Insights

A guide to hybrid powertrain layouts

Horse Powertrain — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:30:00 GMT

Hybrid powertrains are playing a critical role in automotive’s journey to reduce its emissions footprint. By combining an internal combustion engine (ICE) with electric propulsion, hybrids can improve fuel economy and reduce emissions while providing the flexibility and range drivers expect.

However, not all hybrid systems work in the same way. There are different hybrid powertrain layouts – representing different ways that the engine, electric motors, and transmission work together to deliver power to a vehicle’s wheels.

There are three overarching hybrid architectures: series, parallel and series-parallel. Each offers a different approach to balancing efficiency, performance, and complexity.

What is the Horse Powertrain X-Range?

Horse Powertrain — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 07:30:00 GMT

Horse Powertrain’s X‑Range series is a flexible toolbox of solutions that allows OEMs to convert their battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) into hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and range-extended EVs. This enables them to respond to rising hybrid demand without compromising their existing EV offerings.

Currently comprising three powertrains – the F15 Direct Drive, C15, and C15 Direct Drive – these ‘all-in-one’ solutions bring all the systems needed for a hybrid or range-extender powertrain together into a single, shared unit. These enable BEVs to be used as the foundation for hybrid vehicle lineups without requiring costly redesigns, freeing up resources that would otherwise be spent on a parallel hybrid production footprint.

How is methanol being used as an alternative fuel?

Horse Powertrain — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 07:30:01 GMT

As the automotive industry continues its transition towards low-carbon mobility, different applications and markets will end up following distinct technology paths.

Rather than electrification, this means many regions and industries will find a best-fit solution via an alternative fuel technology – including hydrogen, biofuels, and e-fuels. One alt-fuel that’s seeing considerable interest in markets such as China, is methanol.

What is the X-Range C15 Direct Drive?

Horse Powertrain — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 07:30:01 GMT

Starting from the late 2010s, global automakers made a concerted shift towards electrification – for several years, many brands committed themselves to fully replacing their combustion and hybrid model lineups with battery electric vehicles (BEV).

However, even in markets like Europe and China where BEV adoption has been widespread, there has still remained persistent consumer demand for internal combustion vehicles (ICEs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). At the same time, many regions have found that a complete shift to BEVs will only be achievable after decades of further investment in grid infrastructure and low-carbon energy systems, meaning that ICE and HEV solutions will remain a major part of their vehicle parcs for decades to come.

For the automakers that initially bet on a pivot to an all-BEV future, this created a problem. To maintain market share, brands now need to provide a diverse multi-powertrain vehicle lineup. However, the way that automakers have traditionally delivered BEV and ICE/HEV models has demanded parallel production capacity for each – different assembly lines, different R&D teams, and different vehicle design.

Winning the Autocar Sturmey Award

Horse Powertrain — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:11:50 GMT

This month, Horse Powertrain was recognized with Autocar’s Sturmey Award at the magazine’s annual awards ceremony in London.

As Autocar’s award for teams or organizations that are pushing at the frontier of automotive innovation, Sturmey Award winners have historically come from the side of the automotive industry responsible for delivering full vehicles to the public – automotive brands and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). But Horse Powertrain isn’t that sort of company: we’re completely focused on providing combustion and hybrid powertrain solutions to automakers. So, what have we done to break the precedent?

Why do engines need adapting for alternative fuels?

Horse Powertrain — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 07:30:01 GMT

As the automotive industry shifts to lower-emission mobility, alternative fuels like biofuels, compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen, and e-fuels are playing an increasingly important role in the global energy mix.

These fuels offer different routes to reducing emissions, as was discussed last month at FT Future of the Car, but they also behave very differently inside a combustion engine. As a result, traditional engine designs must be adapted to ensure performance, durability, and efficiency are maintained.

What is the X-Range C15?

Horse Powertrain — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 06:30:00 GMT

The HORSE X-Range C15 is a compact range extender, designed to fit into the front compartment of a BEV-native platform or under the rear seats. As a part of Horse Powertrain’s X-Range family, the C15 is part of a group of technologies designed to add hybrid and range-extender capabilities to BEV platforms, allowing automakers to access the benefits of hybrids without having to rethink their production pathways.

Why technological neutrality matters for Europe’s automotive industry

Horse Powertrain — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:56:25 GMT

Yesterday, members of the Horse Powertrain team spoke at the European Parliament to launch an exhibition on how EU innovations can help decarbonize road transport.

The main question for the evening was how Europe can decarbonize its mobility ecosystem while maintaining industrial competitiveness. Our team presented alongside Repsol - including Deputy CEO, Luis Cabra - whom we worked with earlier this year to develop a prototype engine that runs purely on 100% renewable fuels and consumes just 3.3 liters of fuel every 100 kilometers.

A number of MEPs attended, including Massimiliano Salini - Rapporteur of the CO₂ Emission Standards Regulation, who presented his report the day before our launch event - and Raúl De La Hoz Quintano, who presented and opened the event. Additionally, representatives from the European People’s Party (EPP), the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and Renew Europe were present. The MEPs shared some of their thoughts on how decarbonization can be achieved without compromising industrial progress, providing clear validation of the need for close collaboration between manufacturers and policy makers to protect the health and progress of the industry.

Throughout the evening, we explored how the EU’s review of CO2 standards for cars and vans could reconcile commercial viability with the bloc’s climate ambitions.

What is the X-Range F15 Direct Drive?

Horse Powertrain — Tue, 26 May 2026 07:30:01 GMT

The HORSE X-Range F15 Direct Drive is a unique system, developed by Horse Powertrain, designed to allow automakers to convert battery electric vehicles (BEVs) into hybrids. The technology consists of an engine, transmission, motor, and power electronics, and can replace the front electric drive unit of a BEV.

But how does this technology work? What principles underpin it? And how is it reshaping traditional models for automakers?

Horse Powertrain at FT Future of the Car 2026

Horse Powertrain — Mon, 18 May 2026 08:38:51 GMT

Passenger cars account for over 10% of CO2 emitted by modern civilization. This means any attempt to bring greenhouse gas emissions under control – namely, the 2050 net zero target of the Paris Agreement – needs to include significant transport decarbonization. But how exactly can automakers do this while maintaining their commercial viability?

Last week, the Financial Times' opening panel of their 2026 Future of the Car Summit tackled this question – and how the answer to it has evolved in the face of the rapid technological, regulatory, and economic shifts of the last few years.

Joining the panel was Horse Powertrain’s CEO, Matias Giannini. Moderated by the FT’s Alice Hancock, Matias spoke alongside:

Michael Lovatt, Chief Purchasing Officer of Volvo Group
Benjamin Krieger, Secretary General of the European Association of Automotive Suppliers
Peter Grünenfelder, President of the Association of Swiss Automobile Importers

Together, the panel focused on what the automotive industry of today needs to do to ensure it plays its part in emissions reduction while remaining financially sustainable.