After learning about Zach’s social anxiety it’s so impressive how natural and talented he is in front of a camera in which he knows will reach 20k ppl plus… says a lot about the will.
I love my gen 2 Chevy Volt! Bought new in 2018 and has a lifetime mpg of 140! Over 30k miles, the gas engine was only used for about 7k. It's a shame Chevy stopped iterating on the Voltec drivetrain because they were way ahead of the curve on PHEVs
I get so frustrated having this conversation with people who casually dismiss EVs in all forms. Plug-ins are freaking great, and they’re only going to get better and more relevant. They are the PERFECT stop gap or stepping stone (however you look at it). This is a GREAT video, guys, and very entertaining. Now I’ll just point to this video whenever people ask me dumb questions 😂
My dad bought a '23 XC60 T8 Recharge. We both adore the car. Like you said, the air suspension (combined with adaptive dampers) does wonders for ride quality and handling - though it's not a canyon carver by any stretch of the imagination. I'd personally shy away from any Ohlins-damped modern Volvo, from what I've read. They give up a *lot* of comfort and ride quality without getting much handling in return, because the steering is still numb. The XC60 Recharge is the do-it-all car in my mind. It's fast when you need it to be, there's plenty of electric range to guarantee very low average fuel consumption, I like the looks, the materials and finish are excellent, it's spacious and well-optioned, and I like the driver assist tech. For a daily driver and road trip mile muncher in one, I highly recommend you get one Matt! You have excellent handling and 'experience' cars for those occasions to complement it.
as someone awaiting delivery of a V60 recharge... my biggest worry for PHEVs is, long-term ownership wise, we've got the worst of both worlds to worry about. PHEVs don't always have a heat pump and/or the same level of battery conditioning as EVs, so we may not have the same efficiency or battery longevity, as dedicated EVs. on the mechanical side, if the gas engine only ever comes on for a brief spell once in a blue moon, [or worse, the first 5ish mins of every drive in winter] then we need to worry about engine/transmission problems from never getting sustained use at operating temps. and all that, is on top of the fact that many companies making PHEVs aren't exactly sterling examples of reliability to begin with.
I think in actual practice, you get significantly less wear and tear on both propulsion products. At least for the Ford Fusion (which I am extremely familiar with), the Hybrids and Plug-In Hybrids have proven to be the most reliable of all the options. Easily lasting 200-300k miles without major issues.
@@Talisman18t were they mostly fleet cars or privately owned? fleet cars i imagine still got in plenty of heat cycles and more regular maintenance, so that'd make a lot of sense. And ford's had multiple partnerships with toyota on hybrid technology so [ford build quality aside] the fusion energi should've had a solid engineering base. but for privately owned cars, ford doubled the service interval for the fusion energi vs the hybrid/gas cars. which is the last thing a mechanic would normally tell u to do, if you knew your gas car only ever does short drives.
I have a 2017 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. I bought it used 2 years ago with ~80 000 miles on the clock. Currently it sits at ~160 00 miles. From my experience the engine works a lot less and when it does, the load isnt as much as a regular ICE car. The battery has an air fan which is responsible for keeping the battery at the right temperature. Ive done dusty trails on hot summer days off the beaten path and never had the battery overheat or even coming close to that. I had my hybrid battery checked 4 months ago and its basically as good as new. No noticeable degradation was discovered. Even if something does go wrong with the battery its a much smaller unit so the price wont be astronomical like a full EV.
@@Cal94 They're both types of owners. I run a business and several social media pages for the Ford Fusion with tens of thousands of owners utilizing them. That's one of the most constant things I hear. How much people love both Hybrid versions of the car and how reliable they are with very little maintenance.
hmm. I went blind to the NPC cars. toyota, ford, and mitsubishi PHEVs tend to have dual injection and run naturally aspirated, so it'd make sense they hold up better for longer. but they're not the only players anymore. mazda, stellantis, the koreans and the europeans are all in or entering the space, and they're all running GDI, forced induction, [sometimes very high strung] engines. in warmer climates, and if u never need to run the gas engine, i imagine they're perfectly fine. but in colder climates, these PHEVs sound like a recipe for carbon buildup and sludge [if neglected]. at very least, i wouldn't dare skip an oil change with any of them.
Great job highlighting the realistic nuances of these transportation options guys! Love the format of combining drive impressions, feature explanation, and real world use cases in one well paced video.
I rented a tesla model 3 for 9 days in socal, covering 900 miles over my vacation. Never once had an issue with range anxiety or charging. Most super chargers gave me 80% in 20-25 minutes. Absolutely outstanding experience and for the record I daily an FJ Cruiser.
13:54 - On Volvos & Polestars, the cruise control adjusts in increments of 1 mph if you push and hold the button. If you just press it once it moves in increments of 5 mph. Took me months of owning a Volvo to learn this
I am so frustrated by all other systems not doing this now. It’s extremely convenient. Even the ones that work opposite just don’t seem as efficient. Speed limit just dropped by 10 mph click twice and I’m done.
I know you’ve discussed on the podcast that anything other than performance car reviews tanks ratings but this comparison is a great piece. The editing and commentary is what we’re here for, no mater the subject matter.
I’m SOOO glad someone else is on board. I’ve been beating this drum for years. A plug in hybrid meets the needs of 90%of the population, 90% of the time.
@@shehandesilva7530 I own a Ford Escape PHEV. I found it about 80% efficient using the charge mode vs just driving on the increased gas used. It tends to recharge faster when driving around the city vs highway, where it seems to have less power free for recharging.
I have a PHEV that I'm using to drive for a food delivery service. Depending on the weather and how long I go out at a time I am pulling somewhere in the range of 60mpg to 150mpg in the city. If you think of it as a gas mitigation vehicle rather than a really short range EV they work great. My gripe is that they are so expensive you will almost never pay for the increased costs in gas savings. It's a very hard sell to make people pay more to save a bit on their vehicle 7 years in the future. At least in Canada the EV rebate covers PHEVs if they have a 50km range or more, and half of they have less. That means 5k off the purchase price, and in some provinces up to 10k off which can actually make the PHEV cheaper than the hybrid of the same model, which is a no brainer if you can plug it in at all.
