Hybrid drive system, if the engine works less, why does it require the same treatment? (Photo: manufacturer)
Sometimes the simplest questions are also the most interesting, here is one that came to us in the mailbox of "Hiya Motor", the corner where you tell us if you have encountered improper conduct by service providers when purchasing a new, used vehicle or servicing it.
And so Shmuel Murciano writes to us:
"I have a question that bothers me: a hybrid vehicle consumes approximately 30% less fuel than a similar non-hybrid vehicle. This means that the combustion engine works 30% less. According to the calculation, if a normal vehicle needs service every 15 thousand km then A hybrid vehicle should have been serviced every 20,000 km or even more."
On his face a question is asked.
Just before the experts' answers, we will make it clear that in everything related to the car maintenance routine, as in the mathematical formula, there are two components - time and distance.
Only this time we are not interested in their product and the speed of travel, but in the speed at which we will have to get to the garage.
Fighting air pollution and your expenses (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
Different manufacturers set different service intervals, these were once every 5,000 km long ago and then dropped to once every 10,000 km, from where the mythological term "10,000 service" comes from, nowadays most intervals are between 15 and 20 thousand km m, when there are also very unusual ones like the Fiat Ducato, for example, which only requires service once every 48,000 km, but it is really an extreme point.
the reasons?
Improvement in the quality of engines and oils.
And there is also the matter of time, when the vast majority of the manufacturers ask you to go for treatment once a year regardless of the trip.
And now to Shmuel's question.
Indeed, on the face of it, in hybrid or plug-in cars, in which fuel savings are achieved through the combined operation of the gasoline engine and electric motor, the gasoline engine maintenance routine should change, since it operates in shorter periods of time than in gasoline cars, indeed, according to the statement of some manufacturers even Up to 50% in urban use.
If so, why is it required for treatments at the time intervals of cars with a normal gasoline engine.
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A treatment routine includes much more than just the engine (Photo: Reuven Castro)
The basic assumption is that the periodic maintenance encompasses more systems or components than the engine itself, but in order to get the most qualified answer, we addressed the question to the technical departments of the two largest hybrid importers in Israel - Union Motors, a Toyota importer and Kalmomobil, a Hyundai importer.
To be on the safe side, we also spoke with automotive engineer David Nimri about the issue.
Everyone was in agreement about the answers, including a tiger bonus.
Indeed, as we assumed, the maintenance routine, which is determined by the car manufacturer and not the importer, does not depend on the system or a single component.
This also includes all vehicle systems that work even when the gasoline engine itself is not in operation.
Suspensions, shock absorbers, rubber components, air conditioning, power transmission systems, gearboxes, electricity, cooling, brakes, etc.
By the way, the electrical system itself also needs a periodic inspection specifically in the cars in which it is particularly active, with an emphasis on its combination mechanism with the gasoline propulsion system.
This explanation was also repeated by Nimri Min Hao more word for word, but added another interesting point.
He said some hybrid cars have a lower capacity oil pan than other cars.
That is, this oil is required for more "cycles of use" than in a normal car and therefore needs to be replaced with a similar frequency.
That is, instead of using the shorter duration of the gasoline engine's activity to estimate the duration of the treatments, the manufacturers choose to use this for the purpose of using a smaller and cheaper oil tank, and smaller amounts of oil to change at the garage.
In a Land Rover, you will be required to undergo periodic maintenance once every two years (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
However, it turns out that not all manufacturers require you to come to the service centers once a year, some push the maintenance intervals to longer cycles.
One of them is Land Rover where the cars require periodic maintenance every two years.
The reason?
Monitoring systems in the engine that know how to sample the quality of the oil on an ongoing basis.
For example, drivers under optimal conditions of a normal engine temperature, without special loads such as a relaxed intercity drive will maintain high oil quality and will not be required to change it even up to 34 thousand km according to the manufacturer's instructions. On the other hand, in other cases the driver may be required to change the oil more frequent, even without handling the rest of the car's components.
Naturally, such monitoring systems, due to their relatively high cost, will appear in cars with a corresponding price tag and less in popular cars.
And again we remind you: have you encountered improper conduct by service providers when purchasing a new or used vehicle or servicing it?
Contact us at hayamanoa@walla.co.il.
Cases of public interest will be published.
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