What is it?
The Hyundai Tucson is Hyundai’s best-selling car. That’s little surprise, since it’s a direct rival to the Nissan Qashqai. It’s the same width and height, and a hand’s width longer. And, following a facelift, the styling of the two cars are now pretty in line with each other.
Sales are growing, and Hyundai has sold more than 600,000 Tucsons now, although the Qashqai sells more across Europe. The Qashqai even took the Tucson’s title as Ireland’s best-selling car last year — its only European top spot, after the Tucson hed that title for two years.
As the industry moves towards full electrification, Hyundai sees itself as a leader in this area. Across the Hyundai and Kia brands, there are 16 electrified cars planned by 2025.
This model is one of these. It’s a Tucson with a 183bhp 2.0-litre CRDi diesel engine, and a 16bhp, 0.44kWh 48V hybrid system easing the stress of the diesel unit for claimed fuel economy and emissions improvements of 7%. It’s been introduced as part of a subtle midlife refresh that, thankfully, doesn’t change the Tucson’s handsome styling. The plain 2.0 diesel of the pre-facelift car will no longer be offered alone, with a 1.6 diesel taking up the slack.
It’s a system that’ll make it into the Kia Sportage, as well as the Santa Fe, in the next 18 months as Hyundai and Kia move to electrify their ranges. For now, though, this unit acts as the top-spec powertrain in the Tucson, with prices starting at a little more than £32,000.
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Wrong Watts....
0.44 kwh would be about 1 HP.....
44 kwh would be about 60 HP....more like it.
16 bhp
Really £3000 to supply a 16 bhp motor. Makes no sense at all
Agreed, very immature test
Maybe next time Hyundai will give Autocar the 400 horsepowere model with 20in wheels, then it can expect the full 5-star test treatment!
Of course the review should have concentrated on the merits or otherwise of the hybrid system, since this is the bit that's new. But what's the point comparison with the now deleted non hybrid diesel when buyers will be more interested in how it fares against rivals, and the smaller diesel?
Actually i think this may be the first time a manufacturer has offered a mild hybrid compression ignition engine - in fact so mild that it's 440 watt hr battery is smaller than that fitted to many electrically-assisted bicycles! I can see the obvious attraction to a manufacturer: the single starter motor generator and small battery is cheap to make, yet powerful enougn to reap benefits in official test figures and padd out the torque curve at low revs when the engine is off boost. Plus of course, it meaans that they can attach a "Hybrid" badge on the back...
LP in Brighton wrote:
No its not - PSA offered a diesel electric hybrid (electricity powered the rear axle) until a few years back.
The only sensible hybrids are diesel ones, but sadly not this one - they should have used the smaller, lighter 1.6, a more powerful electric motor and a bigger battery.
Agree with typos
Surely the point of hybrid's is to downsize the combustion engine and use the initial shove of the electric to maintain (or even improve) real world performance in most situations. Meanwhile the CE prevents range anxiety (unless you fit an absurdly small tank like BMW)
reckless fox wrote:
Exactly, that was the point I was making.
Diesel hybrids
The PSA one was a full hybrid, with large battery pack and powerful electric motor. But this arrangement, while promising a great deal, was very heavy and very expensive and ultimately has not been successful. The mild diesel hybrid produced by Hyundai uses a low power elecric motor and small battery to achieve much more modest performance / economy / emissions benefits, but crucially it is very light and cheap (even if this is not fully reflected in the car's list price!).
LP in Brighton wrote:
Really ? I dont remember it being that powerful or the electric range being that great.
PSA Hybrid4
Well, the combined output was 200 horsepower and it was capable of short distance fully elecric running which mild hybrids can't do; also CO2 output was below 100 gm/km. In short this was a different proposition to the Hyundai mild hybrid.
First compression ignition, PSA thoughts
PSA tried it but have all but dropped it. An article in Autoexpress regarding the DS path stated "The switch to a petrol-electric hybrid means that PSA’s existing diesel-electric set-up now has a limited shelf life. “It will die in 2019, when the new plug-in tech becomes available,” said a senior PSA source".
Price appears likely reason
Diesels being more expensive to make than petrols. Meaning once hibrid systems are added. Diesel hibrid is more expensive. That PSA is discontinuing it's diesel hibrid. Perhaps demonstrates diesel hibrids can't compete on price with petrol hibrids. Don't offer sufficient divident for buyers to be willing to buy them ahead of the petrol hibrid against higher price.
Einarbb wrote:
Oh dear, maybe you should tell all the manufacurers that are about to start making them ?
Don't confuse
Light hibridation that offers no electric only range to full hibridation that does.