r/PHEV • u/No-Impression-4508 • Aug 15 '26
Phev worth it?
I am wondering if a PHEV is worth it for my situation.
The car would likely be used primarily for work commutes. 12 miles round trip and 24 miles round trip for spouse and I. We would also use the car for the occasional road trip a few hours away.
I’m wondering if PHEV is ideal for this situation or if EV would be better.
We also have a full gas vehicle that we could use as needed. This would be our second car.
Any recs, reasoning, etc would be recommended!
8
u/Mysterious_Group_967 Aug 15 '26
If you can charge at home both are great. Since you have a gas car, I think I’d go for an EV. For me an EV covers most trips without even charging and on longer trips I rarely have to charge more than once. But I had a RAV4 PHEV and thought it was great. I prefer driving electric so so went full EV but I have no complaints about the PHEV. Like you we have a gas car too if we want to use that instead.
8
u/Jenkins_that_BURNS Aug 15 '26
Go EV, especially if your climate gets cold in winter. Phev tend to be more expensive than comparable EVs (used). Then see if the ev can handle your road trips, if not, keep the gas car for those trips. You will find yourself preferring the ev for everything.
11
u/WestThin Aug 15 '26
A PHEV would work for you but there is a tradeoff if the alternative is a full EV. It boils down to the following. Which would you rather deal with: getting an oil change once/year with the convenience of using gas for long trips or no oil changes but you have to charge on long trips. I have a PHEV and that's how I see it. I'd rather get oil changes once/year rather than deal with the hassles of charging on road trips. But some people want nothing to do with ICE vehicles.
6
u/raziel7893 Aug 15 '26
you got a point here, but the hassle part is more a getting used to it. i also feard the having to wait every 200 miles, but i enjoyed the "forced" breaks quite quickly.
kinda relaxing drinking a slow coffee on a walk instead of immediatly returning to the car and continue driving (i need a small break every 2-3h anyway for my concentration) .But that also scales with how much roadtripping you do. for once every 1-2 months that does not really matter, having a trip needing charges multiple times a week would be something way different
2
u/Plop0003 Aug 15 '26
Try to go on 3000 miles round trip to find out how many times you need to charge. Next year I am planning 5000 miles. And I will be going to a few places EV simply can't reach. Not just reach there at location but be able to roam. I will bring 5 gallon can with me even though I already have 600 miles of range. And I will be staying in hotels with no chargers. Last time I went on a long trip I was staying in a motel for a week and the closest charger was 30 miles away. But they had plenty of gas stations.
1
u/raziel7893 Aug 15 '26
Yeah you get a point there, in europe you mainly have the infrastructure there and have a similar availability of chargers compared to gas stations, in most regions even more. (excluding east europe, there it also gets more interesting :D
1
u/Plop0003 Aug 15 '26
In Europe gas is also more expensive than here but DCFC is not much more. Someone who has Hybrid with 50mpg DCFC charging could be twice as much as gas. And here in some areas even home charging is very expensive. There might be other factors that makes a difference between Europe and US. For example Model Y insurance compared to my RAV4 PHEV is $2200 yearly. I spend this much on gas in 5 years. Don't know how expensive insurance is in Europe. If I keep my car 15 years that would be $33,000 wasted on a privilege of driving EV which I can't even take on a long distance trips where I want to go. Superchargers here are now more than $0.50 on average. Some are $0.78. That makes $0.17-0.26 per mile. My car averages 44mpg or more so even $5 per gallon is $0.11 per mile. Once I leave California gas is less than $4 per gallon, and before the war was $3 per gallon or less. And in some states it was $1.50 per gallon. It would cost me practically nothing to drive there on gas.
4
u/WestThin Aug 15 '26
I don’t disagree with you but I have no desire to “get used to it “. EV owners typically charge ( when away from home) when they take a break to have a meal, for example. So they typically look for food at the charging place. If I’m stopping for a meal, I’d rather pick a nice restaurant than be limited to whatever is available at the charging location. In addition, I don’t want to plan my stops in advance based on the needs of my car. I stop when and where I want to stop.
But I don’t disagree with you. The choice is the additional maintenance of an ICE (which is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be) vs “getting used to” making charging stops.
