Why Did You Decide To Go PHEV over Full EV?

Range anxiety.

 

I didn’t even go PHEV just standard hybrid.
I echo @schja01 Range anxiety

 

The deciding factor was the price of the PP, thus ultimately the value of the car with its reliability and resale value considered was the reason. I never compared PHEV and BEV. There is no BEV to be compared in terms of the value PP offered. If there was a BEV with a similar value, I would have picked it. Conversely, at today's price for a 2022 PP, there is no way I would even consider purchasing it. (i.e. 2022 PP price now is at least $5.5K higher than what I paid for my 2021 PP without a dealer mark-up due to reduced Toyota cashback.)

 

Money.

Range Anxiety.

Lack of realistic choices.

 

If I drive to the northeast corner of Memphis, the nearest big city to me, I need a round trip range of 400 miles. On the other hand, it is wildly unlikely that I will exceed the electric range of any PHEV inside Greenwood, so I can do all I need with one car.

If I lived in a more urban space, a BEV may work, if I was more rural, a PHEV would not offer enough range to ever do without gas.

 

Mainly availability. When I started thinking about an EV in 2017, I wasn't attracted to Tesla, but had had good experiences with Toyota over the years. Found a PP online at a dealer about 60 miles from me although my local dealer said that they wouldn't have any. Looked at it, drove it, and traded my 2012 Miata in on it that day in March. Have thought about upgrading to an EV, possibly Kia or Hyundai and keeping the PP as a second car. However, I just filled the gas tank last week; the first time I have added gas since January. Now I am thinking that I really don't need an EV. We also have a Lexus ES300 from 2000 as a second car, and I have to remind my wife to drive that every couple of weeks so the battery doesn't run down. The PP has 23K miles and the Lexus less than 50K, so there is no compelling reason to put out another $40K or more for an EV at this time.

 

We currently have two Prius Prime, so your question really doesn't apply to my household. I can perhaps provide some background though.

Back in 2012, there simply wasn't much of a choice. Prius PHV was the sensible decision, especially since I was still single back then.

Later in 2017, the plug-in market was basically a mess with no sign of improvement or obvious next step. It would be a number of years remaining before any type of agreement or standard in the United States. Prius Prime was a sensible plug-in upgrade, especially with the heat-pump and all-electric power/speed increase.

Now in 2022, there is much to hope for but a lot of waiting still. CCS is very much at the early stages of rollout here, so travel will be limited for the foreseeable future. There simply aren't many DC fast-chargers available, regardless of speed. I will be getting a bZ4X in the next few month. It will work exceptionally well for the uses my wife and I have around the suburbs surrounding the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Eventually, we will be able to conveniently travel up north with it too. Knowing typical driving needs and already having two 7.7 kW (32-amp continuous draw) EVSE in the garage made that decision a no-brainer.

From my perspective, it has been a steady evolution. Each generation has come with an obvious push forward. There is always something new too, a feature that will catch others off guard. With bZ4X, that would be the radiant heater. Living in Minnesota, it will be quite exciting to experience firsthand what transmitted energy feels like rather than wasting it to warm surrounding air. I'm quite curious how much that reduces demand/need for the heat-pump.

Stay tuned.

 

PHEV all the way.....

Money
Range anxiety
Ability to go where I want, when I want. Being able to drive 4 hours before making a pit stop and not have to wait for a charge. I could scarf-down lunch/snack and do whatever I need to do in 30 minutes + refuel gas tank in a leisurely 15 minutes - so if a battery recharge can't be done for another 4 hour run in 45 minutes; it's an inconvenience that's costing me time and money.

My knowledge of Volts, Leaf's, and Tesla. Tesla was never in the running; No way of making the math work (rich person's toy).
Leaf; short battery life span and horrible resale value. First Leaf's coming off lease and sold to the public was 7K - 8.5K; down from 35k at the end of a 3-, 4-, or 5- year lease. I gotta give Nissan credit for being able to keep the battery derogation hush, hush.....
Volt was a BEV with a backup generator built in, much like the BMW i3 (generator optional). With the generator running, it would get 31 mpg - my ICE Honda did better than that and there was also the issue of the very small gas tank.

 

(I don't actually have one yet, due to supply constraints, but would jump on it today if the model I wanted became available without excessive dealer markup.)

PHEV, because I'm retired from daily commuting, but do take off-Interstate road trips to and through areas of poor charging infrastructure, and exceeding today's BEV ranges. E.g. the normal trip I must frequently take, in all weather, is 400 miles.

If I was still working, I'd have picked up a BEV of appropriate commute range some years ago. Or if most of my retirement travels were confined to Interstates and other routes well served with rapid charging infrastructure, I'd also have a BEV.

The Prius Prime's EV range would cover a good deal of our around-town distance, but a different and newer model would cover it much better. If only I could get my hands on it ...

