Quote:
Originally Posted by rmay635703
That’s what the marketing info said for the volt
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GM's marketing for the Volt caused a lot of confusion for PHEVs. The range-extended electric car description made a lot of people think it was a $35,000 EV with a 35 mile range. I think it hurt EV's reputation as well.
Automakers still struggle to explain to people the benefits of a PHEV. People are fixated on completing their commute on electric only when they would get the majority of the benefits with a much smaller battery. The biggest issue with my 2nd gen Prii was that the battery was too small. On even moderately long downhills it would fully charge and then I would have to switch to hill mode to increase compression braking. In stop and go traffic it the A/C would deplete the battery and cause the engine to turn on to charge it again.
Cars like the current Prius Prime are the prefect blend to me. A big enough battery to eliminate the problems above and cover a large percentage of miles on EV. The modest battery size reduces cost, weight, and the lost cargo area of a large battery.
As redpoint said in the OP - if the goal is to reduce CO2 and smog then hybrids are the way to go. At least with current battery technology.
I also see a place for short range EVs with a 100 - 150 mile range but they have been a sales failure. People don't seem to get the idea of a couple pairing a city use EV with a gas car for road trips even though most US families have multiple cars.