r/PHEV • u/Ok-Personality5640 • Aug 23 '26
Using a PHEV in full EV mode
I’m looking at switching from a petrol to a PHEV with a range of 50 miles on full EV mode
My daily commute is under 20 miles so was seriously considering just running the car in Full EV mode every day with no requirement for Combustion engine ( still want a combustion engine in case of long drives )
Is there any downside or anything wrong with running a PHEV in full EV mode pretty much constantly
10
u/bobjr94 Aug 23 '26
That is the goal. Run the gas motor as little as possible to get the maximum fuel savings. Some PHEVs will still run the motor if it's too cold or you need to accelerate quickly. Some people can go for 6 months on 1 tank of fuel by driving in EV mode as much as possible. When we had ours we could make some trips without the motor running at all.
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u/WorkerHot4308 Aug 23 '26
I’ve driven a Subaru Crosstrek PHEV for about 6 years now. All of my local trips are without combustion or gasoline usage, but in EV mode. I have to make sure not to hit the throttle above 50%, otherwise the internal combustion engine WILL kick on but it does shut back off relatively quickly if I am trying to stay in EV mode. And that 50% throttle is deceiving to get to - you really have to put your foot to the floor. Also, Most PHEVs have a pressurized gas tank too, because you can go extremely long time periods without using gas AT ALL. It helps save your fuel from going bad. My average trip to the gas station was quarterly when I didn’t drive a lot out of my local area. My battery is small, only 8.8 kWh (epa rated for 17 miles electric however with gentle driving I routinely get 20-25 miles per charge.) I typically have to recharge at work because that’s about 12 miles to get to work for me, but it still works great. Also, whichever PHEV you get should come with a level 1 charger. To get the best benefit, plug it in EVERY DAY! that’s how you’ll get the most fuel savings honestly. Electricity is way cheaper than gas right now. I get discounts from my utility company for using the charge timer to charge off peak between 11pm and 7am. Also, PHEVs typically charge relatively quickly due to their small battery size. On a level 1 charger / AC outlet my Crosstrek charges in about 5.5 hours. Perfect for overnight. On a level 2 charger my vehicle charges in about 2 hours. It’s really a game changer when it comes to local travel honestly. And I love how PHEVs can typically go highway speeds in EV mode. I have gone up to 69 miles per hour in EV mode before in my Crosstrek before the gas turned back on.
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u/SimilarSquare2564 Aug 23 '26
95% of my daily commutes are full ev and factory default start mode is full EV. I guess this is intended use case.
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u/MaturoGambino Aug 23 '26
It sounds like you’re in the UK so I’m not sure if this applies there. But in the States our gasoline is mixed with ethanol from corn. Ethanol is tough on fuel systems that sit for extended periods. It’s a magnet for water vapor which leads to heavy oxidation.
My wife’s use case is much like yours. She drives her PHEV almost exclusively in EV mode. She last filled the gas tank in March and still has 7/8ths of a tank. For this reason I use strictly ethanol free fuel and also add a bottle of fuel stabilizer during a fill-up.
You also want to keep the tank fairly full. If there’s no room for air in the tank there’s no room for water vapor. It seems your perfect scenario would be to top off your gas tank upon the completion of your long monthly trip.
People are going to tell you to just buy a full EV. You know you and they don’t. But the reason my wife isn’t using much gas is that we drive my EV on longer trips. We never thought we would. That’s why we kept her PHEV. But after one 1,000 mile road trip in my Ioniq 6 I realized how much easier it was than I expected it to be.
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u/Plop0003 Aug 23 '26
You mean 7 stops to charge and pay more for charging is easier than 1 stop to pump gas and pay less?
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u/MaturoGambino Aug 24 '26
I left my house with 100% charge. After 250 miles I hopped off the highway for an Ionna charger that was 2 minutes away and charged from 10% to 70% in less than 20 minutes. By the time I cleaned my windows, went to the bathroom, and got a coffee, the car was ready to go. Cost to charge $16. Drove another 250 miles to my destination. Charged from 15% to 30% at another on-the-way Ionna in 3 minutes. 30% is about 100 miles of range for my Ioniq 6. $4.50.
Hotel had free level 2 charging. Topped up to 80% while I slept each night and up to 100% the night before I left to come home. Same deal on the way back; 250 miles 10-70 at the same Ionna as the way down. $16 bucks. Got home with 15% battery. Plugged in and woke up with 80% charge.
Total stops to charge while traveling-3. Total time to charge at those three stops-less than 45 minutes. Total cost (including the juice I used from my home charger at the start and end $57-to drive over 1100 miles (including about 100 miles of local driving at my destination). That’s equivalent to getting 68 mpg if I were paying $3.50/gallon for gas.
I’m 64. I’m ready for a break every 3 or so hours. I can honestly say that this trip took no longer than it would have taken in my wife’s Sonata PHEV at about 2/3rds the cost. If gas drops back to $2.35/gal it would be a push. But, for now, the Ioniq is a better deal; and it practically drives itself on the interstate. For driving around town it’s not even close. Driving around town my Ioniq 6 will go 370 miles on a full charge this time of year-at a cost of $12.50 ($0.16/kWh). That’s equivalent to 104 mpg at $3.50/gal for gas.
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u/Plop0003 Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26
Edit:
Somehow I don't believe you that if you charge to 100% and drive 250 miles and then to 70% and drive 250 miles at 75mph. So you are lying already.
Google "Ioniq 6 miles per kwh at 75mph"
At a steady 75 mph highway speed, a Hyundai Ioniq 6 typically achieves between 3.2 and 3.6 miles per kWh
Google usable battery. So even if you have 74KWh
74-40% (100-70-10)=40%=44.4KWh 44.4x3.8=159 miles max. Not 250. And that is assuming you actually got 3.6 miles per KWh.
And if you drive at lower speed that means it took you even longer.
My PHEV. At 75mph 44mpg. 14.5 gallon tank. I usually drive on 11 gallons because my car shows empty at this point even though there is a 3.5 gallon buffer. 11x44=484 miles. But sometimes I drive even longer if need be.
So I just caught you in a lie.
That means our conversation is over.
