[Frank Lee]

The engine might be 32% but it's putting the power to the ground via generator then battery then electric motor then transmission(?) then wheel vs engine/trans/wheel. I could get behind a gen-set strategy if the usage for it was, say, just to get a tiny bit beyond how far electric only would go, like if an EV could go 70 miles on a nice warm day but now it's winter and rolling and air resistances are way up and you're headed into a vicious headwind on your 70 mile trip so you need a little help on the tail end, occasionally.

For me, if I'm gonna go somewhere out of town, I transition from a few miles of in-town puttering around, to 100-350 miles one way trips. Batteries ain't gonna cut it and since I like to go straight through, I won't plan on stopping somewhere for a recharge either. For that putting the ICE power to the wheels seems like a no-brainer.