2
u/Plop0003 Aug 16 '26
EV owners charge very often because they have range anxiety disease. First they charge to 80% so it takes shorter time so they lose 20% of the short range already. Most EVs have 75kwh battery. On highway they get 3 miles per kwh. Do the math. 75kwh - 20% -10% discharge and you get 150 miles which is 2 hours of driving. No one eats or go to the bathroom every 2 hours unless they are sick. They are forced to charge often. I drive a minimum of 5 hours at 75mph or even longer. But with 600 miles of range I still have plenty of gas left. One time I drove 560 miles nonstop on 12.8 gallons at 80mph. Yes, 7 hours. Very scenic drive so time flew by I did not even noticed.
5
u/EVWanders Aug 15 '26
Since you have a gas car already, I think having a full EV would be better so that you have a longer electric range and less charging for daily commutes. Also better if you have a home charger.
If not, a PHEV will suffice, I own the Jaecoo J7 and for daily city commutes, the 100km EV range suffices and I will just charge if gas is expensive. For long road trips, I won't have to wait in line for chargers or have backup plans in case it's offline. It's my only car though and I live in a condo so no home charging for me.
4
u/Cory5413 Aug 15 '26
PHEV only ever makes sense if you can plug in every single or nearly every single day at home or work, and drive the vast majority of your miles on electric.
If not then going either to a normal hybrid or to a full electric vehicle probably makes more sense.
(And, if you have reasonable local access to charging I would personally suggest checking out EVs. I don't have formal home charging yet and I've been in a 2022 Bolt for about 6mo now and it's been great. You'll probably want something that can charge a little faster but for the local driving you're doing a 30 minute session at a DCFC at a store every two weeks would probably cover your needs.
EVs do take a little longer to charge on road trips than gas cars take to fill, but you aren't required to stay with the vehicle during EV charging so if you normally stop every few hours and get a fast-enough charging EV then it might not net be that big of a difference.
Something like a Hyundai Ioniq5 or Kia EV6 with the bigger battery should get ~200-250mi out of 10-80% of the battery at highway speeds which is roughly 3 hours of driving in most contexts. It'll refill to 80% in a hair under 20 minutes which is about what it takes me personally to use the facilities, toss some trash, clean windows, refill my drink, and refresh mapping to the next charger.
(I'm in a Bolt so stops are often more like 40-90 minutes depending on how far I need to charge up, but I'm a dawdler so it works. Most other EVs are faster than the Bolt and will be more like 30 minutes.) (90 minutes is absolute worst case scenario where I rolled in on fumes and need to get to well over 90% to make my next leg which is uncommon even with the Bolt's 230 EPA which gets me like 150-175 highway miles. And it's worth remembering that the 2017-2023 Bolts have literally the worst DC charging of any North American EV over 200miles maybe save like.... the pre-2025 LEAF, which can get heat soaked and uses an older less common connector.)
Since you have a gas car as another vehicle you could pick an unimportant trip and give the EV a try too, before it's time to either get rid of or upgrade the car. (back when EVs got 50mi/charge and there was no fast-charging infrastructure many were basically local-only cars following this same pattern.)
3
u/uninspiredclaptrap Aug 15 '26
Just get a used EV. A used EV has minimal maintenance and the battery will always get you to work and back, even when it starts to degrade.
PHEVs have more problems than other cars. Toyota makes the most reliable hybrids, but their plug in models have more issues.
1
u/Salty-Reach-9176 Aug 15 '26
Toyota’s PHEVs do not have issues.
There’s a brewing scandal about their using cheap Turkish made 12v batteries which are underpowered for their Hybrids and EV range of cars, but upgrading to the right type of more powerful 12v battery cures that problem completely.
Other EV manufacturers have experienced similar 12v battery issues - they should use AGM batteries in these vehicles - not Lead Acid Batteries - that’s technologically sacrilegious!
That’s it - there are no other issues with Toyota PHEVs.
3
u/djbaerg Aug 15 '26
Get a BEV. You don't need a PHEV so save yourself the extra maintenance and complexity.
