Inside EVs Article Illustrates Why Affordable Plug-in Hybrids Make More Sense Than BEVs

These are all good points. I've had 4 PHEVs, and have a Cadillac ELR PHEV as my daily commute car now. I can attest to the fact that plug in hybrids offer great freedom, working as a pure electric car most of the time, but having the ability to drive unlimited distances and experience zero range anxiety. I am also puzzled by BEV enthusiasts who try to discredit PHEVs and hybrids. The true value of electrification is to move away from dependence on fossil fuels, and BEV enthusiasts who do not recognize that 97% of new vehicles sold today are purely gas/diesel cars today, should know that shooting down part of the 3% of other electrified cars who also want to make a positive change, only hurts the greater cause of getting the 97% of gas only drivers to want to buy an electric car. Why fight for crumbs? With regard to the public charger situation, that was an interesting read about Electrify America's problems with trying to install so many fast chargers in such a short time frame. One drawback of most all PHEVs today is that they have not supported DC fast charging. Hopefully that will change for the newer PHEVs. A few years ago I was talking with someone who was working with a power company who wanted to spend many millions of dollars (and charge their customers for the project) to install hundreds of electrical chargers. But to my eyes the fatal flaw of their plan was that they wanted to have over half of the new chargers be level 1 chargers! Meaning 110V, and charging at 3-5 miles of range added per hour. To me it was a big waste of money, and I suggested that they have a minimum of Level 2 (220V, 11-70 miles of EV range added per hour) and work on adding DC fast chargers. But because there was no one established standard for fast charging (outside of proprietary Tesla Superchargers) they couldn't commit to having ANY fast chargers. One point in the favor of BEVs that I think is often ignored is that the range of BEVs has been steadily increasing past 200 miles. So even though there are certainly many people who cannot charge at home, there are millions of people who can. And if your BEV has a 200+ mile EV range and you can charge at home, then most likely you can drive every day and not ever worry about running out of power. The times where most people need to drive over 200 miles in a day are extremely rare, and most people today who buy a BEV also have a gasoline car for the rare, long road trip. I would have no problem (other than cost) in owning a BEV, but I am so pleased with the plug in hybrids that I have had (first two leased, then last two bought) that I cannot see going back to a non-electric car in the future. For automakers, the uncertainty (that is over-publicized on the internet) of BEV charging problems means that they need to build BEVs with the biggest batteries possible, but it is fairly easy for them to also build PHEVs and regular hybrids, which offer many of the economical advantages of electric cars, but also have the security blanket of gasoline, which remains the world standard of fuel/energy for vehicles today. I believe that the best path to a quick migration to supporting electric vehicles is to NOT fight over which EV technology is better, trying to put down competing hybrid, PHEV, FCEV (fuel cell) and BEV models, but to work together to encourage ALL EV technologies to succeed. Showing how each EV technology helps in moving away from fossil fuel dependency.

Amen! PHEVs offer a great alternative to full EVs, for the many places (i.e. vast majority of the world) that don't have a good charging infrastructure. You can have CO2 emissions as low as full EVs (when considering lifetime emissions, and with typical powergrid) , without the range anxiety !

Great article, pretty much nails the reality of things right on the head.

Since 2001, we have owned or leased 5 electrified vehicles, including a hybrid, a PHEV, and 3 BEVs. The BEVs are vastly superior to the PHEV in terms of power, reliability, design, and electronics. The PHEV is a mediocre ICE vehicle and a poor EV. Ours was in the shop 8 times in 2 years.

We have charged on the public network over 1,600 times and have only had a few dozen problems. The real "mess" is what fossil fuels have done to our atmosphere. We have both CCS and CHAdeMO connectors and CHAdeMO is far more reliable because it locks in place 2 ways - CCS always faulting out due to torque applied to loose connector by heavy cables.

While I agree with the article as it relates to most of the marketplace, it’s a glaring omission not to mention Tesla and how they have solved the problem. This article implies that this is the only reality. Tesla has a fast and reliable supercharging network that is growing worldwide while established manufacturers are waiting for a government solution to be provided. Tesla owners don’t not have the problems anywhere near to the extent described in this article. Most Tesla Supercharging locations have 8 or more bays per location. The Model 3 starts at $40,000 and the total cost of ownership makes it a better proposition than many ICE vehicles costing less.

I have nothing against PHEVs and I do agree that they are a superior choice for the environment than any ICE vehicle, but to imply as this article does that a full EV is not a viable option is incorrect. The “problem” is that the only viable EV options available today are all sold by Tesla.

I bought a Bolt this year, but only because there was no good PHEV SUV available. The Outlander has poor gas efficiency and low EV range, and there were no other options. But, the upcoming RAV4 Prime will surely change that. And, it achieves most of the environmental benefits of any BEV with much greater flexibility. Anyone who doesn't buy a BEV because of charging concerns should seriously consider the new PHEVs. As for charging, the EA network is expanding rapidly, much faster the Tesla's SC network. In a couple of years it will surpass it. Reliability issues are being addressed. But, I wouldn't want to be without a home charging option with a BEV.

Funny the difference one can experience with the public charging network... we've been driving a Chevy Bolt EV around Boston metro north and west for the past three years and praising the charging network (L2, at least, which is the most appropriate on a local travel basis) here, relative to other cities we visit like NYC.

It's so affordable and readily available as to be more cost-effective than charging at home (8 cents per kWh average on public vs. 15 cents per kWh at home), with more stations going in all the time. Grocery stores including Shaw's, Wegman's, and Star Market have all added complimentary L2 charging, while the local AMC theater also has the same Volta units (ad-supported), so we can juice up while watching a movie and come out to a near-full battery three hours later!

I think a key distinction is to be made between the ambitiously expanded and expensive DC fast charging network referenced in the original (and exceptional) article by Tom Moloughney and the slower-yet-ubiquitous L2 network, which grows gradually and requires minimal investment to install/expand. The former is experiencing growing pains for obvious reasons... this time last year there were a handful of locations nationwide, now in 2020 there are nearly 400. Electrify America has been a hot mess of a network at times over the last 12 months, but we just completed 700-miles of holiday travel to Ohio and back with no major disruption on their stations. Meanwhile, locally, we're driving for around 4 cents per mile thanks to ample L2 charging and couldn't be happier! As much as I appreciate the bridge technology a PHEV provides and the need for some to fall back on gas for more convenient road-tripping, there's just no way we could go back to lugging around a combustion engine and limited all-electric miles just to save a couple of hours on a couple of long journeys.

This article is pure hog wash. Most people mostly charge at home. When we occasionally need to charge outside, we can charge about hundred miles in less than ten minutes. New hybrid lithium and super capacitor batteries can be charged faster than gasoline pumps. Tesla bought Maxwell Super Capacitors, which will be incorporated in newer Tesla cars. While our opinions might vary, we should stick to the facts about current technology.

While all these points are valid, the framing is a bit skewed. It's not that one is better than another. It's that each offers different solutions for their target demographic.

I own a Bolt and a gas minivan. We are a multigenerational home living with home charging access. However within our vicinity there are 4 options for free charging and many paid options. After having owned the BEV for almost 2 years now, we've saved a lot of money not paying for mileage and maintenance of an gas engine. This cost-benefit alleviated the payments for the vehicle, which is now our primary mode of transportation.

It's not for everyone but it works out great for us.

Why the industry is not moving towards Hydrogen cars?

How about standardized battery swapping stations? Robotics to rescue.

Great article. Big oil didn't give up yet. But they will the minute some pumps get converted to dual service.