And why they are becoming increasingly popular.

With price of just about everything going upwards, car buyers and owners like you and I are increasingly aware of how much money we spend filling up our fuel tanks. 

Gone are the days of cheap petrol, and I will bet a silver coin that those days will never return. 

So now the big question on everyone’s minds is – how do we extract as much as possible from every Ringgit. 

If you are at the grocery store, it will be easy to maximise value by simply picking the cheaper option, i.e., local produce over imported ones. 

But with a car, it is not that straight forward. 

Some have opted for electric vehicles to save on their fuel bills. But that is not a practical solution for everyone because of the mismatch between charging times and infrastructure against their own lifestyles. 

As such, some are turning to hybrids and rightfully so. Hybrids offer the ideal middle ground between fuel efficiency and lifestyle requirements.

There are two types of hybrid systems that are becoming increasingly popular these days and those are your regular hybrid powertrains as well as plug-in hybrids. 

However, not all car makers offer these options, it is quite rare to have a car maker to offer hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains at the same time. 

Chery however is not your regular car maker. 

The Chinese car making giant prefers to give its buyers the true power of choice. While some car makers shy away from offering too many options for fear of sales cannibalisation, Chery offers what its consumers want. 

So, what does Chery have to offer? 

Chery has been putting out hybrid powertrains since 2008 but beyond the experience the company has, it has also dedicated thousands of engineers as well as dozens of facilities to creating hybrid technology. 

Chery’s hybrid technology is divided into two systems; hybrid electric vehicles, such as the Chery Tiggo Cross Hybrid and on the other side of that is the plug-in hybrid systems, such as the one found in the recently launched Tiggo 7 PHEV and Tiggo 8 PHEV. 

What is a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV)?

Simply put, a HEV is a hybrid car with an electric motor, battery and an engine but without the plug-in capabilities. 

This gives you benefits such as improved fuel efficiency thus better range, and the joy of immediate electric power as well. 

The benefit of this system is that you don’t ever have to worry about plugging into a charger and you can drive around as you usually would. 

While this is true for all hybrid systems out there, Chery’s HEV system stands out with its advanced engineering. 

The number one factor that helps it stand out from the rest is its thermal efficiency, rated at an impressive 44.5%, among the best in the industry. 

Thermal efficiency is important for hybrid vehicles because it helps the engine extract more energy from a given amount of fuel. This directly reduces fuel consumption and maximises range. 

In Malaysia, the Chery Tiggo Cross Hybrid has made quite a name for itself as being one of the most efficient B-segment SUV. 

With it’s 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated engine making 102PS and 125Nm of torque, it is mated to dual electric motors that put out a combined 204PS and 310Nm of torque. 

This gives the car a sprightly, energetic feel every time you tickle the throttle, a trait you usually find in an electric vehicle. 

The other benefit to that is the electric range that you get courtesy of the 1.8kWh battery. 

Chery does not provide official figures for the all-electric range, but having driven the car, this writer can say that it is good enough to go about a small parking lot without awakening the engine. 

This also means that you get improved fuel consumption benefits, with official figures putting it at 5.4-litres per 100km or 19km per litre. But during a drive back from Terengganu in the Tiggo Cross Hybrid, we saw an astonishing figure of 3.6-litres per 100km. 

The other benefit of Chery’s HEV system is an ultra-smooth ride. This is the hallmark of Chery’s innovative Direct Hybrid Transmission, or sometimes known as the electronic CVT. 

This transmission system is known as a transmission by name only because there are no rotating gears in the traditional sense. 

Instead, power is sent directly to the wheels, and because there are fewer moving parts, you get to enjoy a smooth, vibration free drive quality. 

And this also contributes to the immediate power delivery we were talking about earlier as you don’t have to wait for the gears to shift. 

Final thoughts?

An HEV suits those who want some of the convenience of an electric vehicle without the associated disadvantages. Fuel consumption is better than regular ICE cars and so is performance. 

Data suggests that more people are flocking to HEV’s now than ever before as fuel prices soar. 

But what if you didn’t mind plugging in but still want an engine to take you further? That is where plug-in hybrid systems come in and we will explore that in a separate, upcoming article.