
SAN DIEGO, CALIF.— Are you thinking of an electric car, but worried you’ll run out of battery power and be stranded?
You’re not alone. It’s called “range anxiety” and it’s the reason plug-in hybrids appeal to buyers.
A plug-in hybrid can be plugged in to a household electrical supply to charge its battery enough for a daily commute. When that battery drains, it reverts to being a hybrid-powered vehicle, using a regular gasoline engine.
Hyundai will sell its first plug-in vehicle later this summer — the Sonata Plug-in Hybrid. Pricing is not yet announced for either it or the regular Sonata Hybrid, but it’s expected to sell for about $6,000 to $7,000 above the price of the top-end Hybrid. This means it will probably cost about $42,000.
It may be eligible for a government rebate, depending on which province you live in. Its 9.8 kWh lithiumpolymer battery pack is just below the 10 kWh demanded by Quebec to be subsidized as an all-electric vehicle, but Hyundai hopes there may be some wiggle room in the recognition.
That battery pack gives the plug-in Sonata a pure electric range of about 39 km. It can be recharged in three hours at a 240V power point, or less than nine hours at a regular 120V outlet.
Unlike standard hybrids, which will drive on pure electric only for a very short distance or under coasting conditions, a plug-in is a completely electric vehicle and will drive silent and strong while it has battery power, with no emissions.
The Sonata Plug-in Hybrid can be set with the press of a button to allelectric, hybrid or charge. “All-electric” will ensure the gas engine does not activate until the battery is at 15 per cent of its charge. “Hybrid” will allow the car to use both engines, saving its pure-electric use for when it’s really needed, such as in traffic on the Don Valley Parkway.
“Charge” will divert some power from the gas engine to regenerate the main battery, and can completely recharge a flat main battery in less than an hour. It uses some extra gas to do so, but it means a driver can leave home in Kitchener driving on only electric power through the city, switch to “charge” on Hwy. 401, then resume driving on electric power once in Toronto’s congested traffic.
Theoretically, a plug-in hybrid is best for a driver who commutes primarily into the city and can recharge at work if necessary, but who can also take the car to the cottage or greater distances on weekends.
In Canada, the only real competition among mid-sized sedans is the Ford Fusion Energi Plug-in Hybrid, which retails for $38,449 and up. It has slightly less all-electric range, running for 32 kilometres before the gas engine kicks in. The Ford C-Max and Toyota Prius equivalents are smaller cars.
Hyundai’s plug-in Sonata has the same trim level as the fully-loaded version of the hybrid. The company believes a buyer willing to spend ex- tra on an electric car will want as premium a vehicle as possible.
Only a few dealers can service electric cars, but the choice is growing steadily. The technology may be costly and difficult to justify on price while gas is cheaper, but it’s not going away. The future is now.
Inside, the car feels just like the regular Sonata sedan it looks like, though it’s the high-end version with an eight-inch central display, HID headlights and ventilated seats.
But when you step on the gas — well, there is no gas, not while the car is in electric mode. It’s a 50 kW motor that makes maximum torque right from standstill, so the tires will chirp against the asphalt and the Sonata will zip through its six gears like a race car. Maximum speed in allelectric mode is 120 km/h.
No other electric car has an automatic transmission. They all have a Continuously Variable Transmission so it’s like driving a fast golf cart with a single gear. The Sonata Plugin Hybrid, however, is like driving a fast electric-powered Sonata.
It’s not completely silent. There are small external speakers that make a slight rumbling noise so pedestrians can hear it coming. Otherwise, the only sound is from the tires rolling against the road.
Although it’s very different under the hood, there are only a few discreet differences to be seen compared to the regular hybrid Sonata. There’s no panoramic sunroof, for example, because the glass is heavy and extra weight saps electricity.
There are no adjustable rear head restraints, because there’s an extra battery against the back of the rear seat. This decreases the cargo space by 100 litres to 280 litres, but this is still almost 50 litres greater than the Ford Fusion Energi. Another part of the Sonata’s battery is tucked down in the wheel well.
I drove a portion of this route last year in the all-electric Kia Soul. In that smaller car, I watched the central readout of the vehicle’s range tick down as we drove to the destination, finally arriving with just eight kilometres of power left from a 120-kilo- metre drive. In the Hyundai Sonata Plug-in Hybrid, I did the exact same thing, watching the electric range decrease as we passed charging stations marked on the Navigation screen.
There was no anxiety, however. Instead, after about 30 kilometres of pure-electric driving, I switched the system to “charge” and the car became a regular hybrid vehicle, with a range of almost 1,000 kilometres before needing more gas. And the battery recharged itself in less than an hour.
There’s a price to be paid for all this wizardry, of course, both at the showroom when you buy the vehicle and at the service bay when you must return to your dealer for the simplest fix. But if you really don’t like using gas, or emitting pollutants, or just want a vehicle that’s fun to drive, the price may be worth paying. Freelance writer Mark Richardson is a frequent contributor to Toronto Star Wheels. For this story, his travel expenses were paid by the manufacturer. To reach Wheels Editor Norris McDonald: nmcdonald@thestar.ca