[Iron Lung Jimmy]

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

PHEVs do probably make the most sense, especially from a consumers point of view. In some circumstances the PHEV can completely overlay the typical use of an EV. If it has enough range (40+ miles) PHEVs can be driven almost 100% on electricity.

The problem has been, there are not many fully functional PHEVs on the market. Toyota has been changing that and, depending on what GM comes back to market with, they may be able to do that too. What do I mean by fully functional? Easier to offer an example of what ISN’T fully functional. The 1st generation Prius Prime had an 8.8kWh battery and could do at most 25 miles on electric before turning on the ICE. Also, there was a top EV speed set, though I don’t remember what that was. Something in the 40 - 60 mph range. If someone remembers please feel free to drop that in here. By contrast, the Chevrolet Volt had an 18.1 kWh battery, a 53 mile range, and could drive engine off all the way to its electronically limited top speed of 99 mph. Today Toyota has upped their game on PHEVs and offer them almost across the board. The Prius Prime gets a much more respectable 44 EV miles per full charge. Battery size is increased to 10.9 kWh. I’m not sure if it is speed limited like the 1st gen. The RAV4 Prime is the highest performance and highest price trim in the lineup and they have trouble keeping them in stock.

The biggest issue with PHEVs is from the manufacturer’s side. They have to engineer two fully functional drivetrains into the vehicle and that drives a lot of cost and complexity. That is probably the single reason we have not seen more PHEV products in the market. That, and the battery size (10+ kWh vs under 2 kWh for hybrids) make it more difficult to package, sometimes resulting in compromises elsewhere in the vehicles.

That's a real thing. My Volvo has essentially no center console storage because that's where the battery lives.