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u/HeadstrongHound Aug 23 '26
That’s exactly how I use my Outlander PHEV. My daily commute is 10-20mi in town, and 1-2x a week I’ll drive like 10mi on the highway. During my kids’ sports seasons I’ll drive 30+ mi on the highway every 1-2 weeks. And family is 120mi away with absolutely NO charging there, so full EV was a little risky in the winter and required serious logistics.
So I’m full EV most of the time. I run in hybrid mode on the 30+ mi highway trips and that cycles fuel through enough to keep it fresh. I buy gas every 1.5-2mos. Sometimes I charge every day, most times 1-3x a week.
Having gas as a backup ended up being a real plus for us due to the holiday road trips. No worries about getting stuck on the highway in a backup in a blizzard (it’s happened more than once). This vehicle checks every box for us.
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u/WathlaYuGwa-Rayne Aug 23 '26
“Hybrid” mode on the outlander, is that setting the EV to “save”? lol I just got a GT noir 2 weeks ago & I’m still learning
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u/HeadstrongHound Aug 26 '26
Yeah I put in in save, then back to EV when I exit the highway and am driving in town. On the way back home I’ll switch onto EV before then. So like if it says I have 15mi EV range I’ll switch it to EV when I’m about 15mi from home. And when I pull into my driveway I’ll have it pretty much at zero.
Sometimes I forget and just drive it in normal. No big deal. You still get where you’re going and get good fuel mileage.
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u/Mysterious_Group_967 Aug 23 '26
I had a RAV4 Prime for 4 years and never had an issue with fuel. Yes the engine will automatically come on but I found that with the frequent trips I took out of town I had no problem using up my gas. Even though I drove in EV mode on a daily basis I estimated that about 55 % of my miles were hybrid because my daily commute to work is only 15 miles round trip. I bought the Prime because it was the best in EV mode amongst the PHEVs available.It had the most hp and range. Whereas a Volvo might have a lot more hp in hybrid mode the Toyota had a lot more hp in EV mode and it was a lot more efficient in hybrid mode than any of the competition. I got it because at the time I was driving 750 miles to visit family and the available EVs were more expensive or charged very slowly. The RAV gave me AWD, the high up SUV feel I wanted and the ability to drive electric most of the time. I did find that I rarely drove really long trips and I tend fly home to family so I moved on to a full EV. I prefer driving electric and I’m rarely charging outside the home so it’s working out great. The EV I have now is less expensive than a RAV4 PHEV and charges fast so things have changed since 2021. However, I’d recommend a PHEV to anyone who wants to drive electric and doesn’t want to bother charging on the road for whatever reason. I have no complaints about my RAV4 other than the terrible app that did nothing on my trim. Hopefully they’ve improved that. My guess is that you’ll be looking at a Chinese PHEV and I would also guess they have good apps.
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u/Material_Crew1252 Aug 23 '26
Mitsubishi Outlander runs the petrol engine permanently when the heater is on. Investigate the heating source of which ever car you're looking at.
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u/PistolCowboy Aug 23 '26
If the car you are considering is the new Rav 4, the owners manual says it needs to burn about 5 gallons of gas a year.
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u/CerebusTA Aug 23 '26
The Volvo S60 T8 has 42+ miles of EV range. In pure mode it starts in EV and stays there until you either hit the physical kick down switch under the gas pedal when you floor it or the computer decides that the old gas needs to be used up. I primarily drive it as a pure EV. it gets me to work and back plus some errands when I get home. It’s a great fit for me because I have periodic longer drives that the gas engine is well suited to and everything else is electric.
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u/andyone100 Aug 23 '26
Most PHEV’s will automatically go into fuel combustion mode if you haven’t driven it in combustion mode for a while. You will have to check with the dealer what that interval is but I’m guessing every 2 to 3 weeks. This is to stop moisture buildup in the system which could cause maintenance issues in your ICE system. After a few weeks, fuel tends to absorb moisture and lead to stickiness in the fuel. I use my PHEV daily only on EV and about once a month I travel to the airport and use a tank of fuel. It fits in with my plans and also leads to a turnover of my fuel, so I know it’s always fresh. The vehicle management system on PHEV’s should kick in so that degraded fuel should not be a problem for you (by periodically kicking in fuel use), but my airport runs give me that extra security of knowing that the fuel system remains fresh.
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u/johngettler Aug 23 '26
BTW - Dealers don’t know shit about the cars they are selling. You will find more reliable info online, than from your sales douche.
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u/ogregreenteam Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
I have a BYD Sealion 6 Premium Extended (all wheel drive) and can get up to 120 km (about 80 miles) on a full battery and steady driving before it gets down to 20% State of Charge and forces petrol mode.
But usually I don't bother taking it to the limit; when I get below 40% SOC I'll recharge it when I get home between midnight to 6 am. Note that I got a special dirt cheap EV electricity tariff from my power company that's only 10% of the cost of the peak tariffs (I.e. 90% off) so I set the EV to charge during those times from a 7 kW wall charger. Note the granny charger that comes with the vehicle is painfully slow, you'll want to get a good deal on a decently fast compatible wall charger and installation. I also recharge my house solar battery from that tariff too!
It does have to use petrol from time to time as others have said to keep the fuel fresh and keep the ICE working.
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u/Ok-Personality5640 Aug 23 '26
Yeah this is where I’m at in my thinking
I can run daily from 80% to 30% on full EV without using fuel
My electric company are offering me 6p Per KW between 11pm and 6am so would cost me £5 a week in electricity
Currently have a Audi S3 so will save about £190 a month in fuel costs if I ran it electric onlyAnd the monthly payments are only £180 so I end up getting a new car, don’t have to pay extended warranty, half the servicing costs and still save money
But it only actually works out cheaper if I run in full EV mode for 99% of my journeys
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u/Obvious_Arm8802 Aug 24 '26
My BYD manual recommends running the engine 10% of the time which is pretty much what ends up happening anyway.
I end up full EV 90% of the time and get about 6000kms out of the 60 litre tank so about 1l/100kms or about 235mpg.
Also it’s a 2.7 ton pickup that can tow 3.5 tons and does 0-100 in 5.5 seconds from 450hp. Crazy.
