Quote:
Originally Posted by cowmeat
I got over my EV range anxiety by going with a used Chevy Volt. I was already a Hybrid owner, and looking to drop my gas usage to zero, but I was pretty timid about jumping into a full EV.
After researching many cars, I chose the Volt because it fits my personal daily driving circumstances perfectly (and the price was right): I plug it in at night and on my daily commute of 38 miles I use no gas at all, but if I decided to drive it to the Keys that's not a problem! It gets so-so gas mileage when using the ICE to power it, but those times will be few and far between  |
Agreed. You are lucky that longer range hybrids are becoming more affordable in the USA. Downunder is way behind in that area - there are only a couple of hybrids outside the Toyota / Lexus range that are available, and most of them are mediocre to say the least. There are a few Honda Civic hybrids too, but nothing affordable in the EV or PHEV space (BMW etc) or worth driving (Mitsubishi Outlander). The Holden Volt is $60k+ which makes it unattractive.
My use case includes a daily commute of 15km each way plus regular drives ranging from 75km to 350km if I take into account charging opportunities, and this pretty much rules out most of the options. I regard the Toyota / Lexus hybrids as having the best overall efficiency until a longer range hybrid or EV becomes available.
Simon