Oh, damn. Do I like the new Prius? I mean, really like the new Prius? Split-a-Slurpee-and-listen-to-Broken-Social-Scene-in-the-IHOP-parking-lot like the new Prius? We only have European stats, but those stats show a cleverly redesigned plug-in hybrid with a huge increase in power (almost 100 HP!) and usability with no sacrifice in range. It’s eating your cake and having it, too.
Again, the major caveat here is that the U.S. version of this car has not been revealed so we’re having to go off what’s been released globally and for Europe. Here are the global specs for the plug-in hybrid (called Prime in the United States), straight from Toyota’s global press release:
- A 2.0-liter plug-in hybrid with 220 horsepower!
- A 0-62 mph time of 6.7 seconds!
- A 50% increase in pure-EV mode to maybe 50 miles!
- Similar (though not released) total efficiency!
I know I’m Upton Sinclair-ing with the punctuation, but this is a big deal. The current Prius Prime in the United States gets 121 combined horsepower and only 25 miles of pure EV range. [UPDATE: Someone in the comments correctly checked my math here so it’s worth clarifying EV range. In the US, the Prius Prime has an EPA estimated 25 miles of range. In the UK it’s estimated as 39 miles miles of range. A 50% increase would mean about 58 miles on the UK standard and a little shy of 40 miles on the US standard. In reality, owners in the US tend to report EV ranges closer to the UK so I think 50 miles of EV range in practical experience is possible – MH] That’s fine, but it’s also slow, with a 0-60 mph time in the low 10s. If the version we get is anything like the European version (and it probably is) we’re talking a car that is a vast improvement in performance.
Toyota is playing up the sportier aspects of this car as well, stating:
The second-generation TNGA platform was developed as an ongoing improvement of the matured TNGA platform to achieve the exhilarating styling and driving performance of the new Prius, allowing for a lower center of gravity and large-diameter tires.
I feel like “exhilarating driving performance” is not something usually associated with the Prius, which seems to be getting MacPherson struts up front and a double wishbone setup at the rear.
Additional improvements include an optional solar roof and this trick little window attachment so you can use the built-in accessory ports to charge off of the battery (Toyota, as of now, has not revealed the battery size).
On the outside, the car’s got larger wheels and a stretched wheelbase (although it appears to be slightly shorter) to give it a more athletic stance while still retaining the overall Prius shape that’s built around the warped-canoe greenhouse. I like it.
On the inside the Prius picks up the brand’s new “island architecture” design language, with a large floating screen for the driver and passenger and a driver-focused screen for the relevant gauges and information. The best feature might be a mood strip that’s tied into the car’s safety systems and can adjust the lighting to alert the driving about incoming objects.
There’s also a new series hybrid version in the classic Prius flavor that also gets the 2.0-liter motor and has about 190 horsepower, which is still a rather large increase in power over the various versions offered globally. I’m assuming we’ll also get this version, but it’s possibly we only get the PHEV.
Damn. I am excited about this.
[Editor’s Note: I saw this car in person a few months ago at Toyota’s HQ in Plano, Texas, but was not permitted to take pictures or talk about it. Since it’s revealed, I suppose I can talk about it, and I have to say it is a dramatic improvement over the outgoing – and, really, all the others – Prius. In person, the proportions are great, it feels nice and wide in the hips, and the face is so much better than the riot of creases and folds and flaps that Toyota design was spiraling into. The new design language is hectares cleaner and sleeker. It’s so much better. – JT]
UPDATE: The US Version Is, Indeed, Quite Similar
Consistent with what’s written above, Toyota announced that the U.S. is getting both the plug-in version (still called the Prius Prime) and the non-plug-in version. The basic hybrid comes in FWD or AWD and gets 196 combined horsepower. In Prime trim, there is indeed a “nearly” 100 hp increase to 220 hp, and a 0-to-60 mph time of 6.6 seconds, From a Prius.