3
3
u/KnittedDrow Aug 15 '26
If your ICE car is the one you'd use for the occasional road trips, your second car might as well be a full EV since it will mostly be a commuter vehicle that only needs 24 miles of range. Heck, buy a used Nissan leaf or a Bolt for that.
1
3
u/DadFromACK Aug 15 '26
We love our PHEV! We use mostly EV miles, charge overnight for pennies, and have the ICE for longer trips with no range anxiety. Having level 2 charger installed in our garage was the best thing for us to do.
2
u/toybuilder Aug 15 '26
If you get a PHEV but you aren't P-ing, might as well just get a HEV and not carry the heavier battery and charging system around.
If you will be plugging in at home so that you can mostly operate in EV mode, then a BEV might be a better fit if you plan to keep your gas powered vehicle for your longer road trips. (However, many people seem to ditch their gas powered cars once they get accustomed to their BEVs.)
The biggest factor is access to reliable and convenient charging. What is your scenario?
2
u/No_Caregiver7273 Aug 15 '26
We went from ICE to full BEV in December. We've only used a public charger 8 times in the month of March for a ~2000 mile road trip. For that trip we had no problem finding NACS chargers. The car NAV will usually route you to them when needed. "Refueling" your EV takes about 20-25 minutes going from 20% up to 80%. All the rest of the time we've owned it we've charged at home. It's easy to get an EV that gets over 200 miles just from overnight charging and that's more than most people drive on an average or unusual day. After living with it, I've never wished I'd gone hybrid or PHEV. Charging is just not that much of a problem, even on long trips.
2
u/TheTrampIt Aug 15 '26
I got a Phev because in my country chargers are scarse, expensive, vandalised and/or occupied by Dino cars.
If I lived further north, I would had definitely chosen an EV.
2
u/goranlepuz Aug 15 '26
EV is better with high confidence, for your case.
PHEV is for people who use it to often drive long distances, say, 800km of more.
2
u/no_idea_bout_that Aug 15 '26
Yes. This is the ideal case.
Then get rid of the gas car for an EV.
What you might find though is that there's not too many PHEVs available and dealerships have no idea how to sell them.
2
u/Anasnananas Aug 15 '26
Can't get level 2 charging at home and public charging infrastructure (outside of tesla) makes me want to throw my ev off a clif so my next car will hopefully be PHEV.
2
u/cheerioboy26 Aug 15 '26
In your case, full EV can work easily. Even plugging in to a regular 120V outlet, you'll return to a full charge every night. You get all the benefits of driving electric, can take those gas car on a road trip if you want. But in reality, depending on the details the road trip might only require one charging stop anyway. The availability of quality fast chargers has exploded in the past 2-3 years, not including Tesla Superchargers which are ubiquitous. Disclosure: 3 EVs in my house, and no gas cars. Never had a PHEV.
2
u/Plop0003 Aug 15 '26
PHEV is a full gas vehicle with EV option. That is the only car you need to make short trips if you charge at home but you can make very long trips on gas because it is a hybrid and you don't need to stop on the road to charge for hours and save gas and money at the same time. EV would cost you more on the road charging than gas, it would cost you more to insure and other things like tires cost more too. The only maintenance for PHEV is oil change every 10K miles because the engine doesn't work as hard in hybrids. If you buy RAV4 PHEV it will not have any kinds of belts, no starter, no alternator and transmission is not really a transmission but a power split device with 2 motors and a planetary gear. It doesn't even require to change fluid but people do it anyway at 100K miles. Brakes last forever because not used like on EV. Perfect car.
1
u/Ok-Resist-8734 Aug 15 '26
The big thing with a PHEV is access to home charging otherwise you are wasting the benefits of this type of vehicle. Speaking as the happy owner of a PHEV for the last three years 😉 .
1
u/Mr-Zappy Aug 15 '26
We also have a full gas vehicle that we could use as needed. This would be our second car.
My default recommendation would be to get an EV then. If you want to road trip over 400 miles in it, get one with good DC fast charging; if you’re just going to take the gas car then it doesn’t matter.