My prius prime was cheap. Got it during the pandemic when fas was cheap and everyone wanted trucks and suvs. I do amazon flex with it and it's great on gas. I wouldn't deliver in anything less.
In Calif the largest car population state by far, at $5/gal it is < 5 years breakeven if you own solar & drive average distance. With Fed & stste tax incentives, even sooner. Gas$ will only go up.
Been driving a '14 C-Max Energi for 8 years now. The 20 mile range gets me to the stores and work and back. Gas gets me everywhere else. Works great for me.
Great video and excellent points for the “electrification” of vehicles. After owning a Hybrid Accord for a few years, the idea of burning gas at a stop light or drive through seemed silly. I’ve been waiting for Honda to build an Odyssey Hybrid for a while. How we use our vehicles on a daily basis is different and I like to own vehicles that fit my family’s lifestyle 80-90% of the time.
From a decarbonization perspective, we need: 1. Better public transit and more walkable/bikable cities 2. More and more reliable charging infrastructure 3. Hydrogen fuel cells for edge cases where EVs aren't practical and public transit isn't possible. Battery technology will improve to the point where we can substantially reduce the amount lithium involved in production and improve charge times. LFP batteries are already available that move the market away from depending on questionably sourced cobalt and manganese.
As a current Polestar 2 lessee who's had little need of and little issue with the current public charging infrastructure, this vid perfectly explains why I'm considering the new Prius Prime when my lease ends. My situation is very similar to Matts. Lvl 2 at home and lvl 1 at work. About 32 miles round trip a day max.
@@zackklapman3569 I’m not the one you replied to but I have a Polestar 2. Carplay works perfectly for me. It must be connected via cable, no wireless option.
I have the xc and was in a 2 for the last week. The xc is a nicer, more comfortable vehicle, but the 2 is a blast to drive and not too far behind. I don’t like how the center divider encroaches on my right leg and presses against it the way I sit though.
Am I the only one who noticed the CBC mug?? Love from Canada, guys! Great video, we are a Volvo household, we have 2 V60 Polestars (2017 Rebel Blue and 2018 Bursting Blue). Keep up the great work!
Beside all the talk, suppositions and personal opinions, in this comparison there is just a stark truth which kills the Hybrid on the onset. What is the point to add all that complexity and dead weight of the Hybrid contraption, when a pure EV alone does it all so much better, more economically, faster and a whole lot safer. Naturally I am referring to a Tesla EV.
I’m from Uk, and have a XC60 b4 which is a two litre diesel with a battery to boost from 197 up to over 200, it is great, and get a easy 40+ mpg, this is one of the best videos I’ve seen well done boys, and, yes the XC60 is one of the best cars you can buy.
Good discussion on the realities of EV vs. PHEV. I owned an EV, now my wife has a PHEV with about 35 miles of range and we nearly got 1,000 miles out of the last tank of gas and averaged about 55 MPG (not bad for a full sized SUV) which included two longer highway runs where the electrics don't work often. The main issue with the PHEV in EV mode is that you have to get one with enough oomph to where it won't kick the engine on all the time. And even when you do, you still lack acceleration (in Matt's case, 140 HP vs. a circa 4,800 lb curb weight does not make it sprightly. So you face two choices: drive slower, or kick on the engine. An EV is far more sprightly, and you never kick the engine on. But then....you have to deal with charging. I think I'm going to go back to an EV for my daily, as it won't ever be road-tripped. At most I'll take it on some 2-4 hour each way trips where I only have to recharge maybe 2 times in the whole weekend trip. So entirely doable. Longer road trips, we'll take the PHEV. But I can charge at home so it makes sense. I'm an EV fan, but as has been pointed out countless times, they don't work well if you can't charge at home. And the batteries are bigger than needed because the charging infrastucture is way behind where it needs to be. If charging stations were as common as gas stations, most of us could get away with about 35 - 40 kWh batteries instead of the 70-80-90-100 kWh batteries in the 300 mile range EVs that are out today. Cool times. They will change rapidly in the next decade.
Agreed. Plug-in hybrids accomplish most of the benefits of EVs for more people, now. It's unlikely that liquid fuel infrastructure is going anywhere (we're so good at building pipelines), so maybe non-gas plug-in hybrids are the ideal endgame.
I came to the same conclusion 4 years ago and bought a Golf GTE. However , you also get the worst of both solutions, much more expensive servicing and twice as much to go wrong, which both happened. I've since gone back to a petrol car until electric is more matured.
It's also the worst of both worlds from an ethical perspective. You get the pollution and human rights violations associated with battery production, and the pollution, human rights violations, and emissions associated with the fossil fuels industry. Then again, there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, so that's a losing battle regardless of the choice. Even a bicycle or electrified public transit can have ethics problems.
Great video. These PHEV’s could also operate as backup power walls at the house if engineered to do so. Basically 13kw would probably provide 24thrs of backup power. And you could use the generator to top up if needed.
Great comment. Sadly few PHEV manufacturers seem to be including vehicle to home or vehicle to grid functionality. It is probably (and I've not researched) more common in full EVs - Tesla I know are into this - but it is definitely a subject that needs more visibility and more public demand. I've got a Mazda CX-60 PHEV on order that I should collect in the next week or so, 17.8KwH battery... My Tesla Powerwall is 13.2KwH if I recall... adding some juice from the car to my home would be HUGE especially early in the year (like now) when days are a bit short on daylight but I can still fully charge the powerwall (on a good day) and be exporting a bunch of power - but can't quite make it thru the night on the powerwall alone (especially if I run the oven to cook dinner etc.) I'd love to be able to use the extra capacity in the car as a buffer for the house...
@@ukgroucho As I understand it, there’s only a few BEV’s (Ford/Hyundai/Nissan) and one PHEV (Mitsubishi) that offer bidirectional charging currently. (And BYD - which isn’t in North America yet.)
This reminds me of when James May and Jeremy Clarkson compared the BMW i3 and the Golf GTI with Jeremy singing about how silly EVs were and made it to a music show in the Golf while James was anxious in the i3 and missed the concert entirely.
What a great peice of content. The car focused content was great and very informative. Also, continuing the new comparison format and topic were excellent.
