I think... a Hybrid in a SUV is a daft idea. Probably work great if all the driving is done around town. But on those longer trips, after the battery is depleted... you are moving a heavy vehicle with a screaming 4 cylinder engine. Can't see performance being that good and they have lowered the towing capacity on hybrids for a reason.

 

That's not really how it works. On long trips, when cruising on a highway in the highest gear is not when you need that power. Running only on 4-cylinders is plenty sufficient to maintain speed, even on a heavy vehicle, and no, the 4-cylinder won't be screaming. Obviously, towing makes that worse, but again, once at cruising speed, you don't need as much power as you think: you only need to maintain speed, to accelerate to a specific speed.

Power is needed when accelerating, such as when driving around town. There, regenerative breaking will keep your battery charged longer (on the Palisade Hybrid, they can even use the engine to recharge the battery if desired. See Stay Mode here: https://insideevs.com/news/757134/hyundai-palisade-hybrid-stay-mode-ev/).

 

If you're giving it the beans to merge onto an expressway or when passing or when hill climbing, yeah, a 4-banger hybrid is bound to make some noise. It comes down to one's priorities.

 

I think... in spite of the hype, folk that drive longer distances are going to be disappointed. Could be wrong.... time will tell

 

Some light reading: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a61730444/are-hybrids-good-for-long-distance-driving/

Key takeaway: the engine can charge the battery on the highway. As I said in my previous post, you don't actually use much power to maintain speed on a highway - the 4-cylinder is plenty sufficient for that, and to also serve as a generator for the battery. So the battery never typically runs out on a hybrid, and will deliver that extra power needed when off the highway.

I mean, that is the whole point. If they were not designed to recharge the battery while driving, they wouldn't be that useful.

 

Thanks for the link: and it kinda makes my point.
Are Hybrids Good for Long-Distance Driving?

Adding electrification to an internal combustion engine (ICE)—better known as a hybrid—typically yields fuel economy improvements; however, these improvements tend to have the greatest impact in city driving, and not on a long-distance highway drive. That's not to say hybrid vehicles sip fuel at an equal rate to their gas-only counterparts on highway drives, but typically the delta between these two types of powertrains is smaller in this setting.

Yes, the article goes on to explain the process. Range anxiety is eliminated and overall there is better fuel economy... But, given the reduced towing capacity Hyundai acknowledges performance is reduced. Trade-offs that may be acceptable

Your point initially was that the battery would be depleted on a long drive and that you'd only have the 4-cylinder to rely on. That's not the case, as the article explains: the engine can recharge the battery in that scenario.

The fact that a hybrid offers more improvements in city driving was never disputed. In fact, as I've mentioned twice now, you don't need that much power to maintain speed on a highway (that's why mpg is higher on a highway than in city driving, that the RPM is low and that the car stays in the highest possible gear). So the benefits of a hybrid power-train are not as large on a highway. But the battery won't be depleted, as you stated, and leave you with just the 4-cylinder to move you around. That's what I was addressing.

The reduced towing capacity wasn't disputed either.

 

Your point initially was that the battery would be depleted on a long drive and that you'd only have the 4-cylinder to rely on. That's not the case, as the article explains: the engine can recharge the battery in that scenario.

The fact that a hybrid offers more improvements in city driving was never disputed. In fact, as I've mentioned twice now, you don't need that much power to maintain speed on a highway (that's why mpg is higher on a highway than in city driving, that the RPM is low and that the car stays in the highest possible gear). So the benefits of a hybrid power-train are not as large on a highway. But the battery won't be depleted, as you stated, and leave you with just the 4-cylinder to move you around. That's what I was addressing.

The reduced towing capacity wasn't disputed either.

I was wrong with my understanding of "this" hybrid. Time will tell how successful this concept is.

 

There are v8s and v6 that have cylinder deactivation which makes them 3 or 4 cylinder vehicles on highway driving, this is done for better fuel economy but it's possible because vehicles don't need much power to cruising.

This hybrid system has one advantage, it doesn't have serpentine belt. That reduces drag on engine.

The highway advantage probably would be significant as well, given hyundai is claiming it would get 34mpg combined while gas only model gets 25mpg on highway.