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There are more PHEVs than there has ever been. I know because I’m researching them to buy one. I can’t imagine how the success of Tesla has possibly not had t

There are more PHEVs than there has ever been. I know because I’m researching them to buy one. I can’t imagine how the success of Tesla has possibly not had the effect of speeding up legacy manufacturers to create PHEVs. Tesla led the way to get all this electrical car infrastructure out in the world that everybody else can take advantage of.

dragontamer 5y ago
Talk to any Tesla-fan. "Icky ICE Engine". "Now you have two engines with twice the malfunctions". "I don't like oil changes". Etc. etc. They're incredibly anti-PHEV. Neither Elon nor his gang of supporters are very good for PHEVs. And on stage, Elon still derides them as a strategy. -------- Look: Elon / Tesla are right now arguing __against__ government incentives for PHEVs and EVs. His politics have flipped. He's no longer a supporter of incentives for this industry.
- VBprogrammer 5y ago
  I mean, the whole two engines thing is true though right? If someone else can get the cost of H2 fuel cells down to a marketable level I'm sure Tesla would be very happy to fit them as optional range extenders to its next line up. In the UK at least, most PHEVs sold are cynically avoiding a bunch of taxes and benefit in kind. Many of them are never plugged into a charger.
  - dragontamer 5y ago
    > If someone else can get the cost of H2 fuel cells down to a marketable level I'm sure Tesla would be very happy to fit them as optional range extenders to its next line up. Hyundai Xcient for one is launching imminently. China / Zhangjiakou is launching 600+ busses on Hydrogen for the 2022 Winter Games. Toyota Mirai existed for __years__.
    - toomuchtodo 5y ago
      Yutong and BYD sell ~20k electric busses per year.
- brianwawok 5y ago
  I am both a Tesla fan and a Tesla driver. I am against PHEVs. When my parents recently went shopping for a new car, I tried to sell BEV. When I failed, I encouraged them to skip PHEV and just buy ICE. PHEV are 2x the complexity and things to worry about and go wrong. You need to stop for gas AND plug in your car every day? You need to change your oil AND potentially replace your battery? IMO PHEV exist because they are a compliance tool to meet green energy standards, but not generally a solid product. I see them vanishing very soon as BEV production capacity increases, and they will be a tiny footnote in the history of the automobile. In fact a salesmen directly told us that the PEV we were looking at (PEV XC90 I think?) was a joke, and we could just throw the plug in the trash when we got home and ignore that it existed.
  - olyjohn 5y ago
    Is a PHEV any more complicated than a regular hybrid car? You still have gas and electric motors, just a bigger battery pack in the PHEV. The Prius has proven that even with a gas motor, they can be super reliable. These cars are beaten and abused by taxi fleets and Uber drivers for over 20 years now, and they still hit over 300,000 miles reliably. The electric motor takes so much work off of the gas motor, the gas motor is still usually in really good condition after that many miles. And if you buy the right PHEV, like as in, you buy the one that fits your commute, you probably don't have to gas up much at all. I know people with PHEVs and they love them. They rarely ever put gas in them, except for long trips. All their commuting is done on electric power. They work great. I don't really get what you are on about. Maybe you are biased as a Tesla fan and Tesla driver. I mean, I'm not even sure why else you would have mentioned that. Maybe as a disclaimer that we will know your post is biased? The fact that you're a fan has nothing to do with the reliability or quality of a PHEV, and is totally irrelevant otherwise.
    - dragontamer 5y ago
      In fact, PHEVs are arguably simpler, because the engine is tuned to the generator (which has a consistent RPM / Torque curve). Having an engine run at one singular RPM / Torque band is much easier than ICE, which commonly needs to deliver power from ~1500 RPM to 6000 RPM.

dragontamer 5y ago

Talk to any Tesla-fan. "Icky ICE Engine". "Now you have two engines with twice the malfunctions". "I don't like oil changes". Etc. etc. They're incredibly anti-PHEV. Neither Elon nor his gang of supporters are very good for PHEVs. And on stage, Elon still derides them as a strategy. -------- Look: Elon / Tesla are right now arguing __against__ government incentives for PHEVs and EVs. His politics have flipped. He's no longer a supporter of incentives for this industry.

VBprogrammer 5y ago
I mean, the whole two engines thing is true though right? If someone else can get the cost of H2 fuel cells down to a marketable level I'm sure Tesla would be very happy to fit them as optional range extenders to its next line up. In the UK at least, most PHEVs sold are cynically avoiding a bunch of taxes and benefit in kind. Many of them are never plugged into a charger.
- dragontamer 5y ago
  > If someone else can get the cost of H2 fuel cells down to a marketable level I'm sure Tesla would be very happy to fit them as optional range extenders to its next line up. Hyundai Xcient for one is launching imminently. China / Zhangjiakou is launching 600+ busses on Hydrogen for the 2022 Winter Games. Toyota Mirai existed for __years__.
  - toomuchtodo 5y ago
    Yutong and BYD sell ~20k electric busses per year.
brianwawok 5y ago
I am both a Tesla fan and a Tesla driver. I am against PHEVs. When my parents recently went shopping for a new car, I tried to sell BEV. When I failed, I encouraged them to skip PHEV and just buy ICE. PHEV are 2x the complexity and things to worry about and go wrong. You need to stop for gas AND plug in your car every day? You need to change your oil AND potentially replace your battery? IMO PHEV exist because they are a compliance tool to meet green energy standards, but not generally a solid product. I see them vanishing very soon as BEV production capacity increases, and they will be a tiny footnote in the history of the automobile. In fact a salesmen directly told us that the PEV we were looking at (PEV XC90 I think?) was a joke, and we could just throw the plug in the trash when we got home and ignore that it existed.
- olyjohn 5y ago
  Is a PHEV any more complicated than a regular hybrid car? You still have gas and electric motors, just a bigger battery pack in the PHEV. The Prius has proven that even with a gas motor, they can be super reliable. These cars are beaten and abused by taxi fleets and Uber drivers for over 20 years now, and they still hit over 300,000 miles reliably. The electric motor takes so much work off of the gas motor, the gas motor is still usually in really good condition after that many miles. And if you buy the right PHEV, like as in, you buy the one that fits your commute, you probably don't have to gas up much at all. I know people with PHEVs and they love them. They rarely ever put gas in them, except for long trips. All their commuting is done on electric power. They work great. I don't really get what you are on about. Maybe you are biased as a Tesla fan and Tesla driver. I mean, I'm not even sure why else you would have mentioned that. Maybe as a disclaimer that we will know your post is biased? The fact that you're a fan has nothing to do with the reliability or quality of a PHEV, and is totally irrelevant otherwise.
  - dragontamer 5y ago
    In fact, PHEVs are arguably simpler, because the engine is tuned to the generator (which has a consistent RPM / Torque curve). Having an engine run at one singular RPM / Torque band is much easier than ICE, which commonly needs to deliver power from ~1500 RPM to 6000 RPM.