I live with a Tesla model 3 and drive high mileage year round. Basically what takes 3 hours in an ICE or hybrid takes 15 minutes more one way, and about 20 minutes more for the return trip. I saved $8,000 in gas last year, and I stop to pee with an ICE vehicle anyway. There's no compromise IMO if you drive a Tesla.
I agree. After retiring five years ago. I traded in my my Kia Stinger as our daily driver for a Kia Niro hybrid and love it’s efficiency and regeneration while driving in the sport mode. Still have our 12 year old Prius hybrid now averaging down to 42 MPG as our second daily driver. Besides the uncomfortable driver seats, it’s a little tank for transportation. When. I want to have fun driving I drive my 2004 Porsche C 4S convertible that runs like a charm. They all work out just great. I’m going to drive my 911 hopefully to over 200,000 miles or more. I got a good one. Best guys.
@TheSmokingTire "The rule establishes a year-by-year roadmap so that by 2035 100% of new cars and light trucks sold in California will be zero-emission vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles." from the same article you posted. Just as a clarification, CA doesnt want you to only buy full EV.
I think my next car will be a plug in. Most of the time I don't drive that far, but my mother lives 120 miles away, and my best friends live 300 miles away. Plug ins help me with those once a month long range trips but able to keep 90% of my driving full EV. Don't think it's true for a lot of people, most would be fine with a small EV (I live in the UK), but someone like me an EV with enough range is too expensive, and plug ins are much cheaper. Golf GTE or Skoda Octavia vRS plug ins are the way for me to go!
Thank you for this, I've been saying this for years that plug in EV are the perfect solution for the everyday driver. That being said, it needs to have about 100km of ev range to make it attractive IMO.
This video confirms my 3 year experiment with a Range Extender (i3 REx). Averaging 24,000 miles per year on 25 gallons of gasoline. Never hostage to public charging (even though we use it when it's convenient). Saving $2500 annually on gas. Spending only $500 on home L2 charging.
I've been sold on hybrids for a while too and completely agree with the take here. Btw, how much did the engine charge the battery by the time you arrived?
awesome content and TheSmokingTire has always done fair revievs on volvos. and this why i drive Phev its best of two worlds. (the new battery is 18,8 kwh)
We have a Volvo XC60 Plug in Polestar Engineered at my dealership. Ohlins suspension, Akebono brakes, gold seat belts etc. Kind of a blend of the two vehicles in this video.
We settled on a Pacifica Hybrid PHEV when we upgraded our minivan. Our use case was very similar to yours: Mostly suburban errands to and from places like schools, stores and appointments. We got the L2 charger in our garage and spend most of the time on electric. On those times when we want to take a longer trip -- we've done a couple of 3000 mile round trips so far -- we don't have to think about charging. Your point about how many PHEVs you can make with the battery one EV is built with is a very important point that gets lost on many. If you want to get people used to electrified vehicles, PHEVs will make it much easier and give battery manufacturing and charging infrastructure time to catch up.
Glad to see someone who understands that one EV battery can make many more PHEV. If you do the same math, you can make about 25 standard hybrids which typically reduce fuel consumption by 25%-30% compared to an equivalent ICE vehicle. Hybrid or PHEV are the best way to go in the short term (10-20 years).
I live in an apartment and drive BEV. I drive a Tesla so the charging network is much better and much easier to deal with. I also have a CCS adapter so I can charge anywhere. Its not changed my life much but I can see where a hybrid would make more sense for a lot of people.
I’m with you. I’ve been driving the XC90 recharge for a year, and only filled the tank once. Together with the Prius PRIME that we have and share one level 2 charger in our garage with no issue at all.
I have a I4 M50 and am blown away by the poor infrastructure in my area. Having level 2 charging at home makes it an easy experience, but for the masses we are not ready to go full electric. We did find when traveling into larger cities the charging networks are adequate and removed my range anxiety, but in areas where charging is limited I do still worry about longer road trips for vacations and such. That’s why we still retained a gas powered vehicle just for such reason. I do like the concept of hybrid tech and seeing that as more of the affordable and sustainable way forward for vehicles in the times we live in today. The Prius really has proven to be the pioneer in that platforms development and its been as reliable as a Timex watch. More manufacturers need to take that into consideration with the developments of the automobile. I repair them daily and cannot wait to see where my industry is heading. The real truth is if you wanted that dream gas powered car in your life the time is now. Get whatever it is you have lusted after and drive the heck out of it. We don’t know how much longer we will have with fun combustion engines. I bought mine as did Matt and I think that is what we enthusiasts need to be focusing on along with excepting that hybrids and electric vehicles are our future going forward.
I bought a Honda Clarity in 2018. I average about 45 miles on a charge (though I rarely actually use the whole capacity) and unless I am on a trip, I can go a year on a tank of gas. On a trip, I can get 42 to 46 mpg depending on speed and terrain and if I take slower roads, I can get 50 mpg. I agree that the plug in hybrid is a better solution and I intend to keep my Clarity for a decade, and maybe more. I am convinced that the plug in hybrid is the best kind of car to own.
PHEVs may ultimately be a better solution for the entry market, and for long range and towing. However, it may turn out that converting a dedicated EV platform (such as GM's Ultium) into a PHEV via a decoupled range extender results in a better car than electrifying a typical ICE car and finding space for the extra batteries and hardware. The biggest downside to PHEV versus pure EV, is that you still have all the ICE maintenance to deal with: oil changes, transmission fluid, sparkplugs, wires, filters, etc. It will be interesting to see how things shake out. If nothing else, we'll have better batteries and lots more places to charge them by the time many of us are ready for an EV.
Really love the take on the benefits of a plug-in relative to an electric. You can do a lot less environmental and humanitarian damage, and avoid having to rely on the public charging network, while still doing 95% of your daily driving emissions-free.
I would have bought a Volvo back when I was looking for an SUV but didn't. I loved my Volvo S90 press car so was very tempted by the XC90, but our local dealership is utter garbage. Ended up with an Audi instead because our local Audi dealer is known for their service, and now we are on our third and fourth Audis. I just wish Audi offered a decent performance plug-in hybrid sedan and a decent plug-in hybrid, relatively-large SUV.