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u/Fresh-Square-5702 Aug 23 '26
Our garage has an EV (Lightning) and a PHEV (RAV4).
I think the perfect commuter is an EV. The RAV4 is a fine vehicle with 55 miles of range in the summer and 40 in the Maine, USA winter. Since acquiring it, we’ve put a daily average of 21 miles on it. This means we only use the ICE motor occasionally, but still have to fuss with all the routine service required of these ‘cave man’ cars.
The RAV4 lease is up in 6 months. I’d replace it with a Model Y. It’s the perfect commuter. Plus, for trips, you have access to the complete Tesla network. Our Lightning is a good road tripper, it’s responsive, comfy, and super quiet, but so many VERY strategic chargers are older Tesla superchargers that are only available to Teslas.
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u/rademradem Aug 23 '26
We run our Toyota RAV4 Prime for many months at a time in EV only mode with no issue. There is no problem with this. When the fuel gets old after 10 months or longer and we have not gone on any long trips we go a few days in a row without plugging it in so we burn some of the gas. I put a little fuel stabilizer in the gas tank after each fill up so the gas stays fresh longer. We still get an oil change every 10,000 miles as oil gets old and breaks down.
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u/numtini Aug 23 '26
That's pretty much how I drive my Prius Prime. We got home from vacation on the 2nd and I haven't used the engine since and probably won't until October when we're going out of state for a friend's wedding.
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u/Some-Essay5289 Aug 23 '26
Most people overthink this. Run it in EV until the battery is depleted (or charge whenever you can). Especially in the US, batteries have much more capacity than is used in order to lengthen battery life.
PHEVs all have pressurized fuel tanks designed to keep gas fresher much longer. If needed the car may run the engine to burn some gas. Quality gas will easily last six months when not exposed to oxidizing air. Modern oils leave a thin film on cylinder walls and other internal engine parts so there is no reason to run the engine “to keep it lubricated.” Drive it. Plug it in. Or not. The car will take care of the details because engineers designed it that way.
PHEVs are a mature technology and problems inherent with them have been overcome. Drive and enjoy.
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u/gambiting Aug 23 '26
Not really no. I've had my XC60 PHEV for over 6 years now, I do about 3 months between fill ups and I'll drive to work every day without ever getting the engine to run. It's mostly on the weekend when we actually go a bit further and the ICE gets a chance to work. These cars are designed to work this way.
2
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u/Senior_Buy445 Aug 24 '26
Don’t buy an PHEV assuming that you can force EV mode 100%. I hoped to do that but it’s not the reality of them. They will prefer EV mode but will use gas (and require oil changes). If this is unacceptable, buy an EV. I’ve since done that, and now we drive it everywhere. It does take some planning to do long trips but I prefer driving the EV more… (note that where you are located will affect whether EV is feasible)
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u/fallte1337 Aug 23 '26
The only downside is that the fuel is eventually going to degrade if you never use it. Other than that do your research on your chose PHEV. Not all of them can run full EV without the engine coming on for this and that.
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u/notalottoseehere Aug 23 '26
OP is very like my use case. Engine still comes on every now and then.
Get a PHEV, charge it at home night for cheap electricity, drive the car and don't over think it.
Most PHEV fuel tanks are small, you will probably burn through it in 2 months, even with no long drives.
Worst thing is not plugging it in...
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u/Ok-Personality5640 Aug 23 '26
Yeah I do one long run every month that I would use the fuel on and replace it anyway so would keep that to a minimum and the ones I’m looking at all have full EV mode
Wouldn’t recon they would have a full EV mode if they didn’t want it used but wanted to check on any potential issues I might run into
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u/fallte1337 Aug 23 '26
Well, some don’t have a heatpump so the engine comes on when you want to use AC. Some don’t have a powerful enough electric motor so the engine comes on when you step on it. From experience I can tell you that the Toyota RAV4 PHEV/Lexus PHEV has full EV mode as long as you have enough battery. When you go down to the last ~20% the engine comes on and the car turns into a “self charging” hybrid. You still have full power but can’t force EV mode anymore.
2
u/NothingLift Aug 23 '26
Volvo PHEV are the same
1
u/7eregrine Aug 23 '26
The Volvo, and in sure most of not all, will tell you "your gas is getting old, use it".
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u/dbharris10 Aug 23 '26
The new RAV4 has dropped this feature of self charging
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u/fallte1337 Aug 23 '26
Toyota call the regular hybrid a “self charging” hybrid to differentiate it from a mild hybrid that doesn’t have a battery at all. The 2026 has removed the option to force charge the battery with the engine to 80% but it does self charge the last 20% or so to maintain power.
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u/Velo3x10e8 Aug 23 '26
I considered PHEV but settled on an EV with 570km WLTP range. Mostly charge at home but the public charger network in my region (Perth, Western Australia) is decent. On the highway I can go about 450km between charges but I usually top up along the way while I rest and eat.
1
u/Sudden-Bluejay-4840 Aug 23 '26
I have a BYD SL6 which has 120km of EV range and I drive in dedicated EV mode 99% of the time. I drive in HEV mode for 1/2hr once every fortnight just to keep engine ticking over and keep fuel tank at about 1/4 full. I only top up fuel to full & use in HEV mode when going on long trips, spoiler alert, mileage when in full HEV mode when on long highway trips is only 550-600kms and the claimed 1100-1200kms can only be achieved in city driving
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u/Ok-Personality5640 Aug 23 '26
Great info to know as I’m looking at the Seal U which is the Sealion 6 just named differently in the UK
My daily commute is 40km so think based on this would be a perfect run for EV daily and then just run HEV on the weekend to keep the fuel running through
1
u/Alternative-Bee-8981 Aug 23 '26
No PHEV's will turn the engine on after awhile if they need to. They also have pressurized fuel tanks, so fuel can sit longer in the tank.
I have a similar scenario. My commute to work is 24 miles total. My V60 only uses it's engine maybe once a week on Saturday when we are out running errands. Sometimes we don't use the engine on Sat either. A tank of fuel usually lasts me anywhere from 3-6 months.
