Are Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) The Way To Go?

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨squashkin@wolfballs.com⁩ to ⁨freeforum@wolfballs.com⁩

cross-posted from: https://wolfballs.com/post/19156

So, the ranges on these can be limited on the electrical side, maybe 50 miles, so this can allow people to drive a short distance (like commute to errands or work) on electric, but then if you go further you can rely on gas or if you want to go on a long road trip you can make use of the gas engine. And the "plug in" part allows you to plug in at home (to the grid or solar panels, etc.).

Sounds like the best of both worlds, is there a catch?

What do you think of the debate on gas powered vehicles versus electric or what are good use cases for each?

Just like eating bugs, I see some conservatives are against EVs for various reasons but I'm not sure I agree with them. Bugs are just food, and EVs are just vehicles. For me, I like the idea of having some solar panels and being energy independent. I'm ok with burning gas (not worried about the environment particularly) but it makes you dependent on countries that you may not want to do business with, and hypothetically could run out at some point (so we don't know how long we could rely on gas). EVs run quieter and even if they rely on burning coal at power plants, can't those power plants have good filters on them so there are less emissions than gas exhaust being expelled by cars everywhere?

So don't EVs have distinct benefits, or do you think this is just a ruse for some kind of reason?

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iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
I plan to buy a PHEV. It would be nice to drive to the hardware/grocery on electric, and for the daily short drives. Charge it with solar on the garage.

Then for the actual long holiday trips, use gas as normal.

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- squashkin@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
  yeah this is exactly what I was thinking but is there something we're overlooking or is this a good plan?
  
  I was also thinking maybe just regular car plus ebike is a sufficient combo
  
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  - iamtanmay@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
    Ebike is too tiny to drag furniture and other big items, or to supply a family with groceries.
    
    PHEV electric is perfect o haul in enough groceries for a couple weeks for the family
    
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sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
The right tool depends on the job.

EVs can be a good idea, but it's a big calculation. They cost a lot more to make, they have batteries which are going to have a finite life and will be dependant on climate factors in both directions, and the terrain is a huge consideration as well. Driving uphill in cold weather, you're looking at a drastic reduction in range. Also, you can't use standard mechanics on the electrical parts of an EV or hybrid. They don't want to fiddle with parts that can kill them.

A PHEV can give you a bit of both worlds, where you can use the battery as much as you can, then you use the internal combustion engine once the battery is drained. It's obviously something that gives you both worlds in terms of EV locamoation and ICE portability, but you are maintaining two power trains, so you're maintaining the electric powertrain and the gas powertrain. Old Priuses don't have the electric powertrain in operation any longer, usually because the batteries fail, so you end up lugging around an electric powertrain but not using it, and your ICE is sized to be supplemented with the electric so it becomes a bit wimpy at that point.

To me, the correct path forward for EVs is something like those little chinese vehicles they sell for like $3,000 -- a city car using much less material that doesn't need to be built for highway speeds or super long ranges. The government could support this by reducing the insurance and registration requirements for such vehicles, similar to how the Japanese government created the keicar industry. Then people would be more likely to purchase their super inexpensive citycar EV for running around town, and for a lot of people that would be enough -- they wouldn't even bother getting a full size vehicle because a lot of people just want to make it to work and back and maybe do some grocery shopping.

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- squashkin@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
  sounds like velomobile EV or ebike for short trips might work well, gas car for longer trips or hauling lots of stuff or bad weather (maybe separating vehicles is better than combining)
  
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Scruffy_Nerfherder@wolfballs.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨years⁩ ago
Why can't we live in this dystopia?

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