The 94 hp of the 1.6 liter four-cylinder is pimped with a 49 hp electric drive and a starter generator (20 hp).
In the middle of Morocco, around the small town of Errachidia, not all deserts are the same: from pure sand to rocky sections, dunes and steppe with scrubby grass and barren trees, even the vast landscape is varied. Just like the drive portfolio should be. This summer, the Juke will be offered as a hybrid for the first time. Of course it is – how could it be otherwise – under the hood of the desert runabout.
145 hp system power
To get straight to the point: No, this car is neither a thoroughbred rally car nor built according to regulations. It is therefore also forgivable that the performance data is manageable: the petrol engine has 69 kW (94 hp) and delivers a maximum torque of 148 Newton meters. The electric motor with its maximum 205 Newton meters pimps that up significantly – with an output of 36 kW (49 hp). And the 15 kW (20 hp) starter generator also plays a part in the drive trio. That makes a combined 145 hp system output.
In the dusty nowhere you are fast enough with it. Attention is required. Deep furrows cross the path. Brake quickly. The needle of the round instrument next to the speedometer, which shows the power consumption and output of the hybrid system, dives deep into the “Charge” scale. At only 1.2 kilowatt hours, the comparatively small battery charges exclusively through recuperation. While the Rallye-Juke usually starts up electrically, the driver has no influence on when which motor is used. A multimodal transmission with four gears for the combustion engine and two “electric” gears is the hub of the drive.
Safety first: Reporter Martin Westerhoff in the cockpit of the Rally Juke.
The advantage of this transmission: It can switch between different hybrid types – serial, parallel or power-split. The transitions cannot be felt. Only heard when the combustion engine fails. In the production version, the Juke Hybrid consumes around 40 percent less fuel in urban areas and up to 20 percent less in combined transport than the 1.0-liter petrol engine with 84 kW (114 hp). Combined, that would correspond to exactly four liters per 100 kilometers.
