Sorry, EVs — I test drove my first PHEV and it’s the perfect blend of electric and gas power

[portyman]

Pretty absurd title. PHEVs make sense if you cannot charge at home. Otherwise, the answer is EV. That's really all there is to it.

It makes more sense if you can charge at home! Charge at home which takes 2 to 4 hrs in the UK with my kia phev, that's gives 30 miles or so local miles I can travel, that would get me to work and back twice, and actually gets me to most places I go day to day. On long trips after 30 miles the petrol engine kicks in, and depending on regeneration it can go back Into all electric from time to time, it never gets to zero battery, at about 10 to 15% you revert to standard hybrid. Charging away from home is more expensive here than charging in a public charger, so just fill up quick. A lot of phevs don't fast charge anyway, so no point changing on long trip. The electric motor gives the ice engine a nice shove when accelerating too. Everything is covered by 7 year warranty so no issue with having both. Looking at services for electric cars they seem to be quite high, phev is not to different to pure ice. Most places I visit don't have chargers so phev works well, can sometimes grab a free 30 miles charge at the cottage has a charger, but they are not guaranteed to work

 

[portyman]

I'm test driving the EV9 next. But as I've said, PHEVs is a good starting point to convince people about the potential benefits of EVs.

How is it it is best of both worlds? As an engineer I'm quite surprised by this statement. You have double of complexity in a hybrid compare to ICE or pure EV. You can't drive far on pure EV. Have to plug every day. You still have oil changes and spark plugs replacement which would cost a lot for a Lexus and you have a high voltage battery and a fuel tank that equals fire risk. No thanks.

Another statement that puzzles me that PHEVs are for people who don't drive far. Well if you don't drive far get a cheap EV with a moderate range. Still better than charging every day. No need to carry a fuel tank and the rest of ICE parts with you.

Just try an EV9 for a week if you fancy a 7 seater and you'll forget about PHEVs. It would drive far enough and charge fast and don't have to plug every day if you don't drive a lot daily. There are so many EVs these days for a price of PHEVs. Just doesn't make sense to me tbh

I was looking at replacing my car and was not looking specifically for a phev, but the car In the garage just happened to be one. I did think added complexity, so did not want one, but the car comes with a 7 year warranty so any issues will be sorted by kia. It's been great, the price of ev ser ices here is actually quite high considering there is no filters or oil to change, my phev is about the same as a pure ice car. It gets around 50 to 60mpg with battery ran out, actualy it never goes below 10% where it reverts to hybrid, but if you go down down steep hills it can charge quite a bit and goes back to full electric. It nice if I have to wait in a car park with dog while Mrs goes into a store as the air con works the electric battery, it will run for hours in my experience. If you live were it is cold all year around then in mine the ice engine ticks over to provide heat for cabin, it also charges the battery, its not on for long then auto turns off. I've been on a lot of holidays in uk, and its rare to find any charger that is in a place you would visit, fast chargers are rare and charging in a rental cottages is rare too. I think phevs kind of gives you best of both, cheap local journeys charging at home, longer trips just fill up with fuel. Only disadvantage is the batteries take away some storage space, but they tend not be too big , the extra weight is offset by the fuel tank being a bit smaller, but 500 miles is easily achieved.

 

[gmk2311]

Thanks Alexk12 for giving us, relatively scarce (not), apartment dwellers a nod. For some reason I was thinking that the hybrid/phev could charge the battery as I drive using the motor/alternator. I didn't see any mention of that in the article. That type of situation would be more attractive to us lowly apt. dwellers.

 

[bro what]

I wanna say a few things. I made this account purely because I could not believe any of what I read.

First, you were impressed by the lightning? The pickup truck that can't actually be used as a pick up truck? The one that can't actually tow? Or be used to go to job sites unless there's a charger near by? That's not a good EV or even good truck? That lightning?

Immediately, right there any opinion you had on vehicles or EVs became a joke.

But then, you went on to defend the Lexus 10-12 HOUR recharge from 0 as a good thing, or, not even a negative?

I... I'm at a loss for words here.

"Here's an SUV, with unimpressive mileage, unimpressive range and a glacially slow recharge rate to go 30 miles (if you're lucky). Oh and It's $80,000."

The 2004 Lexus 330 had an MPG of 20 (17/24). So excuse me if I'm not blown away by 20/29 from a much newer vehicle that's supposed to be "fuel efficient" and an ev lmao.

 

[dougpeng]

The best way to describe a PHEV is "electricity for your daily commute and gasoline for your long weekend getaways". Once you let that sink in, you'll realize it is the best of both worlds.