I am a current Volvo owner (I have several actually) and I looked at the Polestar 2 last year. It seemed as if they were still having some teething issues and with the rumors of higher power output it just didn't make sense to jump in. I also agree that hybrids are the way to go. If done right, like this XC60, they have most of the performance with few of the downsides. The added weight does have an impact on performance. For instance an XC60 T6 AWD like mine needs a down pipe and an ECU tune to hit 60 in the low 4 second range and a 1/4 mile in low 13s. The extra weight of the battery and motors in the newer hybrid absorbed the extra 80 to 100 HP the system produced.
Been saying this for 30 years (and heavy machinery builders for much longer): the most efficient way to get the most energy out of a gallon of fuel is to run the combustion engine as a generator and use electric motors to move the wheels. Yes with a battery to store generated energy.
We have a XC60 Recharge and I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. It is a great car for everyday and is remarkably comfortable. Honestly, it really is about as good a car as is available right now for just driving every day - but it’s expensive. I think that’s an issue for BEVs and PHEVs. Still, I think that PHEVs are currently a better option than BEVs for most. That will change, but I’m not sure that we’re there yet.
@@adamnagel7436 A fully loaded Kia Sorrento PHEV is about the same price as my fully loaded Murano was 12 years ago.... Not sure where either of you are coming from.
Matt, your spot on with the PHEV. It’s a good balance. The infrastructure supporting full EV is way off. The cost for something like a Toyota is better, reduced use of rare earth metals, very low carbon footprint. Toyota performed the study, and it proves out hybrids lower the carbon footprint more…because you get them in more hands.
Love this Video, especially Zack, his jokes and commentary finally shaping into a really cool independently source, first time I preferred listening to him. Bravo Zack
I also live in an old apartment building that can't support charging anything more then my DeWalt impact driver. I used to drive a Ford CMax plug in hybrid but traded it in for a '21 Honda CRV Hybrid. Great vehicle for commuting, it's not a plug in but I get 37mpg and the engine doesn't turn on very much on my short commute. It has an electric only mode and when the engine turns on you can charge the battery . I put gas in once every month , no plug needed.
I loved this video! More like this please. I traded my Stinger GT2 RWD for a 2021 VW ID.4. I liked the EV life(although slower), but damn I hated VW's software. After 14 months I traded it for a 22' M340i. I wanted a Polestar 2 but I mountain bike, and good gravy does a bike on the roof ruin range. I'd loose >20% range with my MTB on the roof. Maybe the XC60 is what I need... and a trailer hitch!
Anyone who could possibly afford this car also values their time saved more than the cost of charging from the engine. Also, the cost to charge this 19kw pack on average Cali electricity price is $6, and it should only take about 1-1.5 gallons of gas to charge the pack fully. So at most you are saving $1-2 to not have to wait at a charger.
@@SNiiPEDoGG There's no point charging the electric battery in a PHEV from the gasoline engine - if you use the same volume of fuel to propel the vehicle instead (via the ICE), you will go further. You can then fill up at a gas station, in less time than the charging would have taken.
@@Wellspicedchaffinch It could come in useful, though, if you're going to a destination where you need to plug stuff into the car (laptop, etc.) and want to do it off battery power alone when your're stopped.
Yes of course it will but I don’t do the average 12 to 20 miles a day in my work. Some days 10 miles and others 125 miles or 200 miles and the electric only range of mid 30s in my Mazda cx60 is not enough. So I can regenerate on the trip a couple of times on motorway and end up at destination city with a full range of electric. Overall mid 40s mpg for a 2.1 tonne vehicle on motorway at 70 mph.
I was in Los Angeles for week and rented a Wranger 4XE plug in hybrid. The Jeep was brand new with only 8 miles on it when I picked it up, I plugged it in at my hotel every night and with 25 miles of electric range I only used about 5 gallons of gas the entire 6 day trip. Also, and this relates to your podcast, I rented from Fox at LAX and the the total price for those 6 days was 500 bucks! Not bad for a brand new 65k vehicle that used very little gas
That California bill actually restricts PHEVs as well, only 20% of a manufacturer's sales can be PHEVs under the legislation. Given the numerous advantages of hybrids compared to EVs, why do you believe people and legislators are so opposed to adopting them?
California is opposed to personal choice as a whole. Politicians do whatever they’re paid to do by lobbyists. Here’s hoping oil companies pull out entirely due to the legislation they just passed this week. Let them collapse.
Ive always believed that the PHEV makes more sense than a BEV. We currently use a 2017 Volt as our daily driver and have averaged over 150 MPG. There's nothing fancy about it but its super efficient and fairly comfortable to drive. Wish they wouldn't have killed it off.
So you DO still do videos!!!! Great!!!! Now I am also turning all notifications ON for your LATEST videos!!!! (Even though will be out of RUclips for a while due to work and stuff, but will return soon around this Summer to Fall!!!!) Good luck!!!!
7pm Christmas Day, I arrived into Minneapolis from Costa Rica. It was 5 degrees and my car was in a park and stay lot. Exactly where I left it with a full tank 7 days earlier. It was under a foot of snow and it had been a cold week. I wiped it off enough to get in and start it, then finished cleaning it off. I then drove up to the hotel to get the family and luggage. We visited the restroom and departed. 350 miles later, we arrived at home. We never stopped once. I had 100 miles plus range left. The car is 12 years old and has 275,000 miles on it. I don't think you can make that drive with any current EV on that cold day after a week in that lot.
@@johngaudet6316 Good luck with that. On the best day, with a fresh charge, you'd be very lucky to make it. You'd need a strong tailwind. A week in a zero degree lot and a the same temperature on the drive, you'd be lucky to make it out of Minnesota, let alone to my garage.
Great to see our petrolhead heros have taken the time to investigate the use case for hybrids and ev's. It can be 'both/and' instead of 'either/or'. Great job guys.
As someone living in a Condo who has been told absolutly no fast chargers can be installed full EV is simply not an option. We have two chargers at work that are regularly busy Side note, having fuel in the tank that never gets used can be all kinds of trouble. Good to know the Volvo cycles it occasionally. Don't know about Matt's Volvo but previous generation Volvo EV's have been horrible as far as reliability
You are spot on with your analysis of hybrids. Can you edit and publish an abbreviated version of this? I love your channel but want to send this episode to some influential folks and it's too long to get their attention as it is (but I love it). Thanks much.
