How do Hybrid Cars Work?

Here’s an in-depth look inside a car’s hybrid system and how it works!

A hybrid system comprises of an internal combustion engine and electric motor fed by a battery pack to propel the transmission in a vehicle. Typical benefits include lower emissions and better fuel economy, less wear and tear on the combustion engine, and more power. In this video, we tear apart all of the components in the Honda Accord V6 Hybrid’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system to see what’s inside and how it works.


The main components of the IMA system are the battery pack (Nickel metal hydride, 144V DC), junction board with contactors, power inverter for the IMA motor, air condition power inverter, DC to DC converter, a blower motor fan that cools electronic components behind the rear seat, the motor control unit and the slim asynchronous 3-phase AC electric motor sandwiched between the engine and transmission. Additional features on the Accord include a slimmer transmission with an electric ATF pump, active noise cancellation, variable cylinder management, dual mode A/C compressor, aluminum rebar and hood, amongst other upgrades.


The Honda Accord V6 Hybrid was ultimately a failure for what it was – it did not deliver the expected fuel economy of a hybrid that’s because its asynchronous motor was mounted directly to the crankshaft of the engine. This meant it was a mild hybrid – the combustion motor had to always be turned on to move the vehicle and it couldn’t be run on electric power alone.

Skip to section in the video:
0:00 Introduction – Under Hood
0:49 Intelligent Power Unit
3:01 IMA Motor Removal
5:05 Intelligent Power Unit Components
8:56 Battery Teardown
11:48 Junction Board
14:38 Air Conditioner Inverter
15:00 DC-DC Converter
16:55 IMA Inverter
20:07 Motor Control Unit
20:37 IMA Motor
23:24 Final Thoughts



Here's an in depth look at how car electronics work:
   • Why Car Electronics are so Complex  



Here's an excellent resource video series by Weber Auto for reference:
   • Honda IMA Hybrids Part 1 - IPU with I...  


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