Under the impact of new energy, many big IPs in the past era of fuel vehicles also have to accelerate the pace of their electrification. For example, Buick GL8, which has long led the domestic MPV sales list, has paved the way for its PHEV version and will be launched soon. However, in the new round of new car information from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the new Buick GL8 will bring a HEV petrol-electric hybrid model in addition to the PHEV version. With two different hybrid technologies offered, what kind of product will the all-new Buick GL8 be?
The plug-in hybrid version has strong performance, but the pure electric battery life cannot be long
Let's take a look at the PHEV versions that seem to be more in line with the development trend of the times. According to the data given by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the two new plug-in hybrid Buick GL8 will be equipped with a lithium iron phosphate battery with a capacity of 24.4kWh, so as to obtain a pure electric range of 108km (WLTC mode). In terms of horizontal comparison, the Denza D9 using DM-i technology, except for the entry-level version with a battery capacity of more than 20 degrees, the rest are 40-degree battery packs. By 2024, the battery capacity of the new Buick GL8 plug-in hybrid is obviously not very impressive.
As originally speculated, the PHEV version of the all-new Buick GL8 is difficult to achieve a long pure electric range. This is largely due to the factor of its chassis construction. Judging from a picture of the new Buick GL8 chassis previously exposed, the exhaust design of the vehicle is not much different from the current model. Considering that it is not possible to design the chassis layout separately for the plug-in hybrid version. Therefore, the power battery of the new Buick GL8 plug-in hybrid can most likely only be deployed on the left side of the exhaust pipe.
In addition, the four-link independent rear suspension is also a part of the new car that cannot be touched. For an MPV, the four-link is already considered a "ceiling" configuration. According to the traditional thinking, even the use of torsion beams has its technical feasibility. However, the trailing arm of the rear four-link will largely encroach on the longitudinal space of the vehicle's chassis. And the longer and deeper this longitudinal arm, the higher the upper limit of the comfort of the whole vehicle, theoretically. This feature also leads to the use of the suspension structure of the model, will further reduce the layout of the power battery space.
In addition to not being able to fit a large battery, the new Buick GL8 plug-in hybrid version also cannot accommodate a high-horsepower rear motor. Of course, referring to the declaration information, the new car should not be launched in an electric four-wheel drive version at all. On the basis of the front-wheel drive, the peak power of the drive motor reaches 160 kW, which is only 10 kW less than the front motor of the Denza D9. The 1.5-liter engine, which makes room for the motor, still has a maximum power of 132 kW based on the deep Miller cycle. Finally, the comprehensive power of the new Buick plug-in hybrid is close to the level of the high-end four-wheel drive version of the Denza D9. In the case of similar power, the curb weight of Buick GL8 plug-in hybrid is about 300kg lighter than that of Denza D9. Although the front-wheel drive acceleration suffered slightly, referring to the acceleration results of the Denza D9 four-wheel drive version, the 000 acceleration of the new Buick GL8 plug-in hybrid version should also be at the level of more than 8 seconds.
To put it simply, the new Buick GL8 plug-in hybrid, from the perspective of GL8, a big IP, strengthens the performance to a certain extent, and achieves a level of energy consumption that is more conducive to the acceptance of ordinary household consumers. However, from the perspective of PHEV technology, the new Buick GL8 plug-in hybrid is constrained by the continuation of traditional technology in terms of pure electric range. As a result, when covering urban working conditions, it is not as easy as mainstream PHEV products in the market.
Retain the 2.0T plus motor, oil mix is the familiar GL8?
In that case, what if the large battery is simply omitted and the hybrid HEV is directly built? We talked about it when the Buick GL8 released the PHEV model. Although Buick's hybrid technology is also a power split mode, there is no burden on the problem of plug-and-plug hybrid. Buick's dual-planetary gear structure not only bypasses Toyota's hybrid technology solution, but also provides greater power-bearing redundancy for the entire hybrid system. The style is indeed in line with the American car's continued vigorous miracle.
In terms of details, the two sets of planetary gears, under high-speed working conditions, can greatly reduce the power internal friction between the two motors by virtue of the mechanical structure. With the power split scheme, it can bring the energy consumption advantage of the medium and high-speed part, which has also become one of the core reasons why Buick finally chose this technical solution. In the end, Buick's power split solution, which does not have a traditional mechanical transmission structure, can not only adapt to HEVs, but also increase the battery to become a PHEV.
However, this technology also has a shortcoming, that is, under the transverse platform, coupled with the coaxial layout of dual motors, resulting in too much space. Therefore, on the plug-in hybrid version of the all-new Buick GL8, the 1.5T engine is used to make more space for the motor. After all, in the case of retaining the clutch structure and controlling the composite power shunt, it is too difficult to make the popular parallel shaft motor, or the stability is too difficult to guarantee. So the oil-hybrid HEV version of the all-new Buick GL8 seems to have chosen a simpler idea. That is, do not worry about the problem of the motor, and directly use the high-horsepower engine to ensure the operation logic of the whole system.
The 2.0T engine of the oil-hybrid HEV version is no different from the displacement of the gasoline version. However, due to the need to take into account more high-efficiency scenarios, that is, the Miller cycle, the power level was reduced to 155kW. The petrol version of the 2.0-liter engine has a maximum output of 174 kW. Of course, the new Buick GL8 diesel-electric hybrid model, theoretically has a drive motor that far exceeds the horsepower of the 48V mild hybrid motor of the gasoline version. The power parameters of the specific motor are not reflected in the declaration information. However, it will certainly be significantly lower than the 160kW level of the plug-in hybrid version, which is also determined by the space in the engine compartment.
However, the curb weight of the hybrid version of the new Buick GL8 is more than 100 kg lighter than that of the plug-in hybrid version. In addition, the engine is more powerful, so even if the power of the drive motor is reduced, its 000 acceleration ability should be on par with the plug-in hybrid version. In terms of specific use cases, the hybrid version does not have a large battery, thus completely avoiding the use of internal combustion engines in urban conditions. But taking off the hat of the fuel version of the "oil tiger" of the past, it is obviously enough. More importantly, the 2.0T engine is retained, and Buick's own composite power shunt technology is used, and its high-speed performance and energy consumption may be more worth looking forward to.
Written at the end: although the cost of gasoline-electric hybrid HEV will be lower, with the blessing of the current policy, the final gap between the HEV and PHEV versions of the new Buick GL8 in terms of the purchase price of the whole vehicle may not be too large. However, compared with the all-new Buick GL8, there are many restrictions in the PHEV part, and the first attempt is also more restrained in terms of scale. The HEV version of the new car may be the choice that will impress traditional Buick GL8 users more.