When Is Pure Electric Car Most Useful and When To Buy Hybrid
This morning Torque News published Douglas Peng's story titled Why Plug-in Hybrids Are Better Than All-Electric Cars in which he discusses Lithium-Ion batteries and weekend outings with Plug-in hybrid cars. I shared the in my Toyota Prius Owners Club on Facebook and got several interesting replies from the members. Here are some of them below.
Pure electric is only useful as a second car for commuting only. A plug-in hybrid functions as a fuel-free commuter AND an unlimited mile highway machine. "I live in Texas. Houston to Dallas is 250 miles. How many electric cars could even make the one-way trip?" asks Michael Duran in the group.
David McCarthy - The Tesla Model S, Model X, Model 3 LR all can make that trip depending upon battery. Just like how ICE vehicles have different trim levels for $$$ to spend, EVs have battery sizes. And Tesla Roadster 2020 can make it to and back on a single charge.
Michael Duran - Buying a Tesla is like being a beta tester at your own (very high) cost. I cannot afford to test and tune someone else's product with my school teacher salary.
David McCarthy - No more than buying any other vehicle. There has been over 50 car fires due to minor accidents and because of repairing a windshield. Toyota, Ford, Chevy, GM, all the players have had massive recalls and some would rather let owners die and settle out of court than pay to fix faulty ignition switches.
Tom Corso - I have both. A Prius and a Volt. I looked at the plug in Prius, but the Volt was more of what I wanted. The fact that I already had a Prius, made the Volt a better choice. But I may upgrade the Prius to a Prius plug-in. Then I have the best of both. Prius gets 50mpg gas and 20 miles per charge. The Volt gets 40mpg gas and 40 miles per charge. I use the Volt around town. I use my wife's Prius for highway trips.