I hope they haven’t compromised storage space in this newest Prius. The Corolla Hybrid already is the sporty Prius and it already has AWD-e. Making the Prius more Corolla like doesn’t make much sense. Just get rid of the stupid Prius shifter, increase the cargo and or seating space (like the 7 seat Prius sold in Europe) and make sure all Prius Models are available with AWD-e.
I don’t give two nickels that this a plug-in anything or that it may do 50 miles operating solely as a BEV. Yes, I’m a terrible human being. What I will say is that this car is almost uncomfortably handsome and it makes me want to do uncomfortable things. Like rip out the whiney little gas motor and stick in something displacing north of 5 LITERS and make it drive the rear wheels. Whether that make me a Prius lover or hater I don’t know, but Toyota sent it over the moon with this design.
How much does the stupid thing beep?
Is it normal Prius beeping: incessant, infuriating, and unceasing? Does it beep like Nurse Ratchet is your copilot, consumed with hatred and malice for all things driving? Does it beep every time you get onto a freeway with no merge lane and actually have to, God-forbid, use the accelerator to avoid an accident? Does it beep, ping, chime, and ding with unpleasant relentlessness?
Is it hell to drive like the Priuses of old?
And yes, it should be Priuses, not Prii.
I’m finding this Prius attractive, and I haven’t felt so confused since I was 12 and had my first crush
A lot of the people on r/Prius (myself included) are concerned that this gen *might* have less cargo space, which is part of the whole appeal of Priuses in the first place. That and just generally, we weren’t here for performance to begin with; are we losing out on potentially higher fuel economy to get that massive boost in 0-60?
I’ll gladly take a free performance upgrade with no fuel consumption repercussions, but somehow I doubt that’s what’s going on here.
I guess it’s just me, but – it just looks like another Prius to me. Not seeing any “hotness” here.
I want to know exactly what this means, “built-in accessory ports to charge off of the battery”. We connect an inverter to our Prius (or Rav4 Hybrid) to power most of the house when PG&E kills our power. Is this a built in inverter? How many watts is available? Having to connect the inverter to the 12v is just a nuisance, but if this is truly what I hope it is, fabulous! Looks great too! And will it be available in AWD like my 2021? Make a Prius viable in snow country.
Normal headlights would be nice, but this is such a huge overall improvement over the prior product that I would take it without hesitation.
Dear Toyota/Lexus,
See what you can do when you’re not burdened by an ugly spindle grill.
Very sincerely,
Thad
Do we think these will actually be avail and on lots, though? I gave up on finding a RAV4 Prime last year but occasionally see them for $10-15k over MSRP now. ($65,000+ for a Rav4 is just nuts.)
I wound up with a slightly used Prius Prime but that took a lot of searching and it was overpriced as well. I still can’t find new ones here in town for less than $5000-10,000k over MSRP.
It depends on where you live. I’m in Maine, and the Toyota dealer here has a $1000 markup on MSRP for all models. You put your name on a list, and they call you when a car is coming in. You then decide to buy or pass. You can’t order anything, it’s all allocated by Toyota.
Yay!
Toyota built a Honda Clarity PHEV. I’ve been wondering what I’m going to replace my Clarity with, since Honda killed it, and this, while a bit smaller, is essentially the same thing. Fewer HP, less space, but available.
Except it’s good looking
To me the most significant feature is the fine paint color. Hallelujah, something other than gray scale! Well, and the fact the car isn’t ugly anymore.
I believe that every generation of Prius has been available in some shade of red, blue, and green. I appreciate that!
I had to check on that… somehow you’re correct. I have it as canon in my head that the Gen2 Prius was only available in “completely invisible Seafoam Green” and “completely anonymous Champagne Gold”. You could look over a whole parking lot full of those cars and literally not see them.
Looks promising. I previously owned a 3rd gen Prius (until now the only good-looking model) and would definitely consider buying another, especially now that they seem to be moving away from the unfortunate, trying-way-too-hard, overly-creased Transformers styling that plagued most Toyota models in the last couple years.
Is it weird that my biggest complaint is that there doesn’t seem to be a hood over the driver’s instrument cluster? I expect that to create havoc with readability and glare at certain times of day.