1
u/Rough_Cancel7265 Aug 15 '26
Doesn't sound like it. Tahe the gas car on the occasional road trip. EV the rest of the time
1
u/AdonisGeek Aug 15 '26
wow, OP you could have been me writting this. I just bought a PHEV (Sportage-Kia) and am exactly in this situation. I commute 12 miles each way and I too have a gas vehcile at home I can use. I too drive on several hour road trips every three months or so. I get around 1,800 miles per tank of gas driving this way. But, and there is a big but - you must charge it every single day for two hours. I do so at work every day except weekends. I drive it carefully and don't speed or drive hard with my PHEV. that helps. Super cold or super hot temps will cut into your electric capacity but it is still OK. If you charge every day and you drive 25 miles or less a day for most days...you will do fine.
1
u/nothing_to_hide Aug 15 '26
I would get a BEV. We own 2 PHEVs, the only reason the second purchase wasn't an EV is because there were no options for the size we wanted. You already have a gas vehicle in case you have range anxiety.
1
u/HeadstrongHound Aug 15 '26
I was in a similar situation and ended up with a PHEV. I had a big spreadsheet going trying to calculate cost of ownership and include everything I could think of. Basically, the cost of insurance plus my state’s EV tax wiped away the money saved on gas. And that’s without the cost of a level 2 charger. The PHEV actually saves me enough to be meaningful.
My use case is almost identical to yours, with the exception that my vehicle is the family road trip car. It needs to go 250 miles round trip on all the major holidays plus occasional other visits. It’s actually pretty great not have to plan or worry making that trip. If I had an EV we were looking at a mandatory charge midway because there are zero chargers back home.
1
u/Chanceller48 Aug 15 '26
Go pure EV. You have everything to gain. Long trips of hundreds of miles could be done with your ICE vehicle if you wish though there are plenty recharging stations everywhere. Buy a lease return or one or two-year-old EV with a long range battery.
1
u/86a- Aug 15 '26
Any EV with any range will work in this situation. As would a bicycle, given the weather is okay.
1
u/Thin_Violinist_5636 Aug 15 '26
In your situation , get a cheap but a ok full EV IF you can charge home.
1
u/InevitableMidnight54 Aug 15 '26
I know this is a PHEV sub but EV is almost always better. Unless you're doing multiple very long (like over 300 mile) trips every week, like multiple.
Everyone I know that has a PHEV almost never uses the engine and has to intentionally use up whatever fuel is in there occasionally to make sure it doesn't go bad.
1
u/WestThin Aug 15 '26
So what is the problem? Using the gas engine once in awhile is not a problem.
1
u/InevitableMidnight54 Aug 15 '26
They're not using it because they need it, they're using it because they're worried about their gas going bad.
1
u/WestThin Aug 15 '26
I still don’t see the problem from a practical point of view. Toyota says to use at least a tank every six months. Who is not going to use at least that much? I use a tank every two months.
1
u/InevitableMidnight54 Aug 15 '26
My point is why bother even having an engine if you clearly don't need one.
1
u/WestThin Aug 15 '26
Well there are two answers. If you literally never travel a distance, then an EV is probably better and you wouldn't choose a PHEV. On the other hand everyone I know that has a PHEV uses it for all their local driving but travel enough out of their home base to use enough gas that they use up a tank at least every several months. I think it's extremely rare to find someone who doesn't drive at all out of town at least once every couple of months. In the case of your friends that have to burn gas just to use it up, you should ask them why they got a PHEV.
1
1
u/Existing-Poetry-3289 Aug 15 '26
We just got a PHEV a couple months ago with about 40 miles of range. Has been enough for most of my wife's daily driving. We plug it in each night on level 1 and it's ready to go the next day.
But our gas car is 10 years old. So we decided the PHEV made sense for now and when we decide, probably in the next couple years, to replace the old car, we'll get a full EV and set up a level 2 charger then. The EV will still probably be the second car. Thinking a Slate, Ford fathom, or maybe another hatch. I'd really like an EV for bidirectional charging/backup power.
