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by twblalock 1431 days ago
It sounds like a normal hybrid is a better idea if the charging infrastructure is bad. A normal hybrid would be cheaper and never needs to be plugged in.
1 comments

plug in is a pure improvement. if you have 20 mile range that you can charge at home, then you will be doing the majority of your driving in electric.
If you can charge at home you’d get an EV most of the time, not a slow hybrid.
If you can't charge at home, PHEV is completely nonsense, or say waste of battery compared to HEV. PHEV should be for who can charge at home, drives daily, and want long trips with quick gas charge.
Even if you can't charge at home, PHEV is still worth it over HEV because it will increase resale value, and because you may be able to charge somewhere in the future (eg work, or different home). The cost of the plug is negligible, so making an HEV that can't plug in is just a waste.
PHEV for future proof is good point. Simple plug cost could be minor, but HEVs have small battery (and don't use fully for long life) so just adding plug is almost useless. Who wants only 5km EV range?
that's a lot of my point. The Prius prime (for example) has a 8.8kwh battery, which at $130 per kwh works out to $1150 of battery. That's not negligible, but the benefit is pretty massive. That's a big enough battery to get you 20-25 miles of pure electric range which means that if you have a short commute, you will dramatically cut your gas usage. Full BEV is great obviously, but IMO, you probably want 1 car to be gas optional still, and a PHEV gives you an easy path to be driving almost 100% electric with 0 compromises compared to a gas car.
You can charge a Volt overnight on a 120V outlet.