No, it’s not weird. That’s a horrible trend in interior design lately. I say this as someone who literally taped a tablet to my gen 2’s dash so I can have actual gauges. Apparently I could do interior design for major automakers. 😉
Congrats to Toyota for inventing the Volt.
I like it, looks great. What is going on with that cord though?
I was wondering the same thing. What on earth would necessitate that?
THEY FIXED THE TAIL LIGHTS!! This just got put on my list to test drive when they get here.
Well damn. So if I can do one of these without the typical local dealer 10K of bull shit add on options, then count me in. But after 20 years, am NOT counting non that aspect changing. Still looks very cool and more power is always the answer…YMMV
My wife loved her old Prius, saved her life when it was t-boned. She hates the look of the current model, but is enamored with this new one. I think we might get a Prius again.
Also, what the hell is going on in that last pic? Using the battery as a generator, a la Lightning/Ioniq 5/EV6 but you have to plug it into the console?
“this trick little window attachment so you can use the built-in accessory ports to charge off of the battery”
Thank you! My reading comprehension is off today, apparently.
Appreciating the Broken Social Scene reference. Godspeed! to this and I hope Toyota continues to do, make, say and think things like this.
Putting on the self-titled album now as a result of that reference.
My coffee has not kicked in yet…. can someone explain what is going on with that cord?
I assume that’s the thing mentioned earlier in the article: “trick little window attachment so you can use the built-in accessory ports to charge off of the battery”
Seems like you’re asking for someone to stick a slim jim in there and steal your fancy Prius, but maybe they found some way to prevent that?
Looks much better.
The million dollar question is: how many owners will actually plug them in?
The thing with a BEV is it needs to be plugged in to run. A PHEV needs that extra step compared to just running as a regular hybrid. People are lazy. As data have now shown, many owners will not plug in a PHEV if they don’t have to. https://theicct.org/publication/real-world-usage-of-plug-in-hybrid-electric-vehicles-fuel-consumption-electric-driving-and-co2-emissions/
Let’s skip this for a full BEV, please.
I humbly disagree! PHEV’s are great – the range covers most driving needs, and you can still fill it up / get great hybrid performance on longer trips. And it doesn’t require 5x the battery, that would largely be unused.
Yeah, if they made a PHEV Tacoma I would buy one so I can combine two vehicles into one. I have about a 30mi RT commute.
I think a lot of those who buy a PHEV and don’t P it are getting HOV lane access.
People not plugging in their PHEVs tells you they don’t WANT to horse around plugging things in at home.
Listen to what their behavior is telling you.
PHEV’s are the worst of both worlds. To use it optimally needs both plugging in at home and visiting a gas station. May as well skip the trip to the gas station and go full EV.
The article I linked supports my assertion that PHEV’s are used mainly as regular hybrids. Those extra batteries are getting wasted in a PHEV since they’re not being used. Make it a regular hybrid and put those extra cells in a BEV.
Maybe if gas is $2/gal and it’s dark or raining, it may be easy to not bother with the plug. But when gas is as expensive as it’s been, there’s probably a lot more motivation for the car to be EV as much as possible.
I’d be much more apt to buy this than a BEV. My usual daily commute would be all electric, but on days when I travel, or when I have the kids’ hockey practice right after work, or the worst case scenario of both, I can travel and not even think about range issues.
Are you kidding? They are the best of both worlds. Petrol is consistently around $1.54 (USD) per litre where I live – thats $5.82 per gallon (whatever a gallon is). If I have 50 miles or 80km of range thats nearly enough to cover off a weeks commute on EV alone. The moment an EV falls over is medium range trips. If I have a typical EV it gives me just enough range to get to my parents house which is about 200km away and some breathing room (the roads here are not straight multi-lane highways, they are twisty hilly single track roads so range gets eaten up a lot faster). However it does not give me enough range to get to my in laws without a stop. Adding an extra 30-40 minutes to a 3-4 hour trip. Something that I’m just not interested in doing. A PHEV allows me to have one car that I can commute in on full EV, seldom fill up with petrol, then when I leave the city I have an insanely efficient hybrid that sips a little bit of fuel to keep going. This is all theory as I don’t currently own a PHEV, but I’m fairly confident my next car will be a PHEV. You are right, they are complicated and do carry extra weight, but if used correctly then they are the best thing we have right now – short of being able to afford a long range Tesla.