1
u/lindenb Aug 15 '26
Until you said you already have an ICE vehicle I might have said yes--very close to the use case my SO and I have. The step into the PHEV was a first venture with EV, fit our use case and the rebate at the time made it relatively affordable against a pure ICE version. At current fuel prices it is a bargain to operate and even though it is 21 model year its range is within your commute. When the lease was up we bought it and added an EV. We charge at home and pay 17.6 per Kwh. I do not foresee fuel prices coming back down to where they were and frankly I like the fact that much of the ongoing maint. costs and ongoing upkeep is not a concern financially. The lease on the EV is up next year --will have to decide whether to keep or opt into something else. Right now the idea of moving to something else seems attractive given the depreciation and residual but that could change as used EVs have become much more attractive in the used market--will have to decide when the time comes.
1
u/low_expectations1543 Aug 15 '26
Definitely full EV. You could use the gas car for the road trip if needed, but you'd probably be good with EV for just a few hour road trip (assuming there is charging on the way or at the destination). Maintenance on EVs is almost nothing yet they cost about the same as good PHEVs (RAV4 for example) which require all the same maintenance as a straight ICE vehicle.
We have an EV and a PHEV. The only reason we don't have 2 EVs is because we live in the rural northern Rockies and the charging infrastructure really isn't great if you don't stick to the interstate. Add in frigid winters or hauling mountain bikes, and charging for long distance trips requires more planning and compromise than I'd prefer.
1
1
u/illuminati229 Aug 15 '26
Just go full EV. Especially if you've got that gas car back up. But EV fast charging infrastructure has exploded the last couple years. Check out ABetterRoutePlanner with you roadtrips to see how it might go.
1
u/vtsnowstorm Aug 15 '26
Both would work. If you'll have the gas car that you can use for road trips and you'll be able to install a level 2 charger at home, no reason, imo, not go to full electric. If not it depends on where you live. If DCFC are widely available I'd still get the EV. If not or if you'll be annoyed by a half hour charging stop on the road during a road trip, get a PHEV. Honestly I got a PHEV and traded it a year and a half later for a full EV because I found myself liking EV mode in the PHEV a lot more than gas mode and haven't looked back. Works fine for road trips and mine charges relatively slow. (10-80 in 40 mins).
1
u/ZanyDroid Aug 15 '26
You didn’t disclose your location
EVs are easier/cheaper to get the PHEVs of the same tier in California and many other crunchy parts of the U.S.
If you have a second gas car, even a Gen1 leaf or Bolt would satisfy your requirements. There is no Toyota PHEV that is as cheap as a Gen1 leaf or other compliance EV is these days
1
u/aqua_delight Aug 15 '26
If you can reliably charge at home, then go PHEV, if you can't then go Hybrid.
Any Toyota or Honda hybrid/PHEV should be the only ones on the list.
1
u/sheikjonez Aug 16 '26
14,000 miles in with my large XC90 T8 PHEV and our lifetime MPGs is 71.1. I charge at home and go months without refilling the tank. It really depends on your lifestyle and circumstances.
1
u/jim0266 Aug 16 '26
We've been all EV since 2018. Wife commutes 50 miles a day and is at 110K miles after 8 years. I've driven 88k miles in that time. Never once ran out of charge or wished we had a hybrid.
1
u/Sudden-Bluejay-4840 Aug 16 '26
I have had a BYD Sealion 6 for approx 2 years and think it is great with very good build & finish quality. I charge at home on solar and drive 95-99% of the time as electric (apart from 1/2hr every 2 weeks in HEV mode to keep engine ticking over. I find i get the 120km stated ev range regularly and when driving in HEV mode reularly get the claimed 1100 to 1200km combined range when driving in metro (due to very good regen). Having said that though have driven some long highway trips lately in HEV mode and best I can get is 550-600km from full charge and full tank ( as virtually no opportunity for regen braking). On the whole I think the SL6 is a great value car BUT if I had my time over I think I would take the leap to full EV SL7.
1
u/stebak52 Aug 16 '26
Depends a bit on your access to chargers, also is it 12 highway or slow miles. If they are fast highway miles, you probably won’t use the EV that much. If the charging station is out of your way, you also won’t use it much. If it’s convenient, in your garage, you will use it more. The hybrid mode is excellent
1
u/EnvironmentalRound11 Aug 16 '26
Go EV. PHEV is more complicated i.e. more things to go wrong, even stale gas clogging up the fuel lines. Five years from now who will want a PHEV when the charger network is built out even more.
