This is how the hybrid system of the Honda Civic works, our endurance tester

With the term ‘hybrid powertrain’, we know that there is usually an internal combustion engine and an electric motor on board, but we are still far from knowing how they work together. Whether or not to circumvent patents, each manufacturer seems to approach it in its own way. With the e:HEV system, Honda today has its own variation on the theme. We also find that system in the Civic in our endurance test fleet. The principle is most reminiscent of the way the front wheels of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV are driven.

In principle, the electric motor does the work. The electricity required for this comes from a battery. And if the battery charge is not sufficient, the electricity comes from a dynamo that is driven by the combustion engine. If the alternator briefly supplies more than the electric motor needs, the surplus is stored in the battery. If the electric motor needs more than the alternator can generate, the battery can supplement that.

Sweet spot Civic e:HEV at 70 percent load

The gasoline engine is most efficient when it operates about halfway through its rev range and that is when it is loaded at about 70 percent. We also call that area the ‘sweet spot’. Outside of that sweet spot, it can use up to 50 percent more fuel per kW. You cannot escape this with a conventional powertrain, the engine must provide the drive over its entire speed range and under all loads. With the e:HEV system, the combustion engine only runs in the most favorable working range.

There is also a clutch between the electric motor on the one hand and the four-cylinder plus alternator on the other. When the computer determines that it is more efficient to run on the internal combustion engine, the clutch closes and the petrol engine provides the drive. The electric motor then runs idle. There are no gears, there is one fixed transmission and that roughly corresponds to what we are used to from a fifth or sixth gear, the gear in which you normally reach top speed. As a result, the car will always drive off on the electric motor and the petrol engine can only drive from a speed determined by the computer, otherwise the combustion engine will not rev enough and stall.

If the petrol engine is less loaded for driving forces, then an extra load can be provided by recharging the battery. And if more is needed, the electric motor kicks in again. Everything is aimed at ensuring that when the petrol engine (which, by the way, works according to the Atkinson principle) has to work, it works as much as possible in the sweet spot.

With the Honda Civic to Swindon

But what about the endurance test we introduced earlier this year? We recently took him on a trip to England. Previous generations of Civic, but also other Hondas, were produced there in Swindon, so we made a small detour to that place. The entire journey from the Netherlands to Swindon we are in a good mood. From the neatly straight highways in the Netherlands to the pockmarked British B-roads: everywhere the Civic feels like a quality product that sublimely combines comfort and driving pleasure. Unfortunately, the mood changes quickly as soon as we drive past the gate of the former factory. Large concrete obstructions, pylons on the road and closed fences behind which an abandoned mega-complex stands, give the whole an almost post-apocalyptic appearance. The fact that the roundabouts at the north and south gates are still named after Honda makes it even a bit spooky. Around the closure, Honda proudly announced that the American Panattoni would take over the facility and that a major logistics operation was coming. Apparently little has come of that.

Getting closer to take pictures at the former complex is not possible.

Yet the complex appears to be anything but forgotten. When we want to take a quick photo by steering between the pylons at the north entrance, sirens start wailing almost immediately. Even before we come to a stop, two unfriendly guards are standing in front of the car. They in turn call the police and less than ten minutes later four uniformed people line up around the new Civic to ask what we are doing here. If it turns out that we have no evil plans, we can go again, but we do not get an answer to the question of what is actually going on at the complex. Shame.

In AutoWeek 35, which will be released on Wednesday, August 30, the Honda Civic will compete against a Volkswagen Golf in a comparative test. And then the farewell approaches where we traditionally make a video in which we update you about six months of driving the Civic e:HEV.

Honda Civic in numbers

Starting position 9,104 km

Distance 23,168 km

14,064 kilometers driven

Tanked liters 735.64

Average consumption 5.2 l/100 km (1:19.1)

Fuel costs €1,355.26