A pretty good overview of the benefits of PHEV, one of the fastest growing categories of cars in the USA today.
The tl;dr: Cheaper than EVs, takes gasoline for long-trips, are effectively electric for typical distances (~20mi to ~40mi depending on model).
However, I’d like to add that PHEVs are incredibly varied. Everyone can agree that a Prius Prime is efficient and environmental, but PHEVs like the Jeep Wrangler 4xe is incredibly inefficient. Furthermore, Jeep buyers have a reputation of not even charging the batteries!!
All in all, it seems like a good article so I feel like its worth sharing.
26 miles is unreasonably low. Quick googling says the average US commute is 41 miles, which is why most PHEVs are around that or higher, and even the Nissan Leaf had 75 miles initially. Also to remember, cold weather will drop that capacity by ~30%.
I’m split.
I don’t want perfect to be the enemy of good. 17.6kw-hr saves more than a gallon of gasoline per full charge. Which is plenty of savings and obviously a good thing.
Obviously it’s be nicer if they saved more, but note that the 13kW-hr on a Prius Prime saves less than a gallon of fuel per charge (mostly because Prius Prime is so damn efficient).
In some ways, the Jeep getting electrified with these stats saves more gasoline than the Prius.