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by garyrichardson 1775 days ago
My experience with hybrids and long trips is that you're stopping more frequently for gas. They've got small gas tanks and small batteries. Both of which are burned through quickly when you're on a freeway and not touching the brake pedal.
2 comments
ansible 1775 days ago
I'm real curious as to which hybrids you've been taking trips in. A gen 4 Prius can easily do 600 miles at highway speed. A gen 3 should be able to do at least 550 on a full tank. That's nearly 8 hours at 70mph.

There's no current EV that can do that.

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garyrichardson 1774 days ago
My experience was with a BMW 330e. I guess I should clarify, I mean true plug in hybrids. Is a gen 4 Prius a PHEV?
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ansible 1774 days ago
The Prius Prime is the PHEV version, which is more expensive than the standard Prius. It has the same gas engine and nearly the same gasoline range as the standard Prius (it gets slightly lower MPG due to the increased weight). You're obviously not going to get far on battery power alone, that is about 25 miles. The intention was to be able to cover a typical commute to work, and then be able to charge a work.

Just read a little bit on the 330e. It doesn't get nearly as good gas mileage as a Prius, but is obviously a much peppier car.

Though if I was spending that much money, I'd try to get a Rav4 Prime, which is nearly as quick (5.7 seconds for 0-60 mph), 600 mile range, and all wheel drive. But that's a personal preference, I'm not in the market for a sports sedan.

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safepants 1774 days ago
my Prius Prime plug in hybrid is great. 40KM full EV range which is 90% of my yearly trips in town so only have to fuel up on longer trips. Highway range (with extra drag of a roof rack and bike on top per my last trip) was 800km per tank.
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drewg123 1772 days ago
Its too bad PHEVs are not modular to allow for removing the gasoline engine for the 90% of trips where you don't need it.

In fact, I have a vision for modular PHEVs where the gasoline engine is on a trailer you pull on trips, and all it does is charge the electric battery to keep the electric motor running. You wouldn't even have to own or maintain the gas engine, you could rent them at u-haul or some a car rental chain.

I would actually love something like this for my Tesla.

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ansible 1772 days ago
They had a range extension trailer for the original Tesla roadster. I don't know how popular it was...

The main issue with that is the total efficiency isn't that great.

If you're not taking frequent long trips, than it seems a pure EV makes the most sense. You can just rent a car for the longer trips.

If you are more frequently taking long trips, but your daily trips are often short enough, a PHEV can make the most sense.

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