Most Plug-in hybrid owners don't plug in....

[David Towle]

Maybe they are leaning hard on European info:

I would expect EU utilization of PHEVs in electric mode would be less for one big reason: Fewer people in the EU own their homes versus the US, so cheap home charging must be much less common there. PHEVs give you the choice of gas or electricity, and if the electricity price is high because of jacked up public charger rates, then they will fill up with gas more often. In 111k miles I've never charged at a public charger, at home electric prices are still about a third of gas and I am on electric 95% of the time. OTOH, so many people are totally clueless about how much different things cost maybe this is just a figment of my imagination?

 

[Landshark]

I really like the part where they tell us that the cars use gas when in Electric Mode. At least they’re being open about how uninformed they are. Of course the elephant in the room, as I mentioned previously, is that by their own admission their previous assumptions were flawed and their expectations were unrealistic.

The Clarity gets about 40mpg on gas, which is more that just about anything comparable other than a Prius. Our Jeep gets 22-24mpg which is better that the V-6 or V-8 option. So even if driven on 100% gas, it’ll use less gas than many ICE only options. Let’s not forget that about 60% of US electricity is generated from burning fossil fuels, so it isn’t really that clean.

To be clear, I’m no more a fan of PHEV’s than I am of agencies, industry leaders or journalists who manipulate and distort information in an attempt to support their opinions.

 

[DennisH]

I have a 2018 Clarity and know a few other people who own PHEVs. I don't know any PHEV owner who doesn't plug in, and the GM CEO's comment is very misleading. Driving daily around town, I'm currently on 452 miles without using any significant amount of gas. Charging is done using solar panels on my garage roof. Buying a PHEV was one of the best vehicle decisions I've made in my 65+ years. I understand the technology required by PHEVs is complex -- as one engineer friend of mine told me, "PHEVs are the most complex car that has ever been built, and ever WILL be built" -- because purely electric cars are so much simpler. The Big Brands don't make the same kind of money with PHEVs that they do with pickups, for example, so they don't want to make them. But honestly, homeowners would love them if they could all get 40-50 miles/per charge like the Clarity, because most people don't drive their cars over 45 miles/per day.

 

[JustAnotherPoorDriver]

I wouldn't have thought that a lot of phevs ended up at apartment complexes or as rental vehicles. I guess rental companies may buy whatever looks like the most profitable vehicle for them. Here in Alabama, I know that two of the three apartment complexes my sons have lived in had chargers available, one had them as complimentary, one was pay at about 0.35/kWh.

I live in an apartment in NYC. My garage charges a fortune to charge, but my office has ample charging.

I used to charge every day at work, until they

1. raised the price so it's ~2+ x higher per mile than gas, and
2. added a bunch of time restrictions that forces me to go out 2 hours into my workday and move the car, potentially into a spot very far from my office

I'm currently all gas, except when I'm somewhere with reasonable charging.

 

[Dan Albrich]

Yeah, I'm not religious about any of this stuff. I've never bought into the arguments about using gas or electric. I think the fact that we have the choice is great. My Clarity is still getting about 40mpg when using gas. It's close to double the mileage of my last car (4cyl Subaru Outback), and of course I didn't have the option to not use gas before I got a Clarity. I'm also pragmatic about the cost to insure and maintain more than one vehicle. I mean it might be that owning a PHEV keeps one from having 2 cars (one electric and one gas for long trips). I'll still be driving a PHEV for the foreseeable future (and hopefully Clarity as long as possible. I like the car.)

 

[tizan]

If you don't need a second vehicle but have this idea of having a second car or truck just for the odd job or trip is really not economical. One can rent a vehicle for that purpose those days...instead of spending thousands of dollars for the ownership per year.
Also this idea that full EV are not road trippable is going away...just need a slightly better planning that ICE. One can have one's reason for wanting an EV or ICE. I am not arguing any...just that if one needs only one car one does not need a second car for odd once or twice in a year project.
I rented a truck from u-haul when i had to carry fence pickets.
I have a BEV that nominally does more than 300 miles on one charge and I road trip on it with 600 miles per day on average...and it has been pleasant and no issues of grinding my teeth.
If you are concerned with pollution etc HEV has been shown not to be much less polluting than full ICE. I went full BEV because that was my reason. PHEV might be helpful if most of your driving is on the battery range (It was not for me).

 

[John321]

I own a 2019 NIRO PHEV that is now over seven years old and has around 77,000 miles on it.
I would estimate over 60,000 of those miles are all electric.
The idea that most don't plug in their PHEV is foolish.
Anyone who pays the extra amount to buy a PHEV and then the extra amount to register their PHEV that most states now charge EV's and PHEV's and then doesn't plug it in probably needs an appointment with a doctor to have their head examined.

We have a level 2 charger in the garage and the PHEV is always plugged in if it isn't being used. We live in a small city and it is not unusual to make many small trips each day sometimes putting close to 90 all electric miles on this vehicle in a single day.

If we want to take a long trip - big deal the car has a 12 gallon gas tank and gets 50 mpg with a 600 mile range if you use the gas engine - what is range anxiety!

The car will still get up to 25 - 30 miles on electric range when fully charged after close to 7 years.

 

[Dan Albrich]

With regard to the BEV vs. PHEV, I'll start by saying to each their own. But I'd like to add a couple of points about convenience of refueling, oft mentioned complexity (repairs) and cost difference.

I do a road trip each year from Oregon to Tucson and split the journey into two 10 hour days of driving. There's a lack of super-chargers on that route. Tesla's planner will send you to 'destination' level 2 chargers. Alternately you can radically increase miles driven and decrease pleasure by taking interstates and going through major cities. The rural western states are just a completely different thing than all of the east coast. Anyway, 10 hours a day is plenty and having quick stops for refuel make this road trip do-able.

In terms of complexity of PHEV which is often cited as an issue, I've seen no data indicating PHEV's require more repairs than BEV. Most of us plug in nightly and drive 80%+ electric, so our gas engine gets little use. We definitely don't need break pads (ever) because we use regen. There have been some Clarity specific issues which have been dealt with through warranty extension or recall. I'd count those for folks who do have to pay out of pocket, but that's not usually the case.

I know several PHEV owners, and none of them have any more repairs than a "normal" car. My Honda Clarity was the same price as a new Honda Civic when I bought it. I paid $24,700 (after rebates which I did receive). Many articles mention spending $50K or more for a new car. Who are these "normal" people that drop 50K on a car? No one in my extended family. We almost always buy used cars because that's what we can afford. Any BEV with similar cabin room to Clarity is likely to be expensive, and not less than $25K. And yes, 2026 is not 2018 (when I purchased) and the rebates are gone, but I don't magically have more money now. The point is the purchase price really matters.

One last edit, the range of Clarity happens to work well for me. I charge at home at about 12cents/Kwh and my full normal commute daily is 20 miles.