When most people think about electric cars, they think about fully electric cars — battery-powered Teslas and Ford F-150s, cars that never need to stop by a gas station and fill up with fossil fuels. These are the cars that have graced Super Bowl ads, and are the cars that President Biden has driven around a racetrack. In short, the flashy cool kids of the EV revolution.
But there is another key player of the switch to EVs — one that’s not quite as glam, but that can serve as a gateway drug to the world of Teslas and Nissan Leafs.
It’s the plug-in hybrid.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or “PHEVs,” are the vehicle world’s strange chimeras. Like electric vehicles, they can operate only on electric power — at least for somewhere between 20 and 50 miles. But after they’ve used 80 to 90 percent of their battery, they switch over to operating just like normal hybrids: combining a gas engine, energy-saving braking and the remainder of the battery to run efficiently.
That can make a plug-in hybrid seem like it doesn’t excel at being either a hybrid or an EV. “It’s like a spork — not the best fork, not the best spoon,” joked Gil Tal, director of the plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle research center at the University of California at Davis.
But that dual nature can make plug-in hybrids a great option for people who are EV-curious but not quite ready to take the plunge. Most plug-in hybrids have an EV-only range of between 30 and 50 miles; meanwhile, the average American drives about 27 miles a day. That means that plug-in hybrid owners charging their cars every night could easily spend almost all of their time running only on electricity.
It also means that new EV adopters can get a mostly electric car, while still having the option of fueling up at gas stations on longer road trips. America’s fast charging system is still unreliable, and while a recent bill passed by Congress includes $5 billion in funding for new fast-chargers, many EV drivers who don’t own Teslas still complain about public charging. (Tesla has its own proprietary charging network, although the company plans to open some stations to other drivers.)
And, even though they don’t get as much attention as their flashier cousins, plug-in hybrids are popular. In 2022, plug-in hybrids accounted for almost 30 percent of all electric cars sold, and their sales are rising faster than fully electric vehicles. In the United States, consumers have shelled out for the Toyota Prius Prime (44 miles EV-only range), the Chrysler Pacifica minivan (32 miles EV-only), and the Kia Niro crossover (33 miles EV-only). Six plug-in hybrids currently qualify for $3,750 or $7,500 in the federal EV tax credit.
Tal, who studies EV adoption, says that plug-in hybrids can serve as a kind of gateway drug or “training wheels” for future EV drivers. According to a study Tal and his co-authors published last week, about one-third of plug-in hybrid owners choose to switch over to a fully electric vehicle as their next car. For those drivers, the plug-in hybrid shows them that going electric is possible, and prepares them for how to charge and use a new kind of vehicle.
“They understand that every day they can drive electric,” Tal said. “It seems like a natural next step.”
But it’s not always a slam-dunk. About 28 percent of drivers who have tried plug-in hybrids return to conventional gas-powered vehicles or regular hybrids. Tal says drivers who do that often don’t have easy charging access at home and are frustrated by a lack of reliable public charging. Such drivers might find themselves using their plug-in hybrid as just a regular hybrid, without actually plugging it into electricity.
That leads to another conundrum about plug-in hybrids — it can be hard to say exactly how good they are for the planet. A commuter who drives 30 miles round-trip to work each day in a Toyota Prius Prime and charges every night could easily go for six months without buying gas once. But the owner of a plug-in Jeep Wrangler who doesn’t charge that often would end up producing more carbon emission. This discrepancy has led some analysts to criticize plug-in hybrids, arguing that they might help automakers reach emissions rules even when drivers are mostly using gas.
Tal says that the trick is purchasing a plug-in hybrid that can travel a decent stretch without needing a charge. Some plug-in hybrids have a range of only have 21 or so miles, which might make drivers feel that the hassle of charging isn’t worth the payoff. One with almost a 50-mile range, on the other hand, can be all-electric almost all of the time and still offer flexibility on long road trips.
Either way, plug-in hybrids will continue to be a part of the electric vehicle revolution. California has pledged that 100 percent of the vehicles sold in the state will be electric or hydrogen-powered by 2035, with one caveat: 20 percent of those vehicles can be plug-in hybrids, as long as they have at least 50 miles of EV-only range.
“We’d like to get as far as we can with full electric,” Tal said. “But plug-in hybrids do have an important role on our way to 100 percent.”