“Let’s skip this for a full BEV, please.”
That’s not your option here. You can have plug-in hybrids or normal cars. You can’t have 100% BEVs. They don’t exist for all use-cases yet, and nobody knows how to fix that.
Pure EVs never will exist for 100% of use cases. That being said, it is possible to build them to where they could meet the needs of most people. It will take some adaptation and modified expectations on part of the operator. There are more benefits than negatives switching from ICE to EV.
This being said, since EVs will never be able to meet 100% of use cases, I think banning ICE cars is a very terrible idea, which is being done in many locations and will eventually go into effect. I’m all about people having choice. I used to be for California’s ZEV mandate in the 1990s/early 2000s precisely for this reason, because the technology was at least marginally ready, but the auto makers did not want buyers to have this choice because it was a threat to the sales of higher-margin vehicles, and it was the only way to make this choice available since the automakers were unwilling and since smaller companies who were willing were hampered by government regulation and lack of economies of scale(lack of economy of scale means unaffordable EVs).
PHEVs also contain many of the downsides of each powertrain type, plus they are more complicated. If making a PHEV, a parallel hybrid with a very small displacement engine designed to operate at a steady RPM and loading where it gets the best thermal efficiency possible, is really the way to do it. You also bypass the need for a transmission, cutting costs. For a sedan or CUV that doesn’t need to tow a heavy load, the gasoline engine won’t need more than about 20 horsepower for any street legal speeds(less than 90 mph), assuming the car’s aerodynamics are a major consideration and much more slippery than is the norm today. By designing in this manner, the door to 80+ mpg highway for a large-ish sedan that can comfortably seat 5 adults when using the gasoline ICE is opened. The battery pack could handle all of the hard accelerations, and you’d really only need 15 kWh at most, and would likely see 100+ miles range before needing the gasoline engine if the car was designed to be slippery(say, 0.15 drag coefficient with a 25 sq ft frontal area, in a car weighing 3,500 lbs). This sort of system could keep cost and mass down, and reduce the overall complexity of the design. And if the gasoline engine craps out, the car will still operate just fine, as long as you keep it charged.
If the ICE is designed to run on E85, you can also take advantage of higher compression ratios, and a very narrow point on a BSFC map where there will be markedly increased peak thermal efficiency versus a standard gasoline-powered ICE. This is aside from the fact that corn ethanol is a boondoggle; I’m looking at this from purely a thermal efficiency perspective.
Ack, I meant to say series hybrid. Not parallel hybrid. Basically, the ICE should be small and efficient and act as a generator. It is much simpler to control that way, and you can let the EV powertrain do all of the heavy lifting.
I do wonder why this concept didn’t catch on much beyond the i3(?) and the 1st-gen Volt. And even that car could mechanically connect the gas engine to the drive wheels in certain conditions. But regardless, I always liked the idea of series hybrids, and thought we would see more such cars come to market.
PHEVs will eventually be Hydrogen fuel cell / Battery hybrids.
But for now gasoline / battery hybrids are the best technology we have for general use.
“It will take some adaptation and modified expectations on part of the operator.”
Frankly, that’s unacceptable. We need to accept the fact that energy is wealth, and that humanity is going to consume 5-10x more energy per capita over the next several decades. And we better figure out how to accommodate that without setting the planet on fire. Because it’s going to happen, and if you expect people to cooperatively modify their expectations otherwise, 5-6 billion people are going to literally kill you instead.
BTW, nobody calls them “ICE” cars except people with a pro-EV bias.
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have even more setbacks than pure BEVs, most notably manufacturing cost, greatly reduced well to wheels efficiency(negating the advantage of a BEV over ICE), and infrastructure.