 

there weren't any worth buying in 2012, but if i ever buy another car for myself, it will be a 200 mile range bev, at least as big as prius.

 

When I went PHEV it was
1. Up front cost of the car ($17,500 brand new)
2. No infrastructure
3. Convenience
4. Range

most of the above haven’t changed much. (#1 maybe)

Now I’m stuck with 40-70mpg antique stickshifts and need to get my 1981 commutacar back on the road for my short range EV kick.

I don’t foresee myself buying another vehicle ever again unless the market changes but the $20000 40mpg Maverick hybrid is tempting to replace the rarely driven truck now that my newest car is a wreck without repair parts sitting for 4 months at a body shop.

Sadly the Maverick does not have a PHEV option or built in nav which are both dealbreakers in all the dead cell zones.

 

We went from 2 hybrids, to 1 BEV & 1 PHEV to 2 BEV and won’t be going back

The reason for the switch from PHEV to BEV was range anxiety
There was nothing I hated more than hearing that gas engine kick in, especially if it happened just short of our home.

The PHEV was kind of a gateway to BEVs as we paid much closer attention to our driving miles. We came to realize the gas engine was, in our case, unnecessary.

We have been driving only BEVs for 9 years now. Trips across the country, commuting, out of state trips to family, etc.
In our case, the BEV handles every travel need we have had. I understand that isn’t the case for everyone, but for us it has been.

 

Well I wanted a Toyota for the reliability. Toyota didn't have a bev. Honda clarity BEV was a joke (90 mile range IIRC). Prius prime Advanced was a good deal for $19.2K after rebates new.

 

It was the cheapest car I fit in. I'm 6'4" with shorter legs (need more headroom than most) so once Saab went out of business, I was pretty much stuck with SUVs/Trucks. I wanted a car. I like hatchbacks. Only tried on a Prius because I didn't fit in a Corolla (and my 6 mo old Sonic was too uncomfortable), and it was the only other car in stock.

I work from home (20+ years), and don't drive enough to justify installing a high speed charger, nor do I have room in my garage right now. Could easily live without a 2nd car... in fact, we did while the kids were in college.

Most of my trips are local, but I do take the occasional road trip. I thought it would be a good trial to see if I could "go electric". I can't. My driving is too sporadic and unpredictable for today's BEVs. If I don't have time to charge, no big deal - can't say that about a BEV. Also travel in rural areas without much charging infrastructure.

Considered a 4wd Prius, but they don't sell those for $10k off. Toyota and Prius reliability was also a factor (total cost of ownership). The Ford Maverick would probably be my 2nd choice after a few years assuming they work the kinks out.

 

Concur with previous replies. Further, from an emissions/environmental perspective I side with Toyota logic - it's better to have ten Prius Primes with an 8.8 kWh traction battery on the road than one EV with an 88 kWh traction battery. At least for now until battery supply increases.

 

Having two cars isn't going to be a burden financially. So I plan on getting a BEV for commuting eventually. The current Outback was chosen for hauling and long range comfort. I could go one car with a PHEV, but all the options mean a compromise. The Rav4 Prime is the best option on paper, if available for a reasonable price(most of my cars are bought used), but I'd still be using gas on my commute with it.

I don't know specific local parking situations, but plug ins don't have to be in a garage to charge. Nor is Level 2 charging a need, specially when the household has another car. My commute is 60 miles. Level 1 charging with give about 40 miles of range a night. A Bolt has enough range to cover my commute for a week on Level 1, and then get fully charged over the weekend.

Level 2 can increase to amount of EV miles you can do during a day, and could mean the difference for whether a shorter range BEV is a viable option, but it isn't a need for most people's weekly driving.

BMW didn't put in the investment to get the best efficiency out of the range extender. The budget went elsewhere on the car. The Volt was 37 and 42 combined MPG.

IIRC, Toyota's logic was to actually have a bunch of hybrids instead of a plug in. At least, that is where it points too. Extending that, it's better to build even more mild hybrids than HSD Toyotas.

 

That is the magic BEV enthusiasts cringe about. They continue to wear the "EV Market" only glasses, still refusing to look at the entire fleet.

If you are producing 1 million vehicles and have only a limited number of battery cells available, your emissions & efficiency results are far better off spread in smaller kWh distribution to reach as many vehicles as possible.

 

I switched over to a BEV (40 kWh Leaf) in 2019 because of not needing to go to gas stations, doing oil changes, 5th seat (Toyota finally changed this), and more power. I eventually upgraded to a 62 kWh Leaf for more range. My Leaf got into an accident so I upgraded to a Mach-E for about $7000 more. We have a Pacifica PHEV for our second car.

BEVs are good if you can make it work for you. Would I buy a Leaf in this market? No. I would buy something that would hold its resale value more, like a Mach-E, ID4, Ioniq 5, EV6, Polestar 2, or Tesla. The problem is finding one in this market without a markup.