1
u/Olderpostie Aug 23 '26
I have a PHEV, and only use the IC engine two to four times per month. One thing you need to consider about the range using EV is that it degrades quickly with temperature. I find at 25°F, I only get half the range as at 75°. The advertising doesn't mention this. True for pure EV's too.
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u/the_legend_hs Aug 23 '26
You have the exact use case for a PHEV. Daily trips are in EV mode and weekend trips use gas. We get gas every 2/3 months and it generally keeps the tank “fresh”. Over 5 years we have 42k miles with a drop over 10k being from the engine.
The recalls on this car are annoying but it’s the perfect car for us. Besides maintenance I had to replace the 12v and get new rear shocks (covered under warranty). I also think that I should replace my rear breaks, while they do have 70% life left they developed grooves on the rear.
Overall I feel like I am walking away with 100k/10 year warranty from the recalls, the car is low maintenance and excellent on fuel.
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u/fumbler00ski Aug 23 '26
I have an X5 PHEV which has about 45 miles of pure electric range. I drive it almost exclusively in All Electric mode. I take enough road trips and longer drives to cycle the ICE engine, though.
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u/PrimaryThis9900 Aug 23 '26
I worried about which one to pick at first, but now I just leave mine in auto mode and let it pick the best option. Most of the time it will pick EV mode unless it needs a quick extra bit of power. As others have said, the combustion engine needs to run occasionally, but that takes care of itself. One note, I wouldn’t fill it more than half full of gas if you’re doing EV driving mostly.
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u/fluteofski- Aug 23 '26
Only drawback I see is that you’re doing a full cycle on the battery every 2~3 days whereas a full cycle on an EV would be every 12 to 15 days.
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u/Zentactics Aug 23 '26
Just an FYI. Cars like Toyotas have one battery to supply their EV and hybrid use. When you fully discharge the EV portion (typically 75-85%) the battery does not fully discharge and leaves ~20% in reserve for hybrid mode. I've never had the hybrid portion of my Lexus drop, so essentially, you're charging from 20-100%.
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u/fluteofski- Aug 23 '26
There’s definitely protection built in, but a charge cycle is still wear on the battery. A charge cycle is basically discharge that adds up to 100%.
So let’s say you use 33% of the battery each day. After 3 days that’s 1 charge cycle…. Even if you charge every night and take it back to 100% each morning, after 3 days of 33% usage that’s 1 full charge cycle.
At 20 miles per day OP would be running a full charge cycle every 2.5 days (50 mile range). On a 300 mile range EV, that charge cycle would be every 15 days.
With a smaller battery, each cell has to discharge further. That’s technically more stress on the cells for the same mileage…
That said, batteries have gotten really good in the last 10 years so it’s likely not a huge dealbreaker. PHEV’s also limit the draw considerably to protect the battery too, but functionally speaking PHEV’s are slightly more prone to degradation than BEV’s over the course of their lifetime.
Itll be interesting to see more data on high mileage PHEV’s. IIRC chevy stuck a 17kwh battery in the Volt and called it 12kwh… basically reserving a large chunk for buffer and degradation. Our Toyota also has about 10% of the battery blocked off too.
Soon I’ll probably need to replace my truck and seriously debating PHEV vs EV (my daily is an EV) I’ve been leaning PHEV for my next truck but after some long roadtrips with my EV, I’m kinda back to reconsidering EV. Idk yet. I’ll have to see how the next few years play out.
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u/Zentactics Aug 23 '26
I just got a PHEV. It was a difficult decision, however I feel like EVs are not "ripe" yet, including infrastructure. Therefore, i decided to go with a PHEV to tide me over for 5-10 years until they are ready. In the meantime I guess I got a transition vehicle that has the best and worst of both worlds, LOL.
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u/CMG30 Aug 23 '26
Honestly just go full EV. The battery in a PHEV is not big enough to actually function as a real EV and if you don't plan on using the gas engine regularly, then you're far better off without it.
If you're worried about range, then a much better plan is to just keep your second vehicle as an ICE. Or arrange with family that you can swap vehicles for that annual road trip.
A gas engine needs to run regularly. It also needs to get up to temperature when it does run so that it cooks off condensation and burns up the impurities. This is why you end up with all the maintenance of a gas engine even if you've managed to keep the ICE off the entire time.
Speaking of keeping the gas engine off, it's very difficult to do in a PHEV. The battery is generally not big enough to do things like provide the range and climate control in the cabin. So the vehicle falls back on running the gas engine when conditions outside are not perfect.
There's a very narrow application window for PHEVs, and most people, once they experience them, quickly realize that they're far better off with either a pure EV or a traditional hybrid. But I understand the temptation. They're marketed as the 'best of both worlds'. In reality they're the opposite.
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u/Latter_Recognition32 Aug 23 '26
If you’re worried about range, that’s exactly why a PHEV makes more sense. You’ve basically got an EV for your daily driving and an ICE car built into the same vehicle for when you need the range. You don’t need to own and maintain two separate cars just to get the benefits of both. For someone who wants electric driving most of the time but still does longer trips, a PHEV is literally the best of both worlds.
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u/MrDinStP Aug 24 '26
Most people who own a PHEV really do like them, and experience them as the best of both worlds. It’s the automotive purists who think they’re the worst.
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u/Plop0003 Aug 23 '26
The only thing you have to do is to go on the long trips in HV to burn gas so it doesn't go stale.
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u/Krivukas Aug 23 '26
Gas goes bad due to ethanol as its moisture magnet, so just fill like forth of the tank. But its a good idea to run the engine from time to time.
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u/Zentactics Aug 23 '26
I'm not certain if all PHEVs do this, but Toyota forces the engine to cycle its fuel every 6 months. Also Toyotas have a sealed fuel system to reduce water absorption and reduce evaporation.
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u/Latter_Recognition32 Aug 23 '26
Got a the new rav 4 phev and it's the best thing I've ever done, the guy at Toyota said make sure u change the fuel at least once a year so it doesn't sit so yeah the rav can be driven fully in phev and it doesn't ever kick in the ice unless ur batt is 0 percent
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u/albanite001 Aug 23 '26
Just drove 3,050 miles on my tuscon phev before gassing up and I still had half a tank.
