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IMHO the PHEV concept is much more practical than the BEV. BEVs are too limited to be a primary vehicle if you ever want to take a long trip. Who wants to stop and spend a couple hours (or far more if you aren't on a route with high-speed charging stations) every 200 miles on a long trip? You'll never get to your destination. Especially if you're traveling in the winter, churning through snow and running a heater. What happens if your power is out for a day or two? Thing about most PHEVs is that many have very short range-30 miles seems not-uncommon. Is it really worth the trouble to plug in every single night (and spend the money on a home charging station) to save 1 gallon or so of fuel a day? Seems like a big waste. Now, something with a 200 mile range (300-400 would be better so you could charge every few days, rather than every single one), with a small diesel generator to charge for trips, makes sense to me. I just don't know if you'll ever see the price making it economical.
You could technically buy a 300+ range EV with fast chargers along every major highway right now, and there’ll probably be better in terms of range, fast charge rate, and a greater number of fast charge stations in the very near future. The difference from what there was available a few years back versus what there is today is pretty extreme, and what’s here today is usable for a lot of car usage patterns.
IMHO the PHEV concept is much more practical than the BEV. BEVs are too limited to be a primary vehicle if you ever want to take a long trip. Who wants to stop and spend a couple hours (or far more if you aren't on a route with high-speed charging stations) every 200 miles on a long trip? You'll never get to your destination. Especially if you're traveling in the winter, churning through snow and running a heater. What happens if your power is out for a day or two? Thing about most PHEVs is that many have very short range-30 miles seems not-uncommon. Is it really worth the trouble to plug in every single night (and spend the money on a home charging station) to save 1 gallon or so of fuel a day? Seems like a big waste. Now, something with a 200 mile range (300-400 would be better so you could charge every few days, rather than every single one), with a small diesel generator to charge for trips, makes sense to me. I just don't know if you'll ever see the price making it economical.
The gen 2 Volt has about a 50 mile EV range, so for a lot of people they seldom ever have to buy gas. And the best thing is, if you want to go on a long trip you'll never be forced to use a public charging station either.
The gen 2 Volt has about a 50 mile EV range, so for a lot of people they seldom ever have to buy gas. And the best thing is, if you want to go on a long trip you'll never be forced to use a public charging station either.
So you end up using a gas station which is also pretty neat.
Gas station literally takes less than 5 minutes if I pay at the pump.
That’s true. Best fast charging EVs/chargers on the US market right now add only 75 miles of range in 5 minutes. The question is if that’s a deal-breaker versus the convenience of charging for most use cases at home or at work and starting trips more or less topped off. Is taking a twenty minute rest break after driving a few hours on a roadtrip too much for some people? Yea, certainly. However, that time will probably continue to whittle down. Certainly a massive difference compared to the fastest charge rate several years ago.
IMHO the PHEV concept is much more practical than the BEV. BEVs are too limited to be a primary vehicle if you ever want to take a long trip. Who wants to stop and spend a couple hours (or far more if you aren't on a route with high-speed charging stations) every 200 miles on a long trip? You'll never get to your destination.
Fast charging is closer to 15-30 min than hours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake
Thing about most PHEVs is that many have very short range-30 miles seems not-uncommon. Is it really worth the trouble to plug in every single night (and spend the money on a home charging station) to save 1 gallon or so of fuel a day? Seems like a big waste.
Most PHEVs require a 120v plug, not a charging station - and takes a matter of seconds to plug in - 120v is enough to fill the battery use in most of PHEVs overnight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake
Now, something with a 200 mile range (300-400 would be better so you could charge every few days, rather than every single one), with a small diesel generator to charge for trips, makes sense to me. I just don't know if you'll ever see the price making it economical.
Sounds like describing the BMW i3 (although gas instead of diesel), gas generator is much more cost efficient than a diesel generator for this use.
We just did a 6,000 mile road trip. Rt 66, then Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee.
Sure didn't see any electric cars outside cities!
Depends a lot on where you are - I see many other EVs every trip between San Diego/Los Angeles area and Las Vegas - I do that trip at least once a month in an EV. Rt 66 follows part of that trip.
When I see hybrids getting 50mpg with more than enough power for 99% of people - I tend to think fully electric vehicles sound pointless although it may indeed be where we wind up.
At 50mpg driving average mileage it only costs a few hundred bucks more to fuel a hybrid. Plus with a hybrid you have an unlimited driving range (gas stations) and no need to remember plugging up. So what’s the compelling argument for going fully electric?
And cars that can run 40-50 miles on battery power are already somewhat common...so why the burning desire to be fully electric? 40-50 miles covers daily driving for ~80% of people. An efficient ICE (they seem to continually improve) seems like the perfect compliment to the batteries.
Is it the environmental angle? The novelty of being fully electric?
Perhaps if hybrid cars are shifted to non-polluting and renewable fuel, such as hydrogen, it will be the best solution of all. Once in a rare while, hydrogen cars might have a catastrophic explosion in an accident, but that could be minimized with improved fuel-storage designs. Hydrogen stills could be solar-powered and need only sunlight and a bit of water. If the bodies of the cars became solar-collectors, the size of the storage tanks could be reduced, further improving their safety.
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