The regulations for environmental safety are approved by various countries, which also give rise to the demand for electric and semi-electric vehicles. The automakers also designed various types of vehicles which can run on full or partial electricity, such as battery electric vehicles (BEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV).
There is quite a difference between HEV, BEV and PHEV, which is explained below.
Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)
HEV or conventional hybrids were the first forms of electric vehicles, as it uses the electric motor but yet it does not need any electric charger for recharging.
In hybrid vehicles, the battery gets its power from the energy generated by the ICE (internal combustion engine) and from the regenerative braking, which converts kinetic energy to electricity and transfers it to batteries.
The hybrid vehicles decreased the gasoline used in cars dramatically, and it depends on the type of hybrid vehicle whether to work with a gasoline engine or even have the ability to shut down the gasoline engine.
Some of the hybrid electric vehicles models include Ford Mondeo Hybrid, Toyota Prius, Lexus RX450h, and Honda Accord hybrid.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)
PHEV is the same as conventional hybrids to some extent, as both works in combination with ICE (internal combustion engine). The key difference which differentiates PHEV from HEV is that PHEV uses inlet or charging station for charging instead of converting energy.
PHEV is usually for the people who are in the middle of selecting between BEV and ICE, and not sure about going towards full electric vehicles.
In PHEV consumer get a chance to observe both kinds with their advantages and disadvantages. Some of the PHEV examples include Toyota Prius Plug-in, Mitsubishi Outlander, BMW 225xe, Volkswagen Golf GTE, BMW i3, and Jaguar I-PACE.
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV)
As the name suggests, unlike HEV, BEV’s are the type of vehicles which are completely electric and only runs on electricity. It does have any ICE (internal combustion engine).
It can be charged through an outlet at home or charging stations. BEV’s do not possess fuel tank, or exhaust pipe, which means there is no way to run the vehicle without charging. The present BEV’s provide an average of 60 to 80 miles on a single charge. Nearly 60 miles is the average weekday driving needs of approximately 69% of the US population.
Some of the examples of BEV’s includes Nissan LEAF, Tesla Model S, Hyundai Kona Electric, Fiat 500e, Jaguar I-Pace, and MG ZS EV.