New technology is what it is. When switching to something new, changes will be inevitable. This is one of the reasons BEVs are never going to be a 1:1 replacement for ICE regardless of how many people find them to be an improvement.
Energy may be wealth, but infinite growth on a finite planet is not possible. Math is eventually going to get in the way and win out. Civilization needs to figure out how to do more with less if it is to avoid reducing living standards for the masses. As it stands today, most of the wealth generated by squandering the world’s energy resources is going to a small group of people at the top, and finding ways to do more with less means they don’t get to extract as much money from the mass of humanity, most of whom are have-nots. This will need to be addressed, or humanity will continue its slide back to the Olduvai Gorge. We might discover economically viable fusion to counter this, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
ICE cars are ICE cars. I have nothing against them on their own. In fact, I really love fast machines with large engines. What I dislike is the fact that they are heavy, unaerodynamic bricks, and THAT is why they guzzle fuel, not so much because they have big, powerful engines.
But expectations needs to shift to match the reality we are living in. 5-6 billion people with next to nothing are NOT going to accept living in mudhuts and eating bugs so that the Klaus Schwabs of the world can eat steak, lobster, and 20,000 mile Caesar salads with every meal, ride around in private jets consuming more fuel on a weekend trip across the ocean than Joe Sixpack’s 1990 Suburban will use in an entire year of driving, heat an outdoor pool at a mansion for a weekend party using more electricity than an upper-middle class McMansion dwelling family will use all year, keep entire parking garages full of supercars that just sit there while hundreds of millions struggle to keep beaters on the road, or ride around in a yacht for a weekend joyride using more diesel than a McMansion dweller in Maine will use for an entire winter.
-“We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” ~Ayn Rand
“nobody calls them “ICE” cars except people with a pro-EV bias.”
Until recently I had a nice career designing engines for OEMs. We used the acronym ICE all the time.
Very little pro-EV bias amongst people who’ve lost their jobs due to the switch to EVs.
You’re right that it’s unacceptable to get people to modify their expectations. They just won’t, not downwards anyway.
I haven’t read the ICCT report, but based on a summary I read about it, it was based on a study of PHEV use in the UK. In the UK, companies were given incentives to purchase PHEVs as “company” cars for their employees, but at least at first they hadn’t figured out how to reimburse those employees for charging at home, but those same employees typically did have a way to get reimbursed for fuel (e.g. a gas card). Unsurprisingly, the employees didn’t plug in at home much since they were then paying for “fuel” out of their own pocket where gas/diesel was paid by the company. Another commenter also pointed out that PHEVs in some jurisdictions would provide access to the HOV lane. If we had better alignment of incentives, I think PHEVs can make a lot of sense.
no. phev are missing link between hybrids and EVs. you can have 80+% less battery, and cover 90% of your miles on electricity. phev just need to be designed as range extended EVs, and have enough electric pickup and range to be used without gas. I’m not talking about the hybrid drivetrain type parallel/serial/range extender which doesn’t really matter that much, but just stating that the electric mode must be quick enough that you are not tempted to switch to gas, or mash the throttle at every traffic light and trigger the gas engine. as long as you are not driving more than the electric range on a daily basis, which fits most drivers (30miles per day average)
you can also double your electric range with a charger at work. you re also saving a lot of engine wear, so maintenance interval should just be updated to reflect on that, and track the number of miles with engine turning.if engine constantly keeps turning on and off it’s not great even though hybrids are designed for that. engine turning on only once battery is flat and then likely staying on (highway) means even less engine wear compared to a gas car that does several cold starts and short trips every day
“Let’s skip this for a full BEV, please.”
No, thank you. I like to keep my wheels on.
