Featured if you are looking at a new plugin or EV which is more important, range or MPGe?

My comment was about the people that go back to less efficient vehicles as soon as the price drops no matter the fuel.

Arguments beyond efficiency and fuel price can support getting a plug in; national security and drive experience are two.

 

Answering the title, MPGe.

Basically any EV - even NEVs with lead acid - will have enough range for my commute. However, the greater the efficiency, the smaller the battery can be for my required range. Smaller battery means I'm more likely to be able to remove it, carry it inside, charge it on a normal 120 volt outlet in a reasonable amount of time, then carry it back out to the vehicle and reinstall it. (The only "car" capable of doing that is the Estrima Birò, and it's a light quadricycle, Europe's equivalent to the NEV. Otherwise, it's e-bikes (which, those, I can carry the whole thing inside), scooters, or the Zero XU, FX, or FXS.)

Now, if I had a garage, it'd be range to a point (the Prius Prime more than doubles that point, as an example, although a PiP probably wouldn't meet it in the real world), then efficiency once that point is reached. However, the two do go hand in hand - increases in efficiency are also increases in range for the same size battery. As an example, even if I didn't have a bias against Volkswagen, I wouldn't buy an Audi A3 e-tron - both charge depleting and charge sustaining efficiency are rather poor, even though it meets my range requirements. (I mean, it's got higher energy consumption in charge depleting mode than the freaking Pacifica Hybrid - 41 kWh/100 mi versus 40 kWh/100 mi - and only slightly better in charge sustaining mode - 2.9 gal/100 mi versus 3.1 gal/100 mi. And that's a car that's smaller than the Prius, when the Pacifica is a BIG FREAKING VAN.)

 

but we don't know how many people are coming from hybrids, and how many are coming from gassers, $100,000 vehicles excepted, is the alt fuel market growing?

 

I'm not sure how much it matters what we here think. That someone here can cite energy consumption figures off the top of their head puts them into a very small population, not enough to move the needle significantly on sales figures. I think the volume buying populace buys/leases on monthly cost, styling, wow factor, imagined utility, and brand perceived prestige in some order personal to each person.

 

no question, especially at 2 dollar gas.

 

In my opinion, those are excellent reasons why people buy Tesla vehicles specifically. While Tesla makes vehicles that combine all those factors, many other electric vehicles do not. I certainly don't see people lauding Smart cars or the Nissan Leaf for such things.

 

I was speaking to a Fiat salesman. He noted that since they have had the 500e in stock, not one person that test drove both the 500 and 500e bought the non-electric version.
I also have spoken with BMW 3 owners that switched to a Volt for the quality of the drive.

While Tesla is the obvious make that comes to mind, people are making those choices with less expensive EVs.

 

And, a friend of mine was looking to buy a used Smart ED as a runabout, citing the power delivery actually being fun (as opposed to the gas previous-gen Smarts, which had a dreadful gearbox which made them awful to drive), but couldn't find one without Battery Assurance Plus.

 

Isn't Battery Assurance Plus smart's battery lease program? That might not be possible to get on a used car.

 

It is the battery lease program.

The problem is that when these cars are going off lease and going to auction, BAP isn't terminated, so the new buyer still has to pay the $99/mo until the end of the BAP term. And, worse, a lot of used car dealers don't know that BAP is a thing, so you can very easily buy a car, and then find out that it has BAP on it after the fact (unless you know that BAP is a thing, and call Mercedes Financial with each VIN you're looking at to see whether it's present on that car).

 

Range > MPGe

 

if it wasn't, tesla wouldn't be selling so well.

 

It doesn't hurt that they look like they were styled by adults, and they also go from 0-60 in less than 10-seconds........IN ADDITION to having acceptable range.

I've NEVER heard a Tesla owner have to say:
Oh YEAH?....Well MY car gets xxx MPGe!!!"

 

same for volt.

 

53 will always be bigger than 25, just as 52 will always be bigger than 42.

Different cars.
Different strengths and weaknesses.

The OPs question was range versus MPGe.

YMMV....

 

it is for now, because not many care. if ev's ever become popular, they'll come up with a better system.

 

Besides the in car displays, you can also check your stats at The Chevy Owners site https://my.chevrolet.com/home/?evar18=ch_header_link ,My Volt MyVolt | The Chevrolet Volt Owner Site and there are those that post their stats at Volt Stats Volt Stats! Tracking real world usage of Chevy Volts in the wild... .

 

It seems to me there is a trade-off in battery size, recharge time, vehicle cost, features, and range.

One reason I like the Prius Prime is the battery is small so it can be recharged in less time. It's just about perfect for our family. We live 12 miles from our son's school so should be able to go there and back without using gas. Then we can fully recharge the battery at home before we have to take that same round trip later in the day. For us charging day or night is no different $0.15 per KW/h day or night. Yes a bigger battery can be partially charged at home and have the same effect, but having a smaller battery in the Prime helps keep the vehicle cost down.

For us the Prime would hit a sweet spot. However I've determined EV isn't a big win for us presently. I also don't like the loss of cargo space, no spare tire, and white accents in the car. So it's a lot more than range for me.

Were I to buy an EV we would only use it around town and our town is only 7 miles in diameter. We'd be okay with 80+ miles of range.

But if you get inputs from others their story may be quite different. Perhaps they drive 30 miles each way for work and can't charge at work. They would be better off with more range.