Follow us today...
Mercedes Benz recently announced it is pulling the plug on its entire present PHEV lineup to replace it with longer range PHEVs. I actually find this disappointing. Here is why.
Beverly Hills is banning them from public charging stations at risk for a fine.
The UK has put them on that list of banned polluting cars by 2040.
They are being banned from HOV lanes, and preferential treatment like special EV parking lots everywhere!
In the end PHEVs will be remembered as the EV that goes back to dirtying, after mile 30ing!
What Mercedes Benz and other car makers need to do is pull the plug on their entire PHEV lineups period, and replace them with a full line of battery electric vehicles called BEVs. But like most car makers they’re hesitant to do this for a variety of reasons which adds not abates the problem. Unfortunately you will soon see the end result of this decision in just a few years when you’re waiting at a charging station with your BEV while someone with a PHEV who doesn’t need to recharge as urgently as you do, is in front of you. Let me explain what I mean.
PHEVs are what we commonly refer to as plugin hybrids. Mercedes creating a longer range PHEV hybrid only prolongs an inevitable problem by kicking the can down the road. With the current progression of battery technology, the only exception I can see for a PHEV now, is for a camper or SUV for off grid living. In fact a PHEV is perfect for that scenario. But a PHEV hybrid system is not needed any longer in an ordinary passenger car for daily road driving. That’s it.
And let me be clear, I’m talking about the PHEV hybrid you plug into a charging station, not any other, like a regenerative HEV. HEVs are a different segment for another post. Remember this rule of thumb with PHEVs: the tinier the battery the more frequent the required trips to the charging station if you want to keep your fuel costs low.
A segment created by GM with the first PHEV, the Chevy #Volt almost 10 years ago, was recently sent to committee for cancellation by them-PHEVs like the Volt are not needed anymore. GM even said so as their reason for possibly cancelling the Volt that’s under review. We are now ready for all out full electric cars called BEVs, battery operated electric vehicles.
The sooner manufacturers get rid of them (PHEVs) the shorter the lines will be at charging stations in the next 3-5 years. PHEVs even with longer ranges cannot still compete with BEVs. Like a tiny bladder at a bathroom, PHEVs require more trips to a charging station. And trust me, you’ll thank the manufacturers for getting rid of them finally in the soon coming future when you pull into a charging station with your BEV to see someone with an old Volt, Prius, or Lincoln Aviator charging their paltry 35-50 mile battery with a long line behind them when they can drive their car on gas. It’s already causing resentment! This experience will intensify nationwide if we don’t get rid of PHEVs (and frankly start building charging stations much faster) ASAP. The sooner the better.
Why are car manufacturers kicking this can down the road by insisting on making some kind of PHEV?
1. They’re afraid: they’re not sure their customers are truly ready for electrification, especially the North American market. Unlike Asia and Europe, we Americans are not building charging stations fast enough because we are continuing to get over our denial about things like climate change, our fear and hesitance about electric cars, and fear or uncertainty about the upcoming EV and AV proliferation.
2. They’re listening to their North American dealers: this is the same reason car dealers are trying to steer you away recently from buying an electric car. I’m reading all kinds of recent car dealer horror stories online. Be prepared: some them shamefully and/or falsely are unfamiliar with their electric products. Also their service department isn’t going to make much money on repairs with electric cars as they do with gas and hybrid cars. A car with 2 propulsion systems means double the money especially out of warranty.
3. Car makers are cheap. They’re waiting for Washington to spend money on charging stations and visa versa for Washington with the car makers. And frankly, we like to give tax breaks but we don’t like to spend money on infrastructure like the Chinese and Europeans do. That’s why our roads are crap. Everyone’s expecting the manufacturers to follow the Tesla model of charging stations to build them on their own, but there’s a reason why a Model S And X cost around $100,000. They include free charging. Not all consumers can afford electric cars like that.