Don’t buy a Toyota Bwhatever. Get something else. Make the Invisible Hand, which includes being a well-regulated market, force Toyota to do better.
no. phev are missing link between hybrids and EVs. you can have 80+% less battery, and cover 90% of your miles on electricity. phev just need to be designed as range extended EVs, and have enough electric pickup and range to be used without gas. I’m not talking about the hybrid drivetrain type parallel/serial/range extender which doesn’t really matter that much, but just stating that the electric mode must be quick enough that you are not tempted to switch to gas, or mash the throttle at every traffic light and trigger the gas engine. as long as you are not driving more than the electric range on a daily basis, which fits most drivers (30miles per day average)
you can also double your electric range with a charger at work. you re also saving a lot of engine wear, so maintenance interval should just be updated to reflect on that, and track the number of miles with engine turning.if engine constantly keeps turning on and off it’s not great even though hybrids are designed for that. engine turning on only once battery is flat and then likely staying on (highway) means even less engine wear compared to a gas car that does several cold starts and short trips every day
Per your source private users in Germany charged their PHEVs an average of three out of four driving days and then states in the US this figure is even higher. People are lazy yes but I personally would rather plug in more and visit the gas station less if I value my time. People are also cheap and the miles driven off the plug seem to be a lot more economical.
Skipping really isn’t an option in my opinion – PHEV buyers likely include a lot of folks who won’t get a BEV over range anxiety so if this wasn’t an option they’d just get a gas car. PHEVs are a great mix of both benefits – many have more than enough range for the commute and if you get used to paying half in electricity of what you would be sitting in line for the pump to pay I wouldn’t be surprised to see habits adapt more and more over time.
yeah phev tax credit should just be disabled by default for fleets unless company provides home charging infrastructures and pays for electricity used to charge. companies could easily detect lazy employees that put gas but never charge
if you’re stupid enough to buy a phev, have home charging and not use it, well you really deserve to have your tax credit cancelled. it’s actually easier than going to a gas station
Agree that people are lazy in general. With that in mind, I would argue that plugging in at your house is far less of a hassle than planning out trips around charging stations and making extra stops. People are also stubborn and accustomed to the total freedom that comes with a gas-powered car. While BEV advocates continue to try and convince the general public that they are wrong in wanting to hold onto that freedom and get into the current crop of BEVs, they will just continue to burn a shitload of gas. OR, we could present an option like the plug-in Prius that has no impact on their daily lives outside of plugging in a cord at night to save a ton of gas and emissions while BEVs get ironed out.
The silhouette looks vaguely like a Lamborghini Huracan.
As I read your comment I was like “no way he compared a Toyota to a Huracan”. Then I looked at the rear quarter shot and damn you are right!
So would you say you’re pretty sure it’s a Lambo? 😉
I had the same reaction when I just glanced at the lead image before reading the title. It took me a second to reconcile the fact that the picture was a Prius.
For some reason the current Prius reminds me of a 1959 Edsel. Most of the odd styling had worn off, but it still had that odd look. This new one is awfully attractive. We’re missing the boat in many cases by going pure battery so quickly. A plug-in like the Volt will go a good distance in local traffic and not burn a drop of gasoline.
I agree it seems odd that most of the talk around EVs is about going pure electric while ignoring hybrids. Sure it’s a compromise, but as long as range anxiety and lack of charging infrastructure are realistic concerns, plug-in hybrids seem like an ideal bridge between ICE and EV.
People don’t plug them in. In an ideal world they would. Sadly people are lazy and don’t plug them in since the gas engine works fine.
https://theicct.org/publication/real-world-usage-of-plug-in-hybrid-electric-vehicles-fuel-consumption-electric-driving-and-co2-emissions/ according to this Germans plug theirs in 3 out of 4 days and Americans even more. People are lazy but they’re also cheap – plus once you get used to not going to the gas station I feel that the inconvenience of plugging in is outweighed by the convenience of skipping that hassle.
Looks surprisingly good. Are Toyota and Ferrari sharing designers. The Front fascia of both the Prius and new Crown seem very similar to Ferrari’s design language for the Roma and Purosangue?
I love it. This is exactly what 90% of the population needs. While everyone is fawning over BEVs, these PHEVs and regular hybrids are poised to make a much bigger impact in the near-term.
1. Small batteries that require much less material and juice
2. Enough real EV range to get you where you need to go day-to-day with using little to no gas
3. A gas motor to get you out of town without some carefully planned itinerary and a prayer that the chargers are working and available
4. Actually affordable so that many more people can buy them and get out of regular ICE cars
“This is exactly what 90% of the population needs.”