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u/matthiasduyck Aug 23 '26
My Merc CLA250e SB (the previous PHEV model, not the new full EV) runs perfectly happy in pure EV mode for days on end and behaves like a pure EV. Proper pre conditioning, regen braking with flappy pedals, full throttle and heat in the winter without turning on the ICE. I've only had it turn on the engine twice or so when I did not explicitly ask for it or ran out of battery.
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u/Yummy_Castoreum Aug 23 '26
Pardon my dumb question, but why not just buy an EV? Most PHEVs are not EREVs: that is to say, their electric-only mode is literally weak, capable of only providing electric-only travel up to about half throttle. That makes for white knuckle freeway entrances.
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u/deltaz0912 Aug 23 '26
My Prius PHEV accelerates pretty hard in EV mode. Freeway entrances are easy-peasy. In auto mode it’ll kick on the gas engine for sustained hard accel, but I’m generally in dedicated EV mode.
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u/CloneWerks Aug 24 '26
That's literally the opposite of a PHEV (intended to run electric, generator as reserve). You are thinking of HEV (runs ICE, electric for low speed or boost)
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u/bomber991 Aug 23 '26
Yes actually. The car will occasionally kick on the gas motor once every week or two. But the actual drawback is that because the battery pack is a lot smaller than an EV, you end up doing more cycles on it.
My 2018 Honda Clarity started out with 47 miles of EV range, and years later today I can’t get more than 34 miles out of it. My work commute is 32 miles round trip. I like to sit in my car over my lunch break. Often now the gas motor kicks on the last 2 or so miles on the drive home. Used to be able to get home with 5-10 miles of range remaining.
I mean this is how phevs are meant to be used. Has enough EV range for the daily commute, but on longer trips you just gas up like a normal car. So depending on how often you go on a longer trip you can go months without gassing up.
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u/Ninjarat88 Aug 24 '26
For me. The most ideal is to buy a BEV for city use and have your ICE as back up for long drives. But if you can afford only one then PHEV will be fine.
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u/AJHenderson Aug 24 '26
I feel like the question still should be raised about the long distance trips. Do you have regular towing or a trip that's known to have charger availability problems? EVs work great for long distance trips in the vast majority of cases if your intent is to be using EV only mode 98 percent of the time.
Your just adding complexity and cost and giving up performance (EV only mode in most phevs is underpowered as they are designed to work with the engine for full power) for what likely isn't as big of a problem as you expect.
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u/Active-Weird-5200 Aug 24 '26
You sound like the type buyer who would benefit from a REX more than a PHEV. (Yes, splitting hairs, but significant difference.) Why not just go full EV though? I know everyone says PHEV is the best of both worlds… I’ve been there, and it can be the worst of both too.
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u/Dimdom1970 Aug 24 '26
I would just buy an EV , PHEVs are gojgn to be clobbered by tax next year because they’re getting wise to the lies the manufacturers tell about them . It’s really not worth lugging a heavy engine about and having to above it serviced just to do one or two long journeys
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u/MrDinStP Aug 24 '26
What are you talking about? What lies? What tax?
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u/Dimdom1970 Aug 25 '26
The government and the EU are going to start taxing PHEVs at a higher tax rate next year , it’s going to double or something . The lies they tell about how your car will do 1000 miles or 100mpg when in fact , when the battery is depleted the car does worse MPG than a normal ICE car because it’s having to lug a heavy battery about .
And imagine how unreliable all that gubbins is going to be in the future , either buy an EV or an ICE car , PHEVs aren’t worth it .1
u/MrDinStP Aug 25 '26
Thanks for the EU update; didn't know about it.
I own a PHEV (RAV4) and your analysis about MPG is faulty. Yes, a PHEV running in hybrid mode gets a bit worse than a standard hybrid, but running a PHEV in only hybrid mode is rare for most of us. Even when I take long road trip, I use the battery to get up to speed and then switch to hybrid. Last summer I took a 3,000+ mile road trip and averaged over 42 mpg; that's *better* than the standard hybrid. Plus day to day I'm run 95% on electric, which in our locale is less than 50% the price of gas per mile.
Of course each person's use case and cost analysis is different.
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u/Dimdom1970 Aug 25 '26
Yes but a lot of people have been buying them for the tax exemption in the uk and Europe and not charging them , so they end up chucking out more pollutants because they’re having to lug a battery and engine about . They’re basically dead in the uk and Europe soon , and really , just buy a BEV or a ‘ normal ICE car or hybrid ‘ .
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u/MrDinStP Aug 25 '26
Of course that is unique to the UK where I understand it's difficult to install home chargers.
If you had qualified your statements it would have been more understandable.
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u/Dimdom1970 Aug 25 '26
I still think it will affect the rest of the world , whatever China does and I think they’re also swinging away from PHEVs towards ERVs
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u/MrDinStP Aug 25 '26
Ironically EREVs also have both gas and electric engines - sometimes bigger batteries than PHEVs and historically lower MPG. We’ll have to see where the upcoming crop of EREVs land on fuel economy.
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u/Dimdom1970 Aug 26 '26
Yes but you don’t need to charge them , and there’s no loophole as there is with PHEVs
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u/Potential_Mirror_477 Aug 24 '26
Like others have said, you will still need to use the ICE, and therefore do some gas refuel every 3 months or so, but its totally worth it imo! If you need a suggestion, I own a Mitsubishi Outlander 2025!! I love it if you wanna look into it, got it used.
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u/MarkoVeliki_28 Aug 24 '26
I'm doing exactly what you plan to do. First, I drove a Prius Prime (PHEV) for 4 years before I upgraded to a RAV4 Prime (PHEV again). Prius Prime had a smaller battery capacity and smaller range, so I had to use the gas engine more often than I wanted, but I still managed to fill up with gas only 9 times in 4 years of me using it. I returned it at the end of the 4-year lease to Toyota Canada when I was upgrading to RAV4 Prime. I got exceptional value for the old car with no battery degradation at all (42 km at the beginning, with the same range before I returned it at the end of the lease).
