Hey John. I think you need
Hey John. I think you need to look a little deeper. Plug-in EVs having "EV only" mode is a farse, or at the very least a dishonest portrayal that leads potential owners to future disappointment. You say "primarily as EVs" and owners may believe that to be true, but only because they aren't really keeping track. Beyond joining forums, I have done a lot of research into the subject, because I really wanted to believe PHEV to be a genuine option for someone looking to nearly eliminate fossil fuel usage. On the surface/marketing, a PHEV is the best option to many because they perceive BEV as being too limiting and they BELIEVE a PHEV can be EV-only when not being used for an extended trip. It just isn't so.
There are a few reasons for this:
1) severely restricted range. The Prius plus and its 25 miles simply isn't enough (particularly when combined with reason #2 below) to functionally operate on EV only for most people. The few that do, still need to refer to the reasons 2, 3 and 4 below.
2) winter. That 25 miles becomes 10 to 15. There's no way around this, and some PHEV (see Chrysler Pacifica) have programming to simply not allow EV usage below a certain temperature. OK, some people are blessed to live in perma-spring. They can see #3 and #4 below.
3) conditions. Almost all PHEVs are designed to operate such that the two powertrains complement each other for performance. Hills, extra weight, a heavy accelerator pedal... these all engage the gas engine "unnecessarily" and depending on the model you may not have any control over it at all. Yes, the car still relatively "sips" the gas and yes that's "better" than an ICE, but it isn't EV only. Alright, you never haul anything, you live in a flat area and you drive like a granny... you still have to consider #4.
4) "maintenance mode". Whether it is a genuine need or a marketing deal with the oil companies, I couldn't say... but all PHEVs, whether admitted to in their manual or not, burn fuel periodically to "maintain" the gas components and/or prevent the fuel from gelling. For some (again Pacifica, I'm looking at you) this is quite considerable. Those that have tried to use it as a genuine EV-only have seen some astonishingly high fuel consumption figures. Others, like the Prius plus, you aren't going to engage it because you have such low range that you're going to use the gas engine regularly anyway.
PHEV had its place for about a minute 5 years ago. Prior to that they weren't good enough. Now that they're good enough, what's the point? BEV is just better. This whole concept of "range anxiety" is in most people's heads and nothing more. As a fully electric household (no "backup" ICE vehicle for roadtrips, etc), I can confidently say that "range anxiety" stops within 2 months of owning one. True, there are some theoretical places that I can't feasibly get to, and for those my "backup" would theoretically be a rental car. But I'm going on year 6 and I've yet to rent a car even once, and we've done plenty of trips in the Teslas. The Bolt, not so much. Tesla's charging network is just so vastly more convenient and the car is more comfortable, so it is the obvious choice... but if the Bolt was all we had, it would be fine too.
Gas should be firmly in society's rearview already. That day is coming at an accelerating rate. Buying a PHEV now, in my opinion, is just holding onto a safety blanket for most people. For those that really need it, just be aware that you'll be burning fuel more than you think if you've done the calculation and determined that your commute is within you model's "EV-only" range.