Originally Posted by Ecky
My opinion, a plug-in hybrid can be the best of both worlds. Plug-ins can drive a number of miles on electricity only, but don't need to have a huge, expensive, heavy battery to get that 300+ mile range people want. Net result, you commute every day to work for pennies on cheap electricity but can still take a road trip without worrying about charging networks. The batteries are also far less expensive to replace. A Chevy Volt battery, good for 35 miles before falling back to the gasoline engine, is only $3,000usd to replace.
Overall, this question looks to be one that can be answered with some math - essentially, ((cost of new hybrid) - (sale price of existing car)) / ((yearly cost to drive current car) - (yearly cost to operate hybrid)) = years to break-even.
Factor in projected maintenance costs and you have your basic total cost of ownership. A Toyota hybrid which uses the old style nickel battery could expect to need a $1500usd battery every 150,000 miles or so. The newer lithium batteries haven't yet failed in significant numbers, but they're looking to last longer and cost no more. With a Volt, you have a battery that's 2-3x the cost, but rather than cutting your operating costs in half, you're cutting it 80-90%.
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The Volt is a compelling package. Hyundai's Ioniq (same drivetrain as Kia Niro) is also compelling, available as hybrid, PHEV or EV and is a far more efficient vehicle. It's good for 50ish miles on electricity, and once it falls back to gasoline, it's around 33% better on fuel than a Volt. Honda sold the Clarity as a PHEV in the US, and the Accord is available as a PHEV in most other places. There's also the Prius 3rd gen PHEV, Prius Prime 4th gen, and Prius Prime 5th gen. Toyota has plug-in hybridized several other models in non-US markets. Mitsubishi sells the Outlander as a PHEV. Chrysler sells the Pacifica.
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Anecdotally, when I look around at what people are driving in NZ, which has even more expensive fuel than the UK, people are primarily driving subcompact hybrids. The math works out in favor here.
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