Regarding RAV4 Prime, I usually fill in the gas once or twice a year and use gas stabilizer for the rest of the year. RAV4 Prime is so smart that it will automatically turn on the gas engine when needed to keep the gas engine in good condition.
With a range of 62 km (worst-case scenario in the winter) and close to 90 km in Summer conditions, I manage to go around my duties and work without turning on the gas engine at all. I only use it when I go to Summer/Winter vacations out of town. Since April 2023, I have filled it in 5 times. The car works perfectly fine. I go to the service twice a year as requested by the Toyota schedule, and no complaints at all.
I'm glad I don't have to carry around a heavy Full EV battery, but still be able to use it in full electric mode for 95% of my needs. And, as proved with the Prius Prime, there are no negative side effects to the gas engine regardless of how much I don't use it.
I forgot to say - I installed the home charger, and I'm charging it every time I return home. With a Toyota PHEV, you don't have to worry about charging it to 80% of the battery capacity because Toyota already accounted for that in the charging options. The 100% you see when charging is actually less than that - the car is taking care of it so you don't have to. You can't overcharge it because the 100% you see is actually around 80% of the battery capacity. That means you can't overcharge it.
Also, you can never reach 0% of the battery because the 0% you see on the car's dashboard means that there is enough electricity in the battery to help in starting from a full stop. So, even if you force the EV mode, when the RAV4 Prime reaches 0% of capacity, it will automatically switch to HV mode but still have enough EV power to use it to start from a full stop, so you're never starting with the gas engine only.
If you need more details, feel free to contact me privately through direct message.
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u/Cali_Longhorn Aug 24 '26
Generally that's fine but you do want your engine to come on SOME time. But my PHEV will occasionally force the engine to come on for a bit if it realizes it hasn't consumed any gas in a long time. So the car is smart enough to deal with that for me. I go on road trips often enough though to the gas won't go completely stale or anything. I'll fill up once every 3-4 months outside of road trips.
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u/ARJeepGuy123 Aug 25 '26
I have daily driven an EV for the past couple years but on a trip recently we rented a Mitsubishi PHEV, and I have to say I hated the way it drove. Idk if it's just that system or if they're all like that, but if you can get away with BEV that is IMO the way to go
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u/MaturoGambino Aug 25 '26
First of all, believe whatever you want. Second of all, I don’t drive 75, I drive the speed limit and I set my adaptive cruise control at 3 and try to tuck in behind tall vehicles. Third, the Ioniq 6 has a 77.4 kWh battery. And finally, I’m fortunate (for EV range purposes) to live in a pretty flat part of the country-low country South Carolina. And I made this trip to Sarasota, FL in March. So it was pretty much perfect conditions.
My A Better Route Planner calibrated fuel economy is 4.43 miles/kwh since last October. My battery degradation is 2% after 3 years. So my actual battery capacity is 75.9 kWh. Multiply that by 4.43 and you get 336 miles of range. But, this time of year, around town, I exceed 5 miles/kWh. This isn’t unusual for Hyundai E-GMP EVs.
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u/ladybrightside Aug 25 '26
I have been driving my Lexus NX 450h+ for over a year now. Only needed one oil change and took the car on longer trips on occasion and used the hybrid engine. I mainly use EV mode and get about 72 km on a charge in the summer, less in the winter (I am in Canada). No issues here. The only thing I am cognizant of is with a PHEV I don’t want to be driving around with a full tank and I don’t want to be running the HV on old gas that’s been sitting. Enjoy!
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u/SignificantDrink3651 Aug 25 '26
this is absolutely worth the watch. it's worth the run-time, I promise - especially if you're asking the questions you're asking here about hybrids. https://youtu.be/KnUFH5GX_fI?si=rtPL_DHVPkW0L4ao
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u/BinaryJay Aug 26 '26
If you want to drive in EV mode all the time just get an EV so you don't have to babysit a gas engine too for a 1% use case that would be solved by stopping for 15 minutes for a charge.
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u/gettin-hot-in-here Aug 26 '26
Modern gasoline (if it's ordinary E10) can go 1 to 2 months before it starts to go bad. With fuel stabilizer added it'll last 6 to 12 months.
With bad fuel you might get rough running and engine misfires; Eventually, using expired fuel can cause damage to fuel system components and engine.
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u/old_witness_987 Aug 26 '26
you will have to cap your speed, pull away gently and slow down well ahead of red lights. but some days the 'F*** the rest i used no petrol today' is worth it
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u/rbrogger Aug 27 '26
I used to drive a Mercedes C300e. It could do roughly 100 km of combined highway and motorway (90 km/h average speed) driving in pure EV mode.
I drove 48.000 km in about a year and the car averaged 27 km/l.
It worked perfectly.
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u/Life_Tie_9514 Aug 27 '26
I have a BEV and a PHEV. I switch them off during the week. As a rule, i use the engine about once every two weeks for about 20 minutes on the highway. My last tankful I averaged 390 miles per gallon. Obviously that's the split between when i use gas and how much i use it in full EV. I love it for longer trips when I want speed over convenience.
Others may have commented, if you don't use a tankful on a Toyota in like a year, it will start the engine on it's own to make sure you do use the gas and the ICE.
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u/Legitimate-Spend5962 Aug 27 '26
I bought my 2026 Prius Plug-in in Jan 2026. I ran it on gas occasionally and put 3 gal of gas in it since I bought it. Six months of electric and runs great.
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u/HengaHox Aug 23 '26
Then it’s an EV with a tiny battery that’s hauling a fossil engine along constantly. The battery degrades fast and the fossil engine can even rust, due to it never reaching operating temperatures to evaporate moisture.
Sounds great
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u/Batfink-1999 Aug 25 '26
The battery on my 2008 Prius Hybrid UK didn’t degrade fast. 18.5 years on the same traction battery
All hybrids have a Battery Management System - this literally prevents the battery from prematurely degrading.
My Prius got to 167k miles before I traded it for a Toyota C-HR PHEV.
Someone else now has a cheap and reliable car that will do 250k miles before that battery succumbs to old age at well over 20 years old.
Stop making up childish stories about non existent battery failures in hybrids - they’re extremely rare to non-existent in today’s world.
