Obrist Group recommends e-cars with range extender
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Obrist Group Recommends E-Cars with Range Extender
- E-cars with range extenders offer numerous benefits: Electric drive, 85 percent less CO2 backpack, over 1,000 kilometers range, refueling at any gas station
- Range Extender Hyperhybrid: A mini-combustor generates electricity for the electric drive.
- Ulrich Kiebler, CSO Obrist Group: "Several leading European car manufacturers are in discussions with us."
- Thorsten Rixmann, CMO: “Range extenders bring many advantages for consumers.”
- Zoe Zhao, China Director: “Range extenders are on the rise in China.”
Lindau/Germany, Lustenau/Austria - September 24, 2024 – Vehicles with electric drives whose batteries are recharged in between with a compact combustion engine to achieve a range of over 1,000 kilometers with minimal fuel consumption without stopping to charge or refuel - electric vehicles with range extenders - could become a lifeline for the European automotive industry. This is the view of inventor and entrepreneur Frank Obrist, whose industrial group Obrist Group has developed a range extender concept ready for series production under the name Hyperhybrid and has already tested it in prototypes. “We offer licenses and expertise to car manufacturers and suppliers who want to use range extenders to cut the Gordian knot in the conflict between electric mobility and the combustion engine,” said Frank Obrist.
A range extender is a small combustion engine with a power generator that operates completely vibration-free, which is why Obrist also refers to it as a “zero vibration generator” (ZVG). If an electric car runs out of power, the range extender starts up and recharges the battery. As the mini-motor in the Hyperhybrid is only used for recharging and does not drive the vehicle, it is much more compact than a conventional motor. In addition, the power generator always runs - if at all - in the optimum speed range and is therefore very economical (around 1.5 liters of petrol or 3.3 liters of methanol per 100 kilometers). The battery can also be much more compact because it only serves as a buffer between the generator and the electric motor. This means that the so-called “CO2 rucksack”, i.e. the CO2 emissions associated with battery production, is around 85 percent lower than that of purely electric cars without a range extender. Despite its compact dimensions, the Hyperhybrid has a purely electric range of over 80 kilometers; enough for 90 percent of all everyday journeys.
In the industry, everyone is talking about the Hyperhybrid following the dramatic slump in sales of electric cars. “We are talking intensively with many well-known German car manufacturers,” said Ulrich Kiebler, Chief Sales Officer at the Obrist Group. He emphasised the advantages for the automotive industry: “Our mini-motor and our compact battery fit into many of the e-car platforms that have already been developed. The industry can therefore preserve its billion-euro investment in e-mobility and at the same time inspire customers with Hyperhybrid vehicles.”
Tangible Benefits for Drivers
For consumers, vehicles with range extenders - known in the industry as EREVs (Electrical Range Extender Vehicles) or REEVs (Range Extended Electrical Vehicles) - bring tangible benefits, emphasised Thorsten Rixmann, Chief Marketing Officer at the Obrist Group. The cars drive almost silently with the acceleration power of an electric motor and can fill up with the little gasoline required at any filling station. There is no need to install a wallbox at home or constantly recharge at a public charging station. “Our Hyperhybrid is like a mobile wallbox that automatically recharges when necessary,” Thorsten Rixmann drawed a vivid comparison.
Zoe Zhao, Director of the Obrist Group with responsibility for the People's Republic of China, explained: “Range extenders have long been commonplace in China. Demand for pure e-cars is also falling considerably in this country, albeit not as sharply as in Europe, and manufacturers are constantly launching new range extender models across all vehicle classes. In China, range extenders are driving the market for electric mobility.” According to her, around 600,000 such vehicles were sold in China in 2023, and the one million range extender mark is expected to be significantly exceeded in 2024.
Appeal to Politicians: Range Extenders Are the Ideal Solution
“German politicians should make it clear in Brussels that electric vehicles with range extenders are the ideal way to protect the climate as much as possible on the one hand and to meet the wishes of consumers on the other,” suggested Frank Obrist. “Instead of giving consumers the choice between an electric car or a combustion engine, range extenders combine the best of both worlds,” he added.
With its Hyperhybrid concept, the Obrist Group is focusing on technological openness: the mini-engine, which acts as an electricity generator, runs on the petrol available at every filling station today, but is already prepared for future synthetic fuels (e-fuels). “The market is demanding vehicles that are already so attractive today and at the same time so future-proof that they meet with a high level of acceptance among customers without purchase premiums,” said Thorsten Rixmann, and demanded: ”Politicians should also realise this and pave the way for car manufacturers. China has long since taken this path and, at the latest, when Chinese manufacturers roll out range extenders in Europe, the domestic car industry will face further problems.”
Frank Obrist concluded: “The tightening of CO2 fleet targets in the EU from 2025 presents European car manufacturers with a dilemma in view of the weak demand for electric vehicles: either reduce the supply of combustion engines or face immense fines. E-vehicles with range extenders are the way out.”
Obrist Group: The Obrist Group, founded by inventor and entrepreneur Frank Obrist, focuses on innovations for global, sustainable and CO2-reducing energy concepts. The spectrum ranges from the global supply of renewable energies to atmospheric fuels (aFuels) and innovative CO2-negative (i.e. climate-positive!) drive concepts for the automotive industry. With around 380 key patents, the Obrist Group is one of the world's most important innovators in the field of sustainable energy concepts.
Further information: www.obrist.at
Press Contact: Thorsten Rixmann, Chief Marketing Officer, Phone +43 660 5642275, email: t.rixmann@obrist.at
Press Agency: euromarcom public relations, email: team@euromarcom.de
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