I don’t know about y’all, but I’m sold on PHEVs as one of our 2 future cars. A PHEV - if it’s fun to drive - and a BEV would make a well-rounded pair of cars for all occasions barring a truck for super dirty tasks, which could be rented as it’s not often needed in our situations.
Seems odd to be lugging around a legacy ICE engine, including the extra maintenance it entails, just for the minority of times you need the extra range and also assuming you can't access public chargers with a straight EV car. There is certainly a place for hybrids, but I would think it's only for a small minority of use cases.
This is one of the things that frustrates me so much about Toyota. Make every hybrid a plug-in. I want a plug in Sienna but they don't make it. I refuse to consider a Stellantis product, they're not reliable long term.
RE: Polestar 2 - you can actually buy a regular dual motor without ANY of the $5000 option packs Zack mentioned, and pay only $1200 for an OTA performance upgrade which is the deal of the century by ICE standards. You get the full 480hp/500+torque and the smaller wheels and more comfy non sport suspension. Standard brakes are fine. Big savings vs the BST270 (or the sports pack) unless this will be a track car for you (which is unlikely). Also the google map battery charge prediction is uncannily accurate. Impressive car !
After learning about Zach’s social anxiety it’s so impressive how natural and talented he is in front of a camera in which he knows will reach 20k ppl plus… says a lot about the will.
If this video only gets 20k views then it wasn’t worth 30 hours of editing, but I thank you anyway.
@@zackklapman3569 You have the experience hanging around with with old shouty do you think his Irish cousin is on the Evenflow channel?
@@zackklapman3569 daddddddy 😭 When are you coming back to the Bay Area?? I think I missed the event y’all were doing at Sonoma
@@zackklapman3569 Zack - it will be more! Great review and very interesting as a theme
Guys, this format is fantastic. Really easy to watch and entertaining. Great job.
I love my gen 2 Chevy Volt! Bought new in 2018 and has a lifetime mpg of 140! Over 30k miles, the gas engine was only used for about 7k. It's a shame Chevy stopped iterating on the Voltec drivetrain because they were way ahead of the curve on PHEVs
Agreed great car for times, but leave it to gm yo screw things up and make bad decisions, bitch Mary Bara
Damn shame. But politics always trumps technology.
23k miles lugging around a complicated unused dead weight. Sounds a great plan 🤔
Have you had to replace the battery or is it still working ?
@@adamfry1125 same can be said for about 70 kWh worth of battery in a full BEV. Weight will be there no matter what
I get so frustrated having this conversation with people who casually dismiss EVs in all forms. Plug-ins are freaking great, and they’re only going to get better and more relevant. They are the PERFECT stop gap or stepping stone (however you look at it). This is a GREAT video, guys, and very entertaining. Now I’ll just point to this video whenever people ask me dumb questions 😂
My dad bought a '23 XC60 T8 Recharge. We both adore the car. Like you said, the air suspension (combined with adaptive dampers) does wonders for ride quality and handling - though it's not a canyon carver by any stretch of the imagination. I'd personally shy away from any Ohlins-damped modern Volvo, from what I've read. They give up a *lot* of comfort and ride quality without getting much handling in return, because the steering is still numb.
The XC60 Recharge is the do-it-all car in my mind. It's fast when you need it to be, there's plenty of electric range to guarantee very low average fuel consumption, I like the looks, the materials and finish are excellent, it's spacious and well-optioned, and I like the driver assist tech.
For a daily driver and road trip mile muncher in one, I highly recommend you get one Matt! You have excellent handling and 'experience' cars for those occasions to complement it.
as someone awaiting delivery of a V60 recharge... my biggest worry for PHEVs is, long-term ownership wise, we've got the worst of both worlds to worry about. PHEVs don't always have a heat pump and/or the same level of battery conditioning as EVs, so we may not have the same efficiency or battery longevity, as dedicated EVs. on the mechanical side, if the gas engine only ever comes on for a brief spell once in a blue moon, [or worse, the first 5ish mins of every drive in winter] then we need to worry about engine/transmission problems from never getting sustained use at operating temps. and all that, is on top of the fact that many companies making PHEVs aren't exactly sterling examples of reliability to begin with.
I think in actual practice, you get significantly less wear and tear on both propulsion products. At least for the Ford Fusion (which I am extremely familiar with), the Hybrids and Plug-In Hybrids have proven to be the most reliable of all the options. Easily lasting 200-300k miles without major issues.
@@Talisman18t were they mostly fleet cars or privately owned? fleet cars i imagine still got in plenty of heat cycles and more regular maintenance, so that'd make a lot of sense. And ford's had multiple partnerships with toyota on hybrid technology so [ford build quality aside] the fusion energi should've had a solid engineering base. but for privately owned cars, ford doubled the service interval for the fusion energi vs the hybrid/gas cars. which is the last thing a mechanic would normally tell u to do, if you knew your gas car only ever does short drives.
I have a 2017 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. I bought it used 2 years ago with ~80 000 miles on the clock. Currently it sits at ~160 00 miles. From my experience the engine works a lot less and when it does, the load isnt as much as a regular ICE car.
The battery has an air fan which is responsible for keeping the battery at the right temperature. Ive done dusty trails on hot summer days off the beaten path and never had the battery overheat or even coming close to that. I had my hybrid battery checked 4 months ago and its basically as good as new. No noticeable degradation was discovered.
Even if something does go wrong with the battery its a much smaller unit so the price wont be astronomical like a full EV.
@@Cal94 They're both types of owners. I run a business and several social media pages for the Ford Fusion with tens of thousands of owners utilizing them. That's one of the most constant things I hear. How much people love both Hybrid versions of the car and how reliable they are with very little maintenance.
hmm. I went blind to the NPC cars. toyota, ford, and mitsubishi PHEVs tend to have dual injection and run naturally aspirated, so it'd make sense they hold up better for longer. but they're not the only players anymore. mazda, stellantis, the koreans and the europeans are all in or entering the space, and they're all running GDI, forced induction, [sometimes very high strung] engines. in warmer climates, and if u never need to run the gas engine, i imagine they're perfectly fine. but in colder climates, these PHEVs sound like a recipe for carbon buildup and sludge [if neglected]. at very least, i wouldn't dare skip an oil change with any of them.