I disagree and that is why I bought a BEV. 90% of the population actually doesn’t need anything but a BEV. It is the 10% that needs a PHEV.
Today’s BEVs are well within the range needed from most drivers. And most drivers don’t need two separate systems to maintain.
This is really, really, wrong.
I own and drive a BEV with a 320 mile range (Lightning). So I’m not some anti-BEV person trolling you. But you’re really really wrong.
I don’t know what the percentage of people is that can get away with a BEV 100% of the time, but it’s low. The majority of people cannot. That leaves you with some classes of people:
People who have no way to charge at home, and thus simply cannot use the current range of BEVs. Even a PHEV isn’t good enough for these people.
People who need to exceed the range of their BEV some portion of the time, or who need to exceed 50% of the range some portion of the time when driving to a place without destination charging. These people are going to either buy or rent a fossil fuel powered car or truck for the rest of their trips – or more likely just skip the BEV for convenience sake and burn gas. These people could have PHEVs and it would be a significant (sufficient!) climate benefit to require no further mitigation.
People who need to use their vehicle for things where there is no credible battery-powered option yet.
If you add all those people up, it’s definitely more than 50% of the market, and I think it’s probably closer to 80%.
BEVs are great for people who have off-street parking and wealth to afford multiple cars, or for people who do literally nothing but commute locally, and for zealots willing to overlook the inconvenience and shortcomings. They’re not ready for everybody else yet.
I drive BEV and not once have I had to carefully plan my itinerary or pray that chargers are working and available because my car deals with all of that for me. That’s the only point I really disagree with on your list, but the rest is true. This will be a more affordable choice for a lot of drivers.
I think that depends on where you live (as in, country) and where you plan to go…
There are no BEVs that deal with the lack of destination charger at your destination. You either plan your itinerary around charging, or you don’t get out much. Those are your options.
The fact of the matter is PHEVs get 90+% of the climate benefit with 1,000,000% less resistance and headache. They’re more than good enough for our environmental needs and anybody who insists on 100% battery for 100% of the people is just making the solution harder for everybody. And to make matters worse, they’re going to lose eventually anyway, because there will always be a set of circumstances where full battery power won’t work.
So why draw it out? Let’s get hybrid. And some BEVs when they make sense.
Very well put. I am not anti-BEV by any stretch, but think that we are skipping a very worthwhile step by dismissing PHEVs and regular hybrids which can make an impact NOW with their affordability and versatility. As you put it, we’ll get a lot of benefit with 1,000,000% less resistance. Also – how many people will open up to BEVs after living with a PHEV and realizing they don’t ever fire up the gas motor? I bet a lot.
Came here to write exactly this. If they can make the interior a pleasant place to be then this will probably be my next vehicle. As much as I would love to go straight to BEV, the initial price premium and charging logistics really limit my options.
I’ve been saying the same thing for a while now – until charging infrastructure is as ubiquitous as gas stations, and charging times are reduced to something equivalent to a stop at a fast food joint, PHEVs are the best option for most people. I reckon that’s at least the next 10-15 years, though I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
PHEWs are likely the best use of our battery resources as well. Until alternatives become mainstream, I worry about all of these toxic batteries and where we will obtain those rare earth metals. (I also worry about disposal of them, but that’s another story.)
The amount of raw material for manufacturing huge battery packs and the power generation needed to support even a partial BEV fleet is absolutely staggering. People want to think the BEV future is just around the corner, but it is not. In the meantime, lets get some real benefit NOW with hybrids.
There’s 50lbs of cobalt and 140lbs of lithium in a Tesla Model S. Most of the refining for these minerals is done in China. The automakers have a seriously flawed business plan.
This is a short term problem – Tesla is already using cobalt-free LFP batteries in half of its new cars. There’s pros and cons but there still seem to be a lot of advancements being made on these vehicles.
https://electrek.co/2022/04/22/tesla-using-cobalt-free-lfp-batteries-in-half-new-cars-produced/