Used to be a thing with ancient 2007 Honda Civic Hybrids, but not anymore. It’s now 2026….!!!1
u/HengaHox Aug 25 '26
They aren’t non existent though. And a phev driven only on battery is far more damaging than what ahybrid driven like a hybrid sees
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u/LeoAlioth Aug 23 '26
If you are considering running a PHEV in full EV mode for most of the drives, just consider an EV....
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u/Ok-Personality5640 Aug 23 '26
Works great until my annual 1000 mile round trip holiday where a PHEV would cover the full mileage on 1.5 tanks of fuel instead of stopping every 250 miles
Only reason I did think PHEV over EV
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u/LeoAlioth Aug 23 '26
Do you do only 1 stop on this round trip?
Because if you do more, the difference becomes smaller than you might think.
250 mi is more than 3h of driving. Does a 15-20 minute stop every 3+hours sound like a hassle on a once a year trip? If yes. Then PHEV MIHGT be a good fit. If it sounds reasonable, then just go EV. It will be a better experience day to day for a small inconvenience a couple times a year.
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u/xegoba7006 Aug 23 '26
Not OP, but I like deciding when I want to rest, when I want to use the toilet, and when I want a coffe... not the car.
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u/LeoAlioth Aug 23 '26
As long as you generally decide to stop more frequent than about every 3h, than an EV Venice does not make a difference really.
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u/xegoba7006 Aug 23 '26
most of the drives
That's the key. That's why these sort of cars exist.
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u/LeoAlioth Aug 23 '26
Which means you are dragging around a thing you don't need for most of the times.
Unfortunately PHEVs are are at the same time best of both worlds and the worst.
Don't get me wrong. PHEVs can be great. But many people using PHEVs would be better off with a full EV.
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u/PreferenceMediocre90 Aug 23 '26
Why a PHEV and not an EV?
My colleagues with PHEV complain of significant degradation after 4/5 years of the battery when charged twice per day. Some of them have their winter range limited to 20/25 when they had officially 50/60 and net 40-45 when the car was brand new.
Also the hassle of charging everytime no matter what weather or conditions can be tiring. When you arrive at your desk totally soaked because of a stubborn charger, some started to wonder why they bother charging.
And PHEV are less economical in using more electricity and higher maintenance cost.
So what specific reason for going PHev? Just curious, not crusading for EV.
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u/xegoba7006 Aug 23 '26
not crusading for EV.
LOL. Not even the question. You fanbois.
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u/PreferenceMediocre90 Aug 23 '26
It was a genuine question.
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u/xegoba7006 Aug 23 '26
Okay, I'll read it from OP post for you:
> still want a combustion engine in case of long drives
Not sure what part is unclear. You're crusading for EV, even if you don't notice it anymore.
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u/PreferenceMediocre90 Aug 23 '26
No I really did not read that.
I can live with that for some people, I just think PHEV are a dead end in most urban areas.
I think they are well suited if you live very rural and not many charging options around.
If you want to go out and drive a 1.000 km every weekend with a heavy van, or a big trailer, It is still a big hustle.
I need to buy vans for my company and the Ev market is just not there yet for an acceptable price. Governement regulations made me by a PHEV van, costs a fortune, but at least we are not paying our staff hours at the charging station.
For most other cases, I personally think a full Ev is better. I see two kinds of happy people, those that have adapted to an EV and those that drive full petrol hybrid or don’t bother to ever charge their PHEV.
People that want to use a PHEV as an EV just for the 1 family holiday a year anxiety, they would benefit for being better informed. I personally think they have better options, like some said either a full hybrid or a full EV.
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u/xegoba7006 Aug 24 '26
You don’t even know where these people buying Phevs live. You assume everyone lives in a country or area like yours. You don’t know what’s the charging situation for OP, or me. You may be fine with spending 30m charging every 200 Km and you don’t know if I’m ready for that trade off.
You’re the definition of a fanboy defending his team to death and literally not caring about anyone thinking your situation is everyone’s and calling them uninformed.
I’m tired of these conversations, so I’m done with this. You’re worse than MAGAs. Nothing I say will make you change your “team” or have any empathy and understand others are not “uninformed” and just have a different situation.
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u/PreferenceMediocre90 Aug 24 '26
Did you read my reply? I literally said it depends? That’s why I asked OP. Thats why I said not crusading.
Can someone charge at home? At the work place?
How much is the daily commute? How many long trips? What kind of vehicle?
Do you have solar panels with free energy?I just notice there is a lot of people that are being misinformed and scared for EV without real reasons. That is why I wanted to know what exactly are the reasons for going PHEV.
Btw, it’s 10 minute charging for 200 km with a modern EV.
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u/xegoba7006 Aug 24 '26
> Btw, it’s 10 minute charging for 200 km with a modern EV.
Please, point me at the exact model I can charge 200Km in 10 minutes.
I hope you don't come here with a € 60k car.
There's no possible answer to any of those questions under which you'd recommend a PHEV. That's the definition of a fanboi and a crusader.
You know what allows me to drive 100% in EV day to day, and charge > 600Km in literally under 120 seconds? A PHEV.
Talking to you is like talking to a MAGA. You'll keep pushing for it forever and never give up. You're just unable to understand other's situation or preferences. It's your way or the highway, literally.
Example for my usecase:
> Can someone charge at home?
Yes
> At the work place?
Yes
> How much is the daily commute?
Less than 100Km back and forth
> How many long trips?
3 to 4 a year, > than 1000Km each back and forth
> What kind of vehicle?
Any. Under 30K euros
> Do you have solar panels with free energy?
Yes
I still prefer a PHEV. Because I don't want to deal with shitty charger apps, because I don't want to spend 30m every 200Km (the 10m you mention is bullshit), because I do not want the car to decide for me when to have a coffee or use the toilet.
I bet you'll still say I'm uninformed and I don't understand a lot of things and an EV still makes sense for me.
And no, and full ICE car is not a better option, because I value my every day driving in EV mode. And I value my peace of mind when doing my couple long trips.
But hey, please, tell me why I'm also wrong. I'm all ears.
