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Anton van der Merwe's avatar

Given your willingness to stick to the facts I would have hoped that you would be be supportive of plugin hybrids.

Given the current high cost and energy intensity of batteries, it is important that they are used efficiently. Unfortunately this is not the case with most full EVs. The batteries typically have a range many times greater than the daily commute. It is a bit like having a smartphone with a massive 8 day battery. Full EVs make sense in towns and cities in commercial vehicles, where batteries are used efficiently on a daily basis and charging is readily available. In other situations they are suboptimal.

Toyota have done a useful analysis showing how using scarce batteries more efficiently in hybrids and plug-in hybrids is a far more effective way of reducing emissions that switching to full electric.

A crucial advantage of plug-in hybrids is that they can be charged off a regular plug and there is no need to install a high speed charging network. This means they can be used in any part of any country.

https://www.teslarati.com/toyota-defends-ev-strategy/

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Shannon Arvizu's avatar

Since this is “sustainability by numbers,” it’s important to look at the vehicle miles traveled, not just ownership numbers. The typical household uses their car 30 miles/day. As a result, it is far more sustainable to have a plug-in hybrid vehicle for one’s everyday driving, as these vehicles can be charged at home with a 110-outlet (thus reducing demand from the grid) and use far fewer rare earth minerals in their smaller (but still powerful and sufficient) batteries. PHEVs are a key enabler of the democratization of electric vehicle ownership and are purpose-built for everyday needs. This article needs to be edited to consider the real world uses of the PHEVs and BEVs.

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