PHEVs make more sense to me anyway. For the majority of trips they run off the battery which makes them just as good as a BEV, but they have no problems with range and they are a whole lot cheaper.
Range absolutely is an issue for people who have owned an EV. More importantly, it is an issue for people who haven't owned an EV. Claiming it isn't a problem because current EV owners are OK with it is preaching to the choir.
But even if range really isn't a problem, a PHEV makes more sense to me because they are cheaper and make better use of our limited battery supply. A PHEV with 50 miles range will be just about as efficient as a BEV for the vast majority of driving, but it gets by with a much smaller battery pack. We have the battery supply to make nearly every new car a PHEV, but we could only make a small fraction of them BEVs.
I live in the UK and recently went EV-only (miss our Q7, perfect family car, etc). It's not the range I'm worried about, but the infinite flakiness of the various chargers I tried -- I'm not exaggerating when I say that about 50% of the time I fail to get the damn car to charge due to either the charger being offline or random glitches (could also be due to my fairly new Q4 e-tron). I am considering a Manchester-Isle of Skye road trip, and I'm not yet sure we'll actually go through with it.
TL;DR less range anxiety, more "getting stranded because of unreliable chargers" anxiety
PS: I should add, having 3 small-ish children is definitely the major factor here, were I alone I couldn't care less that I had to wait a few hours for trickle charging, might as well get some work done
PPS: speaking of glitches, the Q4 e-tron lane keep assist is incredibly panicky and has constant mini freakouts whenever something strange happens to the road (e.g. lanes splitting on the motorway, passing parked cars on narrow roads, etc.) -- thankfully it's just annoying (slight jerk and vibration of the steering wheel) and not actually dangerous
> Range isn’t an issue for anybody who has owned an EV.
I've owned (well, leased) two EVs. Range was definitely something to be closely monitored at all times and trips planned around it, which I classify as an "issue" since I had to worry about it so much.
tdhz77|4 years ago
Your behavior changed when you got an iPhone and you moved on with your life. Same thing here.
shituonui|4 years ago
But even if range really isn't a problem, a PHEV makes more sense to me because they are cheaper and make better use of our limited battery supply. A PHEV with 50 miles range will be just about as efficient as a BEV for the vast majority of driving, but it gets by with a much smaller battery pack. We have the battery supply to make nearly every new car a PHEV, but we could only make a small fraction of them BEVs.
smnscu|4 years ago
TL;DR less range anxiety, more "getting stranded because of unreliable chargers" anxiety
PS: I should add, having 3 small-ish children is definitely the major factor here, were I alone I couldn't care less that I had to wait a few hours for trickle charging, might as well get some work done
PPS: speaking of glitches, the Q4 e-tron lane keep assist is incredibly panicky and has constant mini freakouts whenever something strange happens to the road (e.g. lanes splitting on the motorway, passing parked cars on narrow roads, etc.) -- thankfully it's just annoying (slight jerk and vibration of the steering wheel) and not actually dangerous
jjav|4 years ago
I've owned (well, leased) two EVs. Range was definitely something to be closely monitored at all times and trips planned around it, which I classify as an "issue" since I had to worry about it so much.