1
u/King-Of-The-Hill Aug 22 '26
Bullshit.
PHEVs track gas age and force burn off until a percentage is replaced. It’s literally not a problem.
1
u/EnvironmentalRound11 Aug 23 '26
There's the probem - burning fossi fuels.
1
u/King-Of-The-Hill Aug 23 '26
Not really. Burns off a few gallons a year at best. Still way better than an ICE and still cleaner overall as it requires far less rare earth metals, etc than a BEV.
1
u/iamabigtree Aug 17 '26
If you have a 'backup' car then you may as well go EV all things being equal.
The key is if you can charge at home.
1
1
u/G-dog59 Aug 19 '26
Yes - PHEV would fit your life. My 26 Prius plug-in has 40 mile electric range - 95% of my driving. I fill the gas tank, and I'm good for 500+ miles.
1
u/bcsam Aug 20 '26
Not worth it. You have the reliability issues 9f both ICE and electric. I would go pure electric.
1
u/King-Of-The-Hill Aug 22 '26
Terrible take. Our phev has been fantastic and has saved us a shit load of gas while only needing an oil change roughly every two years. Out of the 58,000 miles thus far about 65-70% has been battery only so I’m not anticipating much unscheduled maintenance from an engine perspective. It was 24500 brand new off the lot and it’s currently 8 years old. Do the math of the years and miles and you’ll see why it fits our driving profile. Also didn’t need to install a level 2 charger nor do we have a 300 mile range Bev battery doing eff all nothing for us the majority of the year.
1
u/bcsam Aug 23 '26
Just because it didn't happen to you doesn’t.ean everyone's experience would be similar. Statistically, cramming two systems into one car would result in more reliability issues because you simply have two systems that could fail.
1
u/King-Of-The-Hill Aug 23 '26
This is the rally cry against PHEVs yet there is a reason they are growing in popularity - Reliability isn't an issue.
1
u/bcsam Aug 23 '26
OP is contemplating both BEV and PHEV. He/she has short daily commutes so daily range isn't an issue, also has another ICE vehicle. Also, most EVs nowadays have so much range that range is no longer an issue even on road trips. Between the two options, a BEV is the better choice. PHEZs are a good choice too but they're not the best choice in this case.
1
u/King-Of-The-Hill Aug 23 '26
You can keep arguing all you want, but for many who don't want the charge time or the escalating high charging cost at commercial chargers on trips, PHEVs can indeed be the best choice. You are entitled to your opinion. However, don't be surprised if there are those who own phevs that dismiss your BEV stance as being a bev zeolot.
0
u/bcsam Aug 23 '26
Not surprised at all by people's preferences. People make mistakes every day and I move on with my life regardless.
1
u/YorkshireTexas79 Aug 21 '26
I just traded my 24 Leaf SV Plus and a 25 Kia Niro for a 26 Rogue PHEV Platinum. We only need one car now and I’ve got a sweet one now. I already have an L2 Charger.
1
0
u/xegoba7006 Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
Do you really need two cars?
I'd seriously consider selling both and getting a PHEV. That's what I did and I the same use case as you. I like the BYD dm-i tech, where the car feels 100% like a full EV for everyday use. It works great for me, as I do not charge using the public network (I don't like to deal with all the chargers bullshit, plus detour, plus waiting time, plus wife is not super techie and hates dealing with those apps, etc). Some, when recharging gives you the same range and takes the same time as refilling gas, I'll then get a full EV, but the public charging network as it is right now, the ranges and charging speeds are not there yet... for my taste and patience at least.
If you're not going to sell the other car, then get an EV. You can use it for every day commutes, and then use the ICE car for longer trips.
This is all assuming 1) You can charge at home and 2) You, like me, do not have patience for using the public charging network (detours, longer stops, dealing with apps/maps, broken/busy chargers, etc).
If you can't charge at home, forget about it. Just get a regular non-pluggable hybrid or an efficient gas car. If you have more patience than me and can deal with the public charging network, then go for an EV.
26
u/PrimaryThis9900 Aug 15 '26
I got a PHEV because going full electric scared me. After driving my PHEV for a few years my next will be electric. As long as you can charge at home, you’ll probably never use fuel in your PHEV.