BEVs with longer ranges and more home charging means less cars at public and refueling charging stations! Like the gasoline car whose time will soon come to an end, time has already past for the hybrid. Instead we insist on clinging to both. Let’s start pulling plugs on PHEVs.
Reference: Autocar. Image source: Twitter.
REPORTER’S EDIT 7/10/18: An earlier version of this report indicated that the Chevy Volt was cancelled by GM. That’s not entirely accurate, the car has been put on review to committee for cancellation. And in that regard that it is under review, there’s a good chance it will be cancelled. I’d like to thank my loyal reader Dean for enabling me to correct this fact. Thanks Dean!
Follow us today...
Comments
I think that Mercedes is
Permalink
I think that Mercedes is making the right decision for their business now. Designing a clean sheet EV is very costly, and it takes years to do. Just the space and weight required for a battery that takes a car 200 miles is easily 4X the size, weight, and cost of adding a PHEV battery. It probably cost twice as much overall to adapt a gasoline powered car to be a 200 mile range EV as it does to adapt a small gas motor/generator, add an electric motor, and a relatively small battery to the trunk.
Most affordable EVs today offer 80 miles range or less. Exceptions being the $30K Leaf (150mi.) $38K Bolt (238mi.) $35K-60K Model 3 (210+ mi.), and for most buyers range anxiety is very real in an EV with under 100 miles of range.
Also I do not agree that PHEVs have twice the maintenance requirements. I leased 2 Volts, then bought a Volt, and bought a Cadillac ELR. And with my leased Volts I averaged 161-184MPG over the lease. Meaning that even with 36k and 45K on the car, I only had a few thousand miles on the gas generator motors.
I travel 100 miles a day in my commute, and I have rarely used public chargers because the process is too slow, and they are not always available. I just charge at home overnight.
I disagree with much of this
Permalink
I disagree with much of this article, which smacks of EV elitism. BEV's still aren't ready for prime time in many areas because of the lack of charging stations.
There's also the issue of a lack of standard, as CHAdeMO is still competing with CCS and Tesla's supercharger network, which will only further confuse people looking into EV's because it's essentially Betamax vs VHS again. Or HD-DVD vs Bluray to use a modern moniker.
Electric vehicles already have an alphabet soup of acronyms to deal with, so having to explain all these things like kWh, 120v vs 240v charging, EVSE, the tax credit which will start to affect certain brands soon, to the average person will likely turn them off.
Also, not everyone has a garage or driveway parking, such as apartment dwellers or people with only side street parking. A BEV wouldn't be practical for them because they'd have no way to charge it at home, and not everyone wants to wait hours at a charging station either.
Aside from that, the article completely misses the fact that the more plug-ins on the road, the less gas we're using overall. For every one Tesla Model S with a 100 kWh battery, you could easily make 5 and a half Gen 2 Chevy Volt batteries that are around 18 kWh in size.
5 people driving around Volts will cause less emissions in the long run than just 1 Tesla Model S.
And there's still the range anxiety to worry about. Yes, the Chevy Bolt can work for most people. But if they have to drive say, 4 hours away, they'll have to plan very carefully and hope there's working charging stations along the way. Or they'll have to borrow/rent/use a 2nd gas car.
In the Volt, they can just drive there and burn some gas. Then when just doing their work commute, the Volt is as electric as a Nissan Leaf or Tesla if their commute is within the Volt's EV range. I've done exactly that as seen in my picture below.
While many other automakers have pretty terrible EV range in their plug-in hybrids, it's cheaper to make a smaller battery with a gas engine backup for it so it eases people's fears of range anxiety or getting stuck on the road due to a dead battery until longer ranged and cheaper EV's show up,.along with a more spread out charging network to enable long distance driving.
I have driven PHEVs since
Permalink
I have driven PHEVs since they came out. They are fabulous city cars for several reasons. First, half or more of city dwellers reside in an apartment building or condo that has no infrastructure for charging and if it does, it's 110 not 220. Generally, most of us just want to get to work and back with no gas. I can do it on 20 miles most days, like 5 out of 7. Therefore, unless l need a long trip, l am not polluting. 50 miles would be nirvana for me. I would only use gas on a longer trip where infrastructure is no where what it needs to be yet. I am getting currently 90 miles to the gallon, l would likely be way over a 100 on that.
