10-4. The diesel engine was used for surface propulsion and charging while on the surface or snorkeling.
They used lead-acid batteries. The hydrogen created during charge/discharge cycles was vented thru the hull. If seawater came in contact with the batteries, chlorine gas would be produced that entered the ship's ventilation system.
Yes, if you never plug in then a HEV or PHEV would be more efficient. I think the big difference is you would have the power dynamics of 100% electric motor propulsion. It only makes sense if you can charge regularly and use battery power the majority of the time.
In your situation where you can’t plug in at home or the office you will be driving mostly via power generated from the ICE. In this use case wouldn’t a conventional HEV be more efficient and practical?
As I said above, I’m struggling with the use case of an EREV vs HEVs or PHEVs.
IMO its more about keeping investors happy then anything else. Its like the 20-30 MPG thing with Ford SUVs about 10-15 years ago.
EVs have a perception problem and I think an active, but small minority of people bitching about them on social media, which may or may not be getting aided by bots/fake accounts from industries against them. There is just a lot of noise out there about this.
I can see this being useful in some cases (larger vehicles that tow like the super duty) but not so much in 80-90% of other products.