The withering dream of a cheap American electric car

Why isn't there more focus on plain old Hybrids? Not PHEV's... Aren't they a best of both worlds approach? What am I missing.

Right? I drive an accord hybrid (2023) and get ~53 mpg city and ~48 mpg interstate.

I have a hard time imagining switching to a full EV or going back to traditional ICE.

Um because people really want to be done burning petroleum in their cars. Hybrid is just an old gas car that’s gets improved gas mileage. It’s not a real fix.

> Aren't they a best of both worlds approach? What am I missing.

They have the mechanical complexity of both, in a package of roughly the same size. And usually far smaller batteries and thus far less battery-only range than a pure EV. There are plenty of downsides.

Japan went all-in on hybrids, not exactly sure why though. Skip forward a few decades and it'd make a lot more sense to unify behind a fully electric charging solution than maintaining two fueling methods.

i have heard that a hybrid car is in fact the worst of both worlds, having to carry both 50kg gasoline _and_ over 50kg battery

Plain hybrids currently do sell better than PHEVs or EVs.

I'm not sure in which "best of both worlds" a standard hybrid is better than a PHEV - a PHEV allows for cheaper fuel (grid electricity) when it's available. That being said, the extra cost is associated with larger batteries than standard hybrids. As batteries come down in price / size, I'm not sure why people would want a standard hybrid over a PHEV.

Hybrids don't really solve much.

All they do is slightly improve fuel efficiency; but they cost more to buy, and cost more to maintain. I had to dump my first hybrid because I couldn't find anyone to fix it.

The way to think of it is that a hybrid (both traditional and PHEV,) has more parts than an ICE car, which has more parts than an EV. It's more things that can fail as the car gets old, and more things to pay for when the car is new.

Edit: I should add that hybrids were good for automakers to dip their toe in the water for electrification: IE, get the supply chain working and get institutional knowledge. But, that ship sailed 10 years ago.

They are crutches and will be the worst of both worlds when EV fast charging infrastructure becomes as ubiquitous as gas refueling is today.

And you still don't escape having to go to a gas station every few weeks, and maintenance twice a year. Those 10 or so hours per year don't seem like a lot but after having enjoyed EVs for 6 years now, that's the one of the main reasons I'll never go back.

I think they can work well if you do a lot of city driving (where you brake a lot). So in a sense, it's the best of both worlds.

They are cheaper than pure EV's and do not require the home charging infrastructure.

Hybrids cost more to repair, but much less to maintain. Hybrid brakes can last decades, and their tires and suspension wear is very near an internal combustion engine. However, the added complexity of a hybrid powertrain almost always makes engine repairs more difficult and therefore cost more money.

Hybrid sales have actually skyrocketed in the past year for light duty vehicles and represent a greater percentage than BEVs now [1]. Most western manufacturers completely leapfrogged HEVs and went from ICEs to BEVs, so Japan seems to rule the market, and will reap the rewards. There seems to a zeal surrounding reducing carbon emissions that is counterproductive. The contempt of hybrids is incredibly reminiscent of the disdain of nuclear energy in favor of pure renewables.

1. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=62924