When there are 250 mile cars for those of us that need a max 35k dollar car, l will get in line and get one, but will likely have a PHEV for the backup long trip as l am not going to sit around and wait for the ev to charge up on my way to Vegas until they are plentiful and charge 80 percent in 15 minutes while l get a coffee.
Well Mark that’s YOU, not the
Permalink
Well Mark that’s YOU, not the rest of the world as it is, that people who buy PHEVs are getting into the game without having a peripheral of what’s going on since, and where PHEVs are going, and soon. And frankly, since it’s not all about you, when you sell your car, and it becomes old, for that new owner to so not be a first adopter and have a last adopter bank account, and that range to be significantly reduced to what it is so not now, what are the chances that owner will replace the battery? And what are the chances if the electrical battery portion is not working that it’s only working in gas mode will that owner fix the electrical battery part ASAP so he isn’t polluting the air? Today’s luxury PHEVs are tomorrow’s 50 mile and then go back to gas polluters. As I’ve said and written, PHEV are supposed to be transition vehicles. The goal is ZERO emissions, not LOW emissions, what’s the point otherwise? Your car is prolonging that process. Bob Lutz created the segment, and it has become lack of a better word, an infestation. Lutz specifically stated PHEVs are supposed to be transition vehicles. It’s been over 10 years since the first Volt, and time for the transition and that car and yours, to come to an end soon. A study recently came out that short electric ranges are what are keeping consumers from looking for used EV vehicles. This is also why your PHEV will be book valued WORTHLESS compared to what you bought it for, when you decide to sell or trade in. PHEVs are BANNED after 2040 in Europe. We have enough choices by next year in vehicles, the public charging dynamic will never be what it’s like to gas a car so you better get used to that, and as we go along business, institutions, and establishments will make it increasingly harder for you to park, charge, use HOV lanes, etc. in a PHEV as they should do. We should start phasing them out NOW! They’ve been useful, I hope you enjoy your car, but they’ve got to go.
So disagree with you. Your
Permalink
In reply to Well Mark that’s YOU, not the by Al Castro
So disagree with you. Your comment that short ranges of EVs keeping public from buying is correct. No one yet is 400 miles like a tank of gas. Long charging times next. Gas is still way quicker and it's an impatient buying crowd. Last is price. The prices are still unaffordable.
Therefore, until we have a near 400 mile EV tgat charges in less than 10 minutes for under 40k, the best bet is a 50 mile PHEV. MO gas if all city and daily drive and the ability to take a long drive at hybrid miles.
Mercedes knows this. Every one of their cars will offer a 50 mile PHEV before 2020.
Sorry, we are still 4 or 5 years from the big transition. Further, the PHEVs have had surprisingly good retail, above buy backs on leases in virtually every PHEV
I have two leaves coming up, both are in the market at higher than buybacks. I am gonna buy them until l can get a 50 mile PHEV or a sub 40k EV with 400 miles, so l must beg to differ.
So disagree with you. Your
Permalink
In reply to Well Mark that’s YOU, not the by Al Castro
So disagree with you. Your comment that short ranges of EVs keeping public from buying is correct. No one yet is 400 miles like a tank of gas. Long charging times next. Gas is still way quicker and it's an impatient buying crowd. Last is price. The prices are still unaffordable.
Therefore, until we have a near 400 mile EV tgat charges in less than 10 minutes for under 40k, the best bet is a 50 mile PHEV. MO gas if all city and daily drive and the ability to take a long drive at hybrid miles.
Mercedes knows this. Every one of their cars will offer a 50 mile PHEV before 2020.