18:01 civic type R wizzed by and he didn’t break focus. What a boss
you can see his eyes dart for a sec LOL, but he doesnt stutter or anythin lmao
I commented on it but I cut that part from the video. GREAT color for the CTR. - Zack
A true professional!!
Great job highlighting the realistic nuances of these transportation options guys! Love the format of combining drive impressions, feature explanation, and real world use cases in one well paced video.
I rented a tesla model 3 for 9 days in socal, covering 900 miles over my vacation. Never once had an issue with range anxiety or charging. Most super chargers gave me 80% in 20-25 minutes. Absolutely outstanding experience and for the record I daily an FJ Cruiser.
13:54 - On Volvos & Polestars, the cruise control adjusts in increments of 1 mph if you push and hold the button. If you just press it once it moves in increments of 5 mph. Took me months of owning a Volvo to learn this
I'm pretty sure my Volvo's cruise control goes 1kph at a time on a car that is sold in a mph market :p
(but mine is an older 2012 car)
I am so frustrated by all other systems not doing this now. It’s extremely convenient. Even the ones that work opposite just don’t seem as efficient. Speed limit just dropped by 10 mph click twice and I’m done.
@@Iamthirst Yeah i love my 2013 V60 for this.
I know you’ve discussed on the podcast that anything other than performance car reviews tanks ratings but this comparison is a great piece. The editing and commentary is what we’re here for, no mater the subject matter.
I’m SOOO glad someone else is on board. I’ve been beating this drum for years. A plug in hybrid meets the needs of 90%of the population, 90% of the time.
Hey Matt, how many EV miles were you able to add back in by the time you got in to the city, and what MPG did you average doing so?
He said 12 miles on the podcast and didnt notice a major hit in mpg
@@jdhazan that's pretty impressive, appreciate the info!
@@jdhazan hi there
What episode was that? I just found this channel :)
@@agentFonseca ruclips.net/video/nFtWmMRZkGk/видео.html
@@shehandesilva7530 I own a Ford Escape PHEV. I found it about 80% efficient using the charge mode vs just driving on the increased gas used. It tends to recharge faster when driving around the city vs highway, where it seems to have less power free for recharging.
Lesson learned from this video? Zach is well deserving of and in need of a raise!!!
I second that notion!
That’s old news dude. Zach has been in need of a raise for a looooong time.
I have a PHEV that I'm using to drive for a food delivery service. Depending on the weather and how long I go out at a time I am pulling somewhere in the range of 60mpg to 150mpg in the city. If you think of it as a gas mitigation vehicle rather than a really short range EV they work great.
My gripe is that they are so expensive you will almost never pay for the increased costs in gas savings. It's a very hard sell to make people pay more to save a bit on their vehicle 7 years in the future.
At least in Canada the EV rebate covers PHEVs if they have a 50km range or more, and half of they have less. That means 5k off the purchase price, and in some provinces up to 10k off which can actually make the PHEV cheaper than the hybrid of the same model, which is a no brainer if you can plug it in at all.
My prius prime was cheap. Got it during the pandemic when fas was cheap and everyone wanted trucks and suvs. I do amazon flex with it and it's great on gas. I wouldn't deliver in anything less.
In Calif the largest car population state by far, at $5/gal it is < 5 years breakeven if you own solar & drive average distance. With Fed & stste tax incentives, even sooner. Gas$ will only go up.
Been driving a '14 C-Max Energi for 8 years now. The 20 mile range gets me to the stores and work and back. Gas gets me everywhere else. Works great for me.
Great video and excellent points for the “electrification” of vehicles. After owning a Hybrid Accord for a few years, the idea of burning gas at a stop light or drive through seemed silly. I’ve been waiting for Honda to build an Odyssey Hybrid for a while. How we use our vehicles on a daily basis is different and I like to own vehicles that fit my family’s lifestyle 80-90% of the time.
From a decarbonization perspective, we need: 1. Better public transit and more walkable/bikable cities 2. More and more reliable charging infrastructure 3. Hydrogen fuel cells for edge cases where EVs aren't practical and public transit isn't possible.
Battery technology will improve to the point where we can substantially reduce the amount lithium involved in production and improve charge times. LFP batteries are already available that move the market away from depending on questionably sourced cobalt and manganese.
As a current Polestar 2 lessee who's had little need of and little issue with the current public charging infrastructure, this vid perfectly explains why I'm considering the new Prius Prime when my lease ends. My situation is very similar to Matts. Lvl 2 at home and lvl 1 at work. About 32 miles round trip a day max.
Does your Apple CarPlay work correctly? (Ignore if you’re an android user)
@@zackklapman3569 I’m not the one you replied to but I have a Polestar 2. Carplay works perfectly for me. It must be connected via cable, no wireless option.
I love the Polestar 2 so much. Not surprised that the XC60 is great. That Volvo quality in both.
I have the xc and was in a 2 for the last week. The xc is a nicer, more comfortable vehicle, but the 2 is a blast to drive and not too far behind. I don’t like how the center divider encroaches on my right leg and presses against it the way I sit though.
Am I the only one who noticed the CBC mug?? Love from Canada, guys! Great video, we are a Volvo household, we have 2 V60 Polestars (2017 Rebel Blue and 2018 Bursting Blue). Keep up the great work!
Saw that too!
I live in NH. I've got a 2020V60 Cross country and love it. My next vehicle maybe a Volvo hybrid or future EV.
Beside all the talk, suppositions and personal opinions, in this comparison there is just a stark truth which kills the Hybrid on the onset. What is the point to add all that complexity and dead weight of the Hybrid contraption, when a pure EV alone does it all so much better, more economically, faster and a whole lot safer. Naturally I am referring to a Tesla EV.
The way of speaking from these 02 hosts is so clean and clear for which to those who has poor English can easily understand well, good job.
I’m from Uk, and have a XC60 b4 which is a two litre diesel with a battery to boost from 197 up to over 200, it is great, and get a easy 40+ mpg, this is one of the best videos I’ve seen well done boys, and, yes the XC60 is one of the best cars you can buy.
Great comparison. It really made me think about what I actually need in a daily.
Good discussion on the realities of EV vs. PHEV. I owned an EV, now my wife has a PHEV with about 35 miles of range and we nearly got 1,000 miles out of the last tank of gas and averaged about 55 MPG (not bad for a full sized SUV) which included two longer highway runs where the electrics don't work often.
