Magna’s Series Plug-In Hybrid System Doubles as a Parallel HybridMagna’s Series Plug-In Hybrid System Doubles as a Parallel Hybrid

Practicality is finally asserting itself in the electrified vehicle market, as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are surging as an interim solution that provides an EV driving experience without suffering the cost of a large battery pack or the dependence on an immature public charging network for long-distance drives.

Magna has introduced a flexible new hybrid-electric drive system that works primarily as a series-electric hybrid like the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV tested recently. This provides an EV-first driving experience while preserving the ability to generate power from a combustion engine. Additionally, Magna’s new Dedicated Hybrid Drive Duo product has a second electric motor that can work in concert with the combustion engine in parallel mode like most hybrids.

And because it is more efficient to send combustion power directly to the wheels during highway cruising, Magna’s DHD Duo can route the engine’s power through a transmission that can include one, two, three, or four gears, depending on the carmaker’s aims for the model employing Magna’s system.

Having two electric motors sounds like a good way to make the DHD Duo prohibitively expensive, but Magna Senior Director Product Management Transmissions, Uli Franzmann, estimates that this product costs about $300 more than a conventional single-motor hybrid-electric motor system.

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As a modular design, the DHD Duo can be scaled with larger electric motors and additional gears to cover vehicle segments from the subcompact B-segment to the large E-segment.

While battery prices have remained stubbornly high and the supply of materials needed to build them has remained precarious, California’s Advanced Clean Cars program officially recognizes PHEVs as an alternative to BEVs during the period from 2026 through 2035. This program also applies to 17 other states, paving the way for stable demand for PHEVs for the next decade.

The Magna DHD Duo drive system. MAGNA

According to the International Energy Agency, while the BEV sales share in the United States fell in the first quarter of 2024, the sales share of PHEVs grew. The IEA saw the same thing in other markets, with plug-in hybrid electric car sales in the first quarter increasing by around 75 percent year-on-year in China, compared to just 15% for battery electric car sales. Similarly, PHEV sales in both Germany and the United Kingdom were stronger than BEV sales.

Statistica projects that revenue in the PHEV market in 2024 will $292.1 billion, with an annual growth rate of 1.73 percent. This will result in a projected market of $318.2 billion in 2029, when the unit sales of PHEVs are expected to reach 4.61 million vehicles.

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Plug-in hybrid vehicles employing the Magna DHD Duo system will need batteries less than a quarter the size of a purely electric vehicle, said Franzmann. “So if the BEV comes with 80 kilowatt-hours then I would say, it's 20- to 25-kilowatt-hours,” he estimated.

The dual-motor series hybrid design delivers the torque-heavy driving experience of a BEV without the range limitations, Franzmann declared. “The dual motor concept is the best of all these worlds,” he said.

The system connects the primary electric motor to the drive wheels. The combustion engine routes its power through a lossless dog clutch that can instantly engage and disengage it from the wheels as needed. When disengaged from the wheels, it serves as a range-extending generator using the other electric motor as a generator to charge the battery and to power the primary electric drive motor.

That secondary electric motor is connected to the combustion engine, adding torque to the combustion engine’s output as needed and functioning as a parallel hybrid. The combustion engine and the motor/generator connected to it drive the wheels through a transmission that can be a single-speed device like most EVs, or it can have two gears for better torque multiplication for the gas engine.

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The two-speed configuration is Magna’s “base configuration” for the DHD Duo system, said Franzmann. “According to Magna's investigation, the sweet spot is with a 2-speed,” he said. “That's the best compromise you have between the cost and efficiency.”

Three- and four-speed transmissions are also options for carmakers to consider. Additionally, Magna can vary the output of the electric motors, mounted larger ones if needed for specific applications. The basic configuration features a pair of 90-kilowatt electric motors, but Magna is offering one that matches a 90-kW traction motor with a 140-kW hybrid motor and the design can accommodate traction motors rated at more than 200 kW, Franzmann said. “It is very scalable from a B-segment [vehicle] to E-segment.”

Magna’s first customer for the DHD Duo is a Chinese carmaker, whose product will debut in that market by the end of 2025. The company is in discussions with other OEMs too, and Franzmann says he sees a market for hundreds of thousands of DHD Duo products to be delivered in a few years.

“We think that we will have at least more than one customer in China we can win and so let's see how the market involves in in North America and Europe,” he said “There is a clear demand for the dual motor technology, that that's what we see.
So we think that's the right product at the right time for this market.”