I recently read, power for reverse is only done in electric mode. Why is this? I'm not so sure this is a good idea for me when I repeatively go into the snow country for skiing. If I get stuck in the snow, I may not have the torque to back out of the snow.

 

Your car has no reverse gear. However, while the engine is running, it can be powering the first motor/generator to generate lots of current that can be fed into the second motor/generator to drive your car backwards. There is more torque in that motor at low speeds than your engine has, so the only limitation your car has in reverse is how fast it can go backwards, and you will have all the torque you will ever need to manage backing up in the snow. If your battery is well charged, it can provide the current the motor needs, but the battery is not needed to go backwards.

-- Alan

 

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...ead.php?t=6441

It's unlikely that you'll ever get stuck in any situation where a conventional Escape could get out of.

 

As mentioned, electric motors are actually extremely "torquey"....hence the incredible acceleration of EV's like the new Tesla sports car. That said, your speed and HP will be limited to the electric motors. The reason is that the CVT is not a traditional geared transmission and there is no reverse gear to speak of.

 

This is a bit of a puzzle, really.

Since with the unique CVT concept MG2 could clearly be used to cause the front driveline to turn backwards even with the ICE turning "forward"...

 

The question becomes why would you want to... at 20mph or so and below the ICE would likely be turning at low RPM, the electric motor is going to provide the most torque anyway at those low RPMs. Especially because its an atkinson cycle engine and the low end torque is pretty bad.

So instead, run the ICE at a higher RPM to turn the generator and provide full current to the motor. The only time the ICE would be at much of an advantage in reverse is if someone wants to backup at high rates of speed which I wouldn't recommend in any car. Its a 95hp electric motor... it can push the vehicle just fine in reverse at reasonable speeds. In fact someone mentioned they pushed a horsetrailer backwards just fine with it... I personally don't recommend exceeding the towing capacity like that though.