The main issue with the PHEV in EV mode is that you have to get one with enough oomph to where it won't kick the engine on all the time. And even when you do, you still lack acceleration (in Matt's case, 140 HP vs. a circa 4,800 lb curb weight does not make it sprightly. So you face two choices: drive slower, or kick on the engine.
An EV is far more sprightly, and you never kick the engine on. But then....you have to deal with charging.
I think I'm going to go back to an EV for my daily, as it won't ever be road-tripped. At most I'll take it on some 2-4 hour each way trips where I only have to recharge maybe 2 times in the whole weekend trip. So entirely doable. Longer road trips, we'll take the PHEV. But I can charge at home so it makes sense.
I'm an EV fan, but as has been pointed out countless times, they don't work well if you can't charge at home. And the batteries are bigger than needed because the charging infrastucture is way behind where it needs to be. If charging stations were as common as gas stations, most of us could get away with about 35 - 40 kWh batteries instead of the 70-80-90-100 kWh batteries in the 300 mile range EVs that are out today.
Cool times. They will change rapidly in the next decade.
Which make/model of PHEV does your wife have?
Also curious to know what she drives
Agreed. Plug-in hybrids accomplish most of the benefits of EVs for more people, now. It's unlikely that liquid fuel infrastructure is going anywhere (we're so good at building pipelines), so maybe non-gas plug-in hybrids are the ideal endgame.
Love the more frequent format this video carries.
I came to the same conclusion 4 years ago and bought a Golf GTE. However , you also get the worst of both solutions, much more expensive servicing and twice as much to go wrong, which both happened. I've since gone back to a petrol car until electric is more matured.
The problems of second/third owner. Not before 250.000km.
It's also the worst of both worlds from an ethical perspective. You get the pollution and human rights violations associated with battery production, and the pollution, human rights violations, and emissions associated with the fossil fuels industry. Then again, there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, so that's a losing battle regardless of the choice. Even a bicycle or electrified public transit can have ethics problems.
Great video. These PHEV’s could also operate as backup power walls at the house if engineered to do so. Basically 13kw would probably provide 24thrs of backup power. And you could use the generator to top up if needed.
Great comment. Sadly few PHEV manufacturers seem to be including vehicle to home or vehicle to grid functionality. It is probably (and I've not researched) more common in full EVs - Tesla I know are into this - but it is definitely a subject that needs more visibility and more public demand. I've got a Mazda CX-60 PHEV on order that I should collect in the next week or so, 17.8KwH battery... My Tesla Powerwall is 13.2KwH if I recall... adding some juice from the car to my home would be HUGE especially early in the year (like now) when days are a bit short on daylight but I can still fully charge the powerwall (on a good day) and be exporting a bunch of power - but can't quite make it thru the night on the powerwall alone (especially if I run the oven to cook dinner etc.) I'd love to be able to use the extra capacity in the car as a buffer for the house...
@@ukgroucho As I understand it, there’s only a few BEV’s (Ford/Hyundai/Nissan) and one PHEV (Mitsubishi) that offer bidirectional charging currently. (And BYD - which isn’t in North America yet.)
New videos have that OG Top Gear vibe, I dig.
Shout out to the CBC mug in the first shot!
This reminds me of when James May and Jeremy Clarkson compared the BMW i3 and the Golf GTI with Jeremy singing about how silly EVs were and made it to a music show in the Golf while James was anxious in the i3 and missed the concert entirely.
I really miss those guys on Top Gear, I would laugh so much !!
What a great peice of content. The car focused content was great and very informative. Also, continuing the new comparison format and topic were excellent.
I live with a Tesla model 3 and drive high mileage year round. Basically what takes 3 hours in an ICE or hybrid takes 15 minutes more one way, and about 20 minutes more for the return trip. I saved $8,000 in gas last year, and I stop to pee with an ICE vehicle anyway. There's no compromise IMO if you drive a Tesla.
I agree. After retiring five years ago. I traded in my my Kia Stinger as our daily driver for a Kia Niro hybrid and love it’s efficiency and regeneration while driving in the sport mode. Still have our 12 year old Prius hybrid now averaging down to 42 MPG as our second daily driver. Besides the uncomfortable driver seats, it’s a little tank for transportation. When. I want to have fun driving I drive my 2004 Porsche C 4S convertible that runs like a charm. They all work out just great. I’m going to drive my 911 hopefully to over 200,000 miles or more. I got a good one. Best guys.
@TheSmokingTire "The rule establishes a year-by-year roadmap so that by 2035 100% of new cars and light trucks sold in California will be zero-emission vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles." from the same article you posted. Just as a clarification, CA doesnt want you to only buy full EV.
18:25 Can someone explain what that caravan is doing, towing a car?
the longer range in the new plug-in hybrids like the XC60 and the RAV4 prime and few others are really where the technology should be.
I think my next car will be a plug in. Most of the time I don't drive that far, but my mother lives 120 miles away, and my best friends live 300 miles away. Plug ins help me with those once a month long range trips but able to keep 90% of my driving full EV. Don't think it's true for a lot of people, most would be fine with a small EV (I live in the UK), but someone like me an EV with enough range is too expensive, and plug ins are much cheaper. Golf GTE or Skoda Octavia vRS plug ins are the way for me to go!
Thank you for this, I've been saying this for years that plug in EV are the perfect solution for the everyday driver. That being said, it needs to have about 100km of ev range to make it attractive IMO.
Yeah most Volvo’s have 50km and thats not enough
This was fascinating, the vehicles, and the real life experience 👍👍
And the skit at the beginning was 👌
This video confirms my 3 year experiment with a Range Extender (i3 REx).
Averaging 24,000 miles per year on 25 gallons of gasoline. Never hostage to public charging (even though we use it when it's convenient).
Saving $2500 annually on gas. Spending only $500 on home L2 charging.
I've been sold on hybrids for a while too and completely agree with the take here. Btw, how much did the engine charge the battery by the time you arrived?
awesome content and TheSmokingTire has always done fair revievs on volvos. and this why i drive Phev its best of two worlds. (the new battery is 18,8 kwh)
Did I miss it? How many miles did it recharge on the rest of the trip?
