While Toyota has been a dominant player in the hybrid space for decades, Chinese car giant Geely wants to take the technological lead.
Separate to the electric and plug-in hybrid powertrain offerings already seen in Geely vehicles, this new ‘i-HEV’ closed-loop hybrid system (similar to Toyota's layout) utilises a high-efficiency petrol engine and AI-driven software to achieve what Geely says is record levels of fuel efficiency.
To that point, Geely has earned itself a Guniness World Record for the lowest level of fuel consumption from a mass-produced hybrid vehicle.
Set during a highway loop in the Chinese city of Hunan, a Geely Emgrand hybrid sedan demonstrated a consumption figure of 2.22L/100km.
Using this new hybrid powertrain, the Geely Emgrand has a total system output of 230kW between a 1.5-litre petrol engine and electric motor.
Geely says the Emgrand i-HEV can accelerate under electric power up to 66km/h, and the petrol engine has a 48.1 per cent thermal efficiency rate.
While Geely has promised to continue expanding its portfolio of models for the Australian market, this particular Emgrand model is yet to be locked in.
Sam Purcell has been writing about cars, four-wheel driving and camping since 2013, and obsessed with anything that goes brum-brum longer than he can remember. Sam joined the team at CarAdvice/Drive as the off-road Editor in 2018, after cutting his teeth at Unsealed 4X4 and Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures. Off-road writer of the Year, Winner - Sam Purcell