Sorry, we are still 4 or 5 years from the big transition. Further, the PHEVs have had surprisingly good retail, above buy backs on leases in virtually every PHEV
I have two leaves coming up, both are in the market at higher than buybacks. I am gonna buy them until l can get a 50 mile PHEV or a sub 40k EV with 400 miles, so l must beg to differ.
Y’all are accusing me of this
Permalink
Y’all are accusing me of this silly ELITISM and I’m so wrong that I can tell NONE of you.did your research thoroughly to know the larger story of what’s going on with your PHEVS. Are you reading this carefully because after this I’m not going to waste my time: I have the environmentalists with me. I have the European and the uK regulators with me. I got Bob Lutz who created the segment pinned down. And most importantly I got plain common sense. This about ZERO that’s ZERO not LOW emissions. You’re not going to get the kind of charging you did with gas refueling. Accept that dynamic until it improves. You already have models with over 230 miles of range. Tiny batteries are what is causing an EV devaluation in the used Car market. ALL FACT I don’t understand what it is YOU FOLKS DONT SEE: it’s as plain as the day. We don’t need PHEVs anymore. It’s been 10 years. The Europeans are going to phase them out. Not right this second not tomorrow not next year. But soon. And so should we. The Trump Adminsrration won’t do it so I don’t know why y’all are so upset. But don't be surprised if the next administration does. Your PHEV was a transition vehicle. Now more luxury brands are making them than the mainstreams it’s beome an accessory. Not good. We’re beyond lith ion we’re working on solid state batteries. Those cars are hampering the transition. ENOUGH OF THIS SILLY NONSENSE OK? Stop scrolling on your phones and start reading for a change!. That’s it. Agree to disagree. But my conscience is clear and I have my allies with me. Who’s yours? As figured. Case closed. That’s it.
You have got to be kidding!
Permalink
You have got to be kidding! Is this article from The Onion? Of course phev is nirvana for most people and yes we want phev with 40-60 miles on electric only. And an additional 300 in the gas tank. The writer of this article, I hesitate to call him an offer cuz it's such a poor promo piece for b e v, obviously doesn't live in the world but the rest of us live in. Many of us would like to go to work and back, a 15-mile ride one way, en pure electric but guess what that's not the extent of our life. We go places on the weekends. We go places that are more than 15 miles away in point we even go places that don't have any charging capabilities! What do you suppose we do when we get too far from a charging station? Call AAA? Are they going to bring us some electrons in a can? Not happening! So for those of us that are not retired and only go to the grocery store and back, the phev with a larger battery and a decent size gas tank is the way to go. If the larger battery can accommodate the commute that you do daily, and let's remember folks that's different for everyone! Then the phev is a success. Until the infrastructure around the country, and around the world, is upgraded and standardized, bees are not going to take over. It's as simple as that.
Mr Yahoo writer also did not notice that a lot of people have solar panels these days whoops forgot about them!
For those of us with solar who have excess generation I want to charge up a big amount of a battery at night so then I don't have to recharge the next few days or if I'm doing a longer Drive I don't run out of my free electricity during the middle of my day before I come home. Right now I am generating 6000 kilowatt-hours excess every year. 6000. You know what that means? I have 16 kilowatt hours on average every single day of the year that I want to plug into my phev battery. Some days I'm going to drive longer than a 16 kilowatt-hours allows me some days I drive shorter than that. But if I don't put them in my car I can't use them, and if I can only put 10kWh in at a time, that's 10 kilowatt-hours like with some of these janky Little PHEVs (ioniq, subaru, volvo, etc) that are available now, I will never be able to use up my 6000.
Whoever wrote this up must have done very poorly and all his Elementary School writing classes. I hope when he gets to high school he learns how to show both sides of an argument and does plenty of research in advance. His article is a complete joke.
The article is some kind of a
Permalink
The article is some kind of a joke. The author lives in his BEV fantasy world.
PHEVs are not going anywhere anytime soon and I hope all manufacturers will start replacing their ICE cars with PHEVs as this is a perfect car for today. BEVs are the future which will not happen anytime soon.