The Chinese manufacturer Chery, present in Europe, has just unveiled a new plug-in hybrid car: the Fulwin A8L with its theoretical range of 2,100 km. But in practice, the manufacturer managed to travel 2,369 km before having to refuel.
Chinese car manufacturers are best known in Europe for their electric cars. They manufacture the vast majority of batteries found on these vehicles around the world, and they are far ahead in the field. But on plug-in hybrid cars, Chinese manufacturers also have interesting proposals.
This is the case of the new Fulwin A8L, signed by the local manufacturer Chery. The latter is not unknown in Europe, because it has just installed a production plant in Spain, to produce electric cars, but also plug-in hybrids.
In China, Chery has just lifted the veil on a new generation of plug-in hybrids, with a petrol engine (1.5 liter turbo with a power of 156 hp) and a battery with a capacity of 18.67 kWh powering an electric motor with a power of 150 kW (203 hp) as specified Car News China.
More than 2,300 km of autonomy in practice
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The theoretical autonomy on the Chinese CLTC cycle is then announced at 2,100 km. Note that this approval cycle is less strict than the European WLTP, because the speeds in China are lower. But this is a rather exceptional figure.
The Chinese manufacturer managed to do better than this theoretical figure, driving 2,369 km with the Fulwin A8L before needing to recharge the battery and fill up with gasoline.
As such, recharging the battery from 30 to 80 percent only takes 19 minutes, which is pretty good for a plug-in hybrid. Fuel consumption is announced at 4.2 liters / 100 km on the WLTC cycle, once again less strict than in Europe.
But this immense autonomy seems to be mainly due to optimal driving conditions, with low speed. It is therefore difficult to judge this record without all the data, such as the average speed of the car and the capacity of the fuel tank.
At much higher travel speeds, such as on the highway for example, the range of this car should be much lower.
And compared to an electric car?
Remember that an electric car consumes significantly less energy to travel the same distance as a gasoline car. This type of record is therefore more of a publicity stunt, especially since we might wonder who needs such autonomy without needing to refuel.
On electric cars, ranges greater than 1,000 km are starting to arrive in China, with records in practice at 1,044 km, such as for example at Nio.
For the charging time, which some consider too long compared to a full tank of gasoline, electric cars which recharge in 10 minutes are arriving in Europe. And it is even possible to recharge them in less than 3 minutes, thanks to the battery exchange stations.
