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What’s Better: A Fully Electric Car Or A Plug-In Hybrid EV?

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by Marine Ray, Feb 7, 2019.

  1. Marine Ray

    Marine Ray Senior Member

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  2. citiprius

    citiprius Active Member

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    My 2 cents:

    It really depends on your situation. If most of your commute is local, you can charge at home (or you have a very reliable power source at work) and the daily drive range is no more than 70% of the EV range, then I will vote for EV. The remaining 30% is for backup situation such as extreme cold weather, traffic, or unexpected trips, or, the battery degradation. And, most importantly, you have more than one car. I will always need a non-EV for occational out of range trip.

    Otherwise I will go for a plug-in hybrid, no more range anxiety.
     
  3. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    This is going to suffer from confirmation bias.

    Folks here are going to favor cars with great economy for extended distances because we ALREADY own such a vehicle, presumably because we need it.

    Folks who need great economy for short distances will have been discouraged from getting a hybrid, as it does not get great economy in short drives, so they won't be here to vote.

    This does not mean either group is 'wrong', they meet folks just like themselves, hanging out on the sites they frequent. But they guess wrong about what percentage of 'needs' exist in the general population.

    Years ago Diesel truck fans came to PriusChat to abuse tree huggers, and found that we weren't, we were folks with a different 'need'.

    I see 'hybrid owners' here simply because their living arrangement does not allow recharging. They are not going to be fans of an all electric future.

    I see cargo carriers (I identify as one, although retired now) who can't find a cargo EV. I keep looking at this: This Cheap Chinese Electric Pickup Truck Is No Rivian R1T

    Your background is going to both mold your opinion, but also mold whom you hang out with.

    Dewey Defeats Truman - Wikipedia
     
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  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    fully electric that matches the parameters of gassers
     
  5. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Hey, thanks for the info. If it really gets approved and sold near me, though very doubtful, this NEV is mine! Exactly what I need at right price.(y)

    Annotation 2019-02-07 161259.jpg

    The Pickman truck will only cost a mere $5,700!
    The all-electric truck in question is manufactured by China’s Kaiyun Motors. Sadly, the rear-wheel-drive vehicle only produces 5.5 horsepower and has a top speed of 28 mph. It will travel about 75 miles on a full charge and can carry 1,100 pounds. So, it’s really just a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV). Basically, this is an electric go-Kart or golf cart with some reasonable level of utility.
     
  6. George W

    George W Active Member

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    where can you plug in, as opposed to where you can fill-up? Today, hybrid makes more sense. In 10 years, and grid may be able to support a chicken in every pot.
     
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  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i can plug in, in my garage. but i cannot fill up there, unless i store 8 gallons of gas
     
  8. dgperc

    dgperc New Member

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    I'm considering a fully electric vehicle and currently have a Prius C. I don't have a garage though; just a driveway - is that OK for plugging in? Does the charging station-to-car have to be completely enclosed from the weather?
     
  9. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    pipe dream
     
  11. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    #11 Salamander_King, Feb 7, 2019
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2019
  12. m8547

    m8547 Senior Member

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    I plug in in my driveway everyday. I can't remember if the "box" part of the evse (charger) is waterproof, but the car plug side definitely is. Mine plugs into the wall inside my garage, which is slightly better than having it outside, but it would probably be fine outside with a proper waterproof-while-in-use electrical box.

    Ideally you could hard wire a charger on the side of the house or the side of a fence or something like that.


    A PHEV is in a way the best of both worlds, with EV driving the majority of the time but ability to add gas for unlimited range. But it's also the worst of both because you have to pay for and drive around with both an engine (and all the associated components) and a battery.

    I'd rather have a pure EV, but they are too expensive with decent range, and charging infrastructure is almost non existent around here outside the cities.

    I have two cars, so I could drive something like a Nissan leaf if I wanted to, but I calculated that with my typical driving I'll use slightly less gas driving a Prime most of the time and my 4runner (17mpg) occasionally, versus a leaf a lot of the time and the 4runner for every long trip. The Prime is the lowest gas solution that's not a Bolt or Tesla (both of which are too expensive for my budget).

    If ev prices come down and charging infrastructure gets built, that will become the best solution for a lot of people (but not everyone).
     
  13. noonm

    noonm Senior Member

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    Today, its probably PHEV. However, in the (likely near) future, it will be BEVs, for two reasons:
    • Battery costs will drop enough that BEVs will be cheaper than both gas and PHEVs.
    • The convenience of charging your BEV at (nearly) every parking spot will be too good to pass up.
     
  14. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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  15. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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  16. George W

    George W Active Member

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    But can you plug your electric at any convenience store? In 10 years, gas stations may be required to upgrade to also include some standard of EV.
     
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  17. Marine Ray

    Marine Ray Senior Member

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    Yes, gifted to my son. Also gifted my silver 2011 to my daughter. Love the new Prime so much better than the Gen 3. It's like night and day.
     
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  18. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    A nice father you are;).

    I’ve test driven a Prime a couple of years back when the airbag recall was done. They had a hypersonic red advanced that I test drove. Much more refined than the Gen3. So it almost left the dealer that day:cool:.

    Our Gen3 has 196k on it and going strong :).

    Congrats on the new Prime (y).
     
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  19. Marine Ray

    Marine Ray Senior Member

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    Good to hear that you are approaching 200K. Just about broken in.

    The Prime Advanced trim is the way to go. The heads up display makes it worth it.
     
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  20. m8547

    m8547 Senior Member

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    Maybe, but it still gets the pollution away from cities, in general. Less smog is a good thing.
     
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