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Comment by alkonaut | Hacker News Reader

My problem with them is that they don't offer the greatest benefit of electric: the simple drive train. No thousands of moving part kept moving by a handful of fluids and rubber pulleys all needing meticulous care. With the hybrid you get the best of both worlds in convenience and range but the worst in maintenance. Battery aging? Check. Expensive combustion engine service schedules? Check.

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Battery aging is less a problem when the battery capacity is less essential. You still get hybrid mileage benefit even if the battery can only hold a single braking charge (and let's face it, it will never go that low during the lifetime of a car).

In any case, there are always going to be advantages and disadvantages, and the market will tell where people's priorities lie. After all, there already is the $100k Model S, with its abysmal range when driving at 100 mph -- and some say that it even has too big a battery for an affordable EV! A hybrid suffers none of that with its more complicated ICE. (They're not that bad, but I'm not going to start arguing about that. I don't even know if you own one to maintain.)

"Meticulous" is a bit of an overstatement,. I've had a Prius for about five years now and I've changed the oil a few times and put in windshield washer fluid. And most of the accessories are electrified anymore, so the only belt is for the water pump.

I wonder how many EV drivers end up in the dealership only once a year.

Couldn't you get at least a simpler drive train if you only used the engine as a generator?

No, not really. You still need a full-fledged engine. You might be able to simplify it a bit because it doesn't need to produce optimal fuel economy across a large operating range, but it still isn't going to be much different than a normal car engine. For a good example, check out the Chevy Volt, which works exactly the way you say.

The greatest benefit and main purpose behind electric vehicles is reduced emissions. In this regard plugins are a big step beyond cars with just an internal combustion engine.

People keep saying that electric cars are inherently more reliable but Tesla has worse-than-average drivetrain reliability.

I'm sure ev reliability will be bad for years as it's young technology but all the more reason not to duplicate risks by having two separate drivetrains.

Huge weight gain, with associated efficiency and handling compromises? Check

This is why I bought a Chevy Bolt instead of a Volt.

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