On January 7, 2022, StarRide officially released the “StarCore Power ET-i Full-Engine Hybrid” technology. According to the introduction, this technology is one of the key projects of the “New Energy Vehicles” key project of the “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” national key research and development plan, and has complete Chinese intellectual property rights.
“ET-i” is a new name given by StarRide for the upgrade of traditional DHT technology, where “E” represents the brand name “EXEED” and the new energy strategy “Electric”; “T” represents Technology, and “I” represents Intelligent.
“Full-Engine” refers to the fact that both motors in its dual-motor system can participate in vehicle driving. When the battery is fully charged, both motors can participate in vehicle driving, thereby providing stronger power; when the battery is low on power, motor No. 1 takes on the function of a generator to supplement the battery. In other ordinary DHT technologies, only one motor is responsible for driving, and the other motor only acts as a generator.
The feature of this technology is “3 engines, 3 gears, 9 modes, 11 speeds”. “3 engines” refers to the intelligent combination of the internal combustion engine and the dual-drive motor under this powertrain. It includes a 1.5T hybrid-dedicated engine, with a maximum power of 115 kW and a peak torque of 230 N·m. The other two “engines” refer to the two electric motors inside the DHT gearbox, with performance parameters of 55 kW/160 N·m and 70 kW/155 N·m, respectively.
Combined with technological measures such as bidirectional machining of the gear surface, low-drag clutch, efficient oil pump, and main oil pressure follow-up strategy, StarRide claims that the system’s maximum transmission efficiency exceeds 97.6%, reaching the same level as Japanese products.
“3 gears” refers to the fact that the powertrain system has 3 physical gears, which is the highest number of physical gears in existing hybrid technologies. The advantage of having more gears is that it can handle a wider range of operating conditions, have higher efficiency, and balance power and fuel consumption better.
“9 modes” refers to its various operating modes, including single-motor electric drive, dual-motor electric drive, direct engine drive, parallel drive, parking charging, and driving charging, among others. The 9 drive modes can be switched intelligently to adapt to different road conditions and scenarios.”11-speed” refers to different speed modes, including start-up, low-speed, high-speed, overtaking, red light, congestion, highway, long-distance travel, mountain roads, high-speed turning, and driving scenarios such as ice/snow/mud/sand.
According to Stardrive, the Stardrive Zephyr will be the first model under this brand to feature this technology. Expect the actual performance of this technology system to be promising.
Source: [Official Stardrive]
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.