Comment by derekp7 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by derekp7 | Hacker News Reader

I really think PHEV would be idea, if only they had just a bit more electric-only range. Many of them only get you 25 miles or so on electric only, so you would still end up using the gas engine quite a bit. Bring that up to 40 - 60 miles, then you can do 95% of your driving on electric only.

So I've heard the argument about "why haul around a gas engine you are only going to use 5% of the time". The same thing can be said about all electric -- in that case you really need a 300 mile or so battery instead of the 50 mile battery, but most days you will be hauling around 250+ miles of extra battery you will only be using 5% of the time.

Also, on a PHEV, I'd like to see the gas engine be just barely enough horse power to drive the car (and keep some minimal charge on the battery). And have it use that in conjunction with the electric motors for acceleration. That way the gas engine can be kept even more light weight.

This is precisely the road Mazda appears to be taking. When they introduced the CX-30 electric lots of folks were disappointed with range. If the rumors are to be believed, Mazda will be introducing a rotary engine range extender with some interesting technology.

In my opinion, this is probably the best option for now. I'd much rather 4x as many range extended hybrids with 50 mile-ish range than 200 mile range electric cars.

I'm naive about this topic, but I think other factors to consider are the manufacturing and maintenance. A PHEV just can't be as efficient to manufacture as a BEV. This is particularly true as investment dollars follow the money into batteries and the ICE supplier chain grows tighter. Then, once you've got it, you still need to maintain it like an ICE, even though you'd rather just use the battery.

That being said, I think PHEVs are great, but I think consumers and producers both see greater benefits moving to full BEV.

Edit: grammar

Hmm, this is the first time I've seen the problem explained that way, you're right, and I think it illuminates the end goal EV's need to reach for, while weight is any consideration. Modular batteries at certain interval ranges. Most trips, keep one 70 mile range battery in, the rest garaged. Leaving for a long road trip? Plug in the other 5 battery packs for a 420 mile range.

Not sure about other car manufacturers, but I know Toyota is having trouble building up their battery infrastructure, which is why their PHEV range is lacking as of yet.

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