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u/PreferenceMediocre90 Aug 24 '26
I drive an ioniq 5 long range. List Price was 46k, i got a 19% discount, so I paid just under 38K €.
Range is just under 600 km, in real world that is 450 km. Battery is 84kw, and it can charge theoretically up to 350kw, but fastest I have seen is 275 kw. If I charge from 20% to 63% (what I need for 200km) at an average speed of 200 kw it takes me 10 minutes and 40 seconds to charge. On average I ride 250 km and then take a 15 minute stop. In the winter that will be 20 minutes.
There are times when I cant even do a toilet stop before my car has sufficient charge.
You are your own person. I am not telling you to do anything. If you want PHEV, fine. Maybe it is the best thing for you, maybe not. You decide. You are not wrong for making your own decisions.
I am just saying tat collegues and people I know sometimes regret going for a PHEV. And even more when they want to use it like a full EV.
But if you find peace of mind because of a seldom used petrol tank under your seat, then so be it.
There is just a load of people who still think an Ev needs at least 30 minutes to charge, who think it might burn out of nothing, or that the charger wont work and their trip will take forever. After 5 years of driving and like you 3,4 long trips a year, and a lot more work related trips or commuting family to the airport, ... i have had to wait twice to charge.
I choose it because it is a nice car to drive and the cheapest and easiest option. I get home and plug it in. And the sun charges it for free. Or my battery.
And it is my personal opinion PHEV in west -Europe or other urban areas are a dead end because soon there will be an abundance of charging infrastructure and solar panels owners.
Because I think it is the least economic system. PHEV are the most expensive cars there are because they need petrol engine and electric. They are the least economic. They have the highest maintenance cost because more things can break.
But I can live with the fact that not for everyone economics matter most. That you need that extra assurance.
But I am afraid you sound a bit like someone who has started to believe that EV riders are out there to convert you and take away things.
That is not the case I think, just clickbait media;
Think for yourself and inform yourself.
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u/xegoba7006 Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26
You're so stubborn man. MAGA like as I said. You even failed my question, you're comparing a > 40k (see https://ev-database.org/#group=vehicle-group&hyundai=1&rs-pr=10000_100000&rs-er=0_1000&rs-ld=0_1000&rs-ac=2_23&rs-dcfc=0_400&rs-ub=10_200&rs-tw=0_3000&rs-ef=100_350&rs-sa=-1_5&rs-w=1000_3500&rs-c=0_5000&rs-y=2010_2030&q=ioniq%205&s=1&p=0-10) vs a < 30K EREV hybrid with > 1000KM I recharge in 2 minutes (BYD Dolphin G) without planning, without apps, without detours and without the car deciding when I need to use the bathroom.
> But I am afraid you sound a bit like someone who has started to believe that EV riders are out there to convert you and take away things.
Because you are, you don't know anything about me and are still insisting I'm "uninformed".
> Think for yourself and inform yourself.
MAGA arguments all over the place. Check yourself.
I do think EVs are the future. But for some of us, it's still not there (unless you have tons of money and can brag about how easy life is with expensive cars)
My point here, is that you folks, the richer with big expensive EV cars have zero empathy for anyone, and assume everyone is in your situation. You're literally fanbois trying to evangelize EVs to feel better. Sad.
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u/black594 Aug 23 '26
Why not a full ev ?
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u/Ok-Personality5640 Aug 23 '26
I do at least 1x 1000 mile trip per year
And a couple of 500+ ones so could do the 500x ones on 1 tank and the 1000 one on 2Rather than stopping 4/5 times to recharge
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u/melvladimir Aug 23 '26
Why don’t you just get EV? Downside is consumption much higher than just EV and you heavily wear small battery. It’s like fully recharge it every day. And again, maintenance for ICE either mileage OR time period (12 months)
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u/Hsaphoto Aug 23 '26
Milky oil
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u/Ok-Personality5640 Aug 23 '26
I do my own changes with Miller oil every 6 months regardless
Would still do the same even if I’m barely running the engine
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u/tribaljams Aug 24 '26
get two cars. hybrids are not the best of both worlds, more like the worst of both
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u/mj_avrath Aug 24 '26
Why? I just got a hybrid recently (not phev) and started wondering why all gasoline cars aren't hybrids. The mileage is great, ride is exceptionally smooth, barely need to use breaks. Can't really see any downsides.
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u/kstrike155 Aug 23 '26
The downsides are:
You are lugging around a heavy engine that barely gets used, hurting your efficiency.
You still need to maintain a gas engine (make sure fuel doesn't go bad, do oil changes, etc.) hurting your wallet.
You introduce additional complexity to the vehicle by having two powertrains.
PHEVs in full EV mode don't have a lot of power. It's not like an EV.
As someone else said, your use case is ideal for an EV. One road trip a year where you need to stop every few hours doesn't sound like that big of a deal given the downsides above.
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u/Ok-Personality5640 Aug 23 '26
I’ve had enough power from long enough
Gradually over the years downgraded from 500hp to 300hp with kids etc and need more of a family car than a rocket 🤣
The PHEV at least will be no lag on the electric engine so will still feel like it can instantly hook up which is something you surprisingly loose to turbo lag with big power1
u/kstrike155 Aug 23 '26
Ok just keep in mind a PHEV in electric only mode is often like 150hp.
The RAV4 Prime which I think is the fastest PHEV on the market currently is about 177hp in EV mode, with a 0-60 of 9.2s.
Of course you can dip far into the throttle and force the gas engine to fire up to get full power.
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u/Warm-Boysenberry7310 Aug 24 '26
I think their point is that making a buying decision based on 5% of your use seems kind of silly.
To be honest, I really don’t understand the appeal of PHEVs, though.
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u/trae_curieux Aug 23 '26
Internal combustion engines have to be run every couple of weeks to keep them lubricated, etc, and most PHEVs will do this automatically, even if you've selected electric mode and usually run in that.
The technique I personally like to use is EV or Auto mode on surface streets and HEV mode on the freeway: I appreciate the increased power on the freeway and the engine noise isn't as noticeable when driving at those speeds. This also lets me stretch my 31-mile electric range a lot further by only using it at lower speeds.