https://info.oregon.aaa.com/aaa-interest-in-evs-wanes-more-a...
Even most hybrids are not a good deal, when compared to a fuel efficient 4 cylinder. My Dad recently had to replace the battery in his Toyota Prius after only about 100,000 miles. He bought a refurbished battery and got it installed for ~$4k. Toyota wanted $6k for a car that is barely worth that (worthless with a dead battery). It failed about 6 months later, was replaced, before failing again. He ended up getting rid of the car because it wasn't worth it, and replaced it with an ICE Honda Civic.
Meanwhile, I've owned my Honda Civic for over 10 years, and outside of regular maintenance, never had a problem with it. I couldn't imagine ever buying a hybrid or electric car.
This is all anecdotal, just like your stories.
The anti-EV people are neo-Luddites. It doesn't really matter though, because technology marches on regardless. I will say that I would not want to be an ICE owner when we hit a tipping point and gas stations start closing because most people are driving EVs.
No brake disc/pad replacements, no oil changes -- or any fluids! -- and no trips to the gas station. Mostly just tire rotations/replacements.
Hybrids still require roughly the same maintenance as ICE vehicles, and also have to deal with battery life on top.
I understand that regenerative braking reduces their wear, but that's also offset to some degree by the vehicle being heavier.
Also, the brake pedal uses regenerative braking most (maybe 80-90%) of the time, unless (again) needed for quicker stops, or if it detects friction braking hasn't been used for a while (just to clean off the pads).
So by my rough estimate, I'm guessing we use regenerative braking about 90% of the time, which means it should be about 10x the timeframe (vs. ICE vehicles) to replace brake pads/discs.
You will have the same in lagging US market. Hybrids are more complex. They will die once you have good and cheap enough battery immediately.
In china they already selling cars that can go 600 miles on a single charge. Any range or any other concerns will die once that reach a mass market. You don't need to go to gas station, pay tips, expose yourself to security risks. Just charge at home, it's superior to anything including hybrids.
Tax based on weight.
And part of the problem is CAFE standards. It sounds like emissions requirements are set so tight for small trucks that manufacturers have given up on trying to make it work for small trucks.
And as you point out, US consumers seem to love large vehicles. For a variety of reasons. For some the need is legitimate (they need to haul or tow big/heavy things). For some, they want to copy the first group. And for some, they want to feel safe, sharing the road with the other big vehicles.
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Sadly they've actually stopped putting them in some of their newer car lines (e.g. the Civic) which had them in previous model years.
Hybrids are the worst of both worlds: you need a gas engine AND a battery.
It doesn't make sense economically.
Things cost money and putting both engine and battery costs more that putting just one of those.
People care about the price so in practice you end up with a car that has both gimped (cheaper) gas engine and gimped (cheaper) battery and a government subsidy to make it sense financially (for buyer).
Not to mention that study after study found that environment benefits of plug-in hybrids have been greatly exaggerated i.e. in real life charging happens 2-3x less than the initial predictions.
People buy them mostly because governments offer subsidies making them more attractive than similar gas cars and then don't charge them at all. Which also means that the battery in them is completely useless and it would be better if it wasn't there in the first place.
On the other hand this makes sense, because the vast majority of trips are short, so the gimped battery works just fine. But for the long trips the gas engine can fill in.
It means one can own one car instead of two.
Toyota sold almost twice as many hybrids as Tesla sold cars in 2023. Comparing a single model's sales is pointless, especially when Tesla carries so few models compared to most manufacturers.
> Hybrids are the worst of both worlds: you need a gas engine AND a battery.
Most hybrids use a dead simple power split transmission that replaces a complex automatic transmission as well as the alternator and starter. Most of the accessories move off of belts and get replaced with high-voltage electric components similar to an EV. Priuses are the most common taxi and Uber vehicle for a reason. They are extremely reliable and cost effective relative to ICE and even EVs depending on the relative cost of fuel.
> It doesn't make sense economically. Things cost money and putting both engine and battery costs more that putting just one of those.
The costs are fairly marginal, switching to the Hybrid model of the 2024 Corolla (no subsidy) costs $1450 and nets +15 combined MPG and 0-60 times within 0.2 seconds of one another. At +15 mpg and $3.50/gallon it pays itself off in 50k miles
> Not to mention that study after study found that environment benefits of plug-in hybrids have been greatly exaggerated i.e. in real life charging happens 2-3x less than the initial predictions.
IIRC this study was from corporate fleets which isn't representative of a consumer who seeks out a PHEV.
The reality is that most Americans would do fine with an EV but the inability of the incumbents to innovate on affordable EVs and the FUD in the marketplace is a big issue. The top issues in that survey you linked are basically price (fair), battery replacement (FUD) and then charging availability and range anxiety as equal third. Range anxiety is overblown given the vast majority of Americans drive less than 40 miles a day, yet somehow everyone seems to demand a vehicle capable of making 500 mile non-stop road trips.
The best selling hybrids on the market aren't simply ICE vehicles with extra stuff slapped on. Most series-parallel designs eliminate the need for many parts that an ICE car would have. For example, many hybrids don't have a starter, accessory belt, torque converter, or multi-ratio transmissions. Due to this, many hybrids have hundreds of fewer moving parts than comparable ICE vehicles.