We have ICE, BEV PHEV, HEV and now also R-EV cars. These are electric cars with gasoline engines, which Ford, among others, will build.
Ford wants to build the reverse hybrid car. That is, an electric car with a large battery that uses a small gasoline engine to generate electricity.
The idea is called R-EV, or Range Extender Vehicle. And it's a – yes, an electric car with a range extender of gasoline or diesel.
This is what Autopian writes.
BMW has already built one like this when the small i3 was in production. Just as several Chinese car brands have adopted the idea and still use it.
The gasoline engine has nothing to do with propulsion. The battery pack provides that. The only thing the gasoline droplets have to do is keep the battery charged.
Here in Denmark, for example, Mazda sells the small MX-30 as a pure electric car – a BEV – and then a hybrid in the form of an R-EV. In the latter, a rotary engine provides the power.
Initially, however, Ford will not be bringing the new hybrid cars to Europe at all. Instead, the technology will make Americans' favorite SUVs and pickups go further per liter.
Ford, which scrapped its goal of selling only electric cars in Europe by 2030 as recently as last year, expects the first R-EV model to be ready in 2027.
