Leapmotor may provide Stellantis with a path to a type of hybrid vehicle used for decades—by railroads: the series hybrid.
Leapmotor, a Chinese startup, has an electric extended-range vehicle (EREV) which uses a small internal combustion engine to recharge the battery. The engine is not connected to the wheels. In locomotives, a diesel engine functions solely as a generator for electric motors; batteries play a minor role.
The 2011-19 Chevrolet Volt ran as a battery-electric until the battery was discharged enough to run an onboard gasoline generator, largely because the battery only had a 38 mile range (later expanded to 53 miles). Running with the generator sustaining the charge, it was rated at 42 mpg combined, decent mileage. 0-60 acceleration came in 9.0 to 9.2 seconds.
Leapmotor is on its third generation vehicle architecture now; it includes an oil-cooled electric drive and lidar-based autonomous driving. (Thanks to Auric at Allpar for the references from China Daily and CarNewsChina.)

David Zatz started what was to become the world’s biggest, most comprehensive Mopar site in 1994 as he pursued a career in organizational research and change. After a chemo-induced break, during which he wrote car books covering Vipers, minivans, and Jeeps, he returned with Patrick Rall to create StellPower.com for daily news, and to set up MoTales for mo’ tales.
David Zatz has around 30 years of experience in covering Chrysler/Mopar news and history, and most recently wrote Century of Chrysler, a 100-year retrospective on the Chrysler marque.
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