We have a Volvo XC60 Plug in Polestar Engineered at my dealership. Ohlins suspension, Akebono brakes, gold seat belts etc. Kind of a blend of the two vehicles in this video.
We settled on a Pacifica Hybrid PHEV when we upgraded our minivan. Our use case was very similar to yours: Mostly suburban errands to and from places like schools, stores and appointments. We got the L2 charger in our garage and spend most of the time on electric. On those times when we want to take a longer trip -- we've done a couple of 3000 mile round trips so far -- we don't have to think about charging. Your point about how many PHEVs you can make with the battery one EV is built with is a very important point that gets lost on many. If you want to get people used to electrified vehicles, PHEVs will make it much easier and give battery manufacturing and charging infrastructure time to catch up.
Glad to see someone who understands that one EV battery can make many more PHEV. If you do the same math, you can make about 25 standard hybrids which typically reduce fuel consumption by 25%-30% compared to an equivalent ICE vehicle. Hybrid or PHEV are the best way to go in the short term (10-20 years).
Format seems a little different than most of the stuff before, I dig it guys
Off topic, but thanks, Matt. Ordered same coffee mug ☕
Really well illustrated thesis. PHEV is definitely the choice for this current era.
Love this format. The show don't tell moments were especially pleasing when you highlighted the shifter and the audio branding
OMG, the Bowers&Wilkins audio is so excellent.
I live in an apartment and drive BEV. I drive a Tesla so the charging network is much better and much easier to deal with. I also have a CCS adapter so I can charge anywhere. Its not changed my life much but I can see where a hybrid would make more sense for a lot of people.
I’m with you. I’ve been driving the XC90 recharge for a year, and only filled the tank once. Together with the Prius PRIME that we have and share one level 2 charger in our garage with no issue at all.
I have a I4 M50 and am blown away by the poor infrastructure in my area. Having level 2 charging at home makes it an easy experience, but for the masses we are not ready to go full electric. We did find when traveling into larger cities the charging networks are adequate and removed my range anxiety, but in areas where charging is limited I do still worry about longer road trips for vacations and such. That’s why we still retained a gas powered vehicle just for such reason. I do like the concept of hybrid tech and seeing that as more of the affordable and sustainable way forward for vehicles in the times we live in today. The Prius really has proven to be the pioneer in that platforms development and its been as reliable as a Timex watch. More manufacturers need to take that into consideration with the developments of the automobile. I repair them daily and cannot wait to see where my industry is heading. The real truth is if you wanted that dream gas powered car in your life the time is now. Get whatever it is you have lusted after and drive the heck out of it. We don’t know how much longer we will have with fun combustion engines. I bought mine as did Matt and I think that is what we enthusiasts need to be focusing on along with excepting that hybrids and electric vehicles are our future going forward.
I bought a Honda Clarity in 2018. I average about 45 miles on a charge (though I rarely actually use the whole capacity) and unless I am on a trip, I can go a year on a tank of gas. On a trip, I can get 42 to 46 mpg depending on speed and terrain and if I take slower roads, I can get 50 mpg. I agree that the plug in hybrid is a better solution and I intend to keep my Clarity for a decade, and maybe more. I am convinced that the plug in hybrid is the best kind of car to own.
PHEVs may ultimately be a better solution for the entry market, and for long range and towing. However, it may turn out that converting a dedicated EV platform (such as GM's Ultium) into a PHEV via a decoupled range extender results in a better car than electrifying a typical ICE car and finding space for the extra batteries and hardware. The biggest downside to PHEV versus pure EV, is that you still have all the ICE maintenance to deal with: oil changes, transmission fluid, sparkplugs, wires, filters, etc. It will be interesting to see how things shake out. If nothing else, we'll have better batteries and lots more places to charge them by the time many of us are ready for an EV.
0:58 that just means Matt isn’t paying you well enough 😂
Greddy fat af matt lol
Matt would rather buy himself another rolex 😅
@@mornadu another bag of cheeseburgers lol
Phev makes way more sense than battery only which requires more minerals that may be scarce or conflict minerals
The saddest thing is the lithium batteries are not recyclable. Pure waste going into garbage dumps. What a nightmare
Really love the take on the benefits of a plug-in relative to an electric. You can do a lot less environmental and humanitarian damage, and avoid having to rely on the public charging network, while still doing 95% of your daily driving emissions-free.
there might be a case for larger batteries cycling less for daily driving vs a PHEV that might be fully cycling 1-2 time daily. great video
I would have bought a Volvo back when I was looking for an SUV but didn't. I loved my Volvo S90 press car so was very tempted by the XC90, but our local dealership is utter garbage. Ended up with an Audi instead because our local Audi dealer is known for their service, and now we are on our third and fourth Audis. I just wish Audi offered a decent performance plug-in hybrid sedan and a decent plug-in hybrid, relatively-large SUV.
I am a current Volvo owner (I have several actually) and I looked at the Polestar 2 last year. It seemed as if they were still having some teething issues and with the rumors of higher power output it just didn't make sense to jump in. I also agree that hybrids are the way to go. If done right, like this XC60, they have most of the performance with few of the downsides. The added weight does have an impact on performance. For instance an XC60 T6 AWD like mine needs a down pipe and an ECU tune to hit 60 in the low 4 second range and a 1/4 mile in low 13s. The extra weight of the battery and motors in the newer hybrid absorbed the extra 80 to 100 HP the system produced.
Been saying this for 30 years (and heavy machinery builders for much longer): the most efficient way to get the most energy out of a gallon of fuel is to run the combustion engine as a generator and use electric motors to move the wheels. Yes with a battery to store generated energy.
Really smart and informative review. As a Tesla and Rivian owner, I’ve come to the conclusion that EV only isn;t ready for prime time as well. Thanks
We have a XC60 Recharge and I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. It is a great car for everyday and is remarkably comfortable. Honestly, it really is about as good a car as is available right now for just driving every day - but it’s expensive. I think that’s an issue for BEVs and PHEVs. Still, I think that PHEVs are currently a better option than BEVs for most. That will change, but I’m not sure that we’re there yet.
Average people wont be able to afford these vehicles anytime soon. Costs also arent coming down anytime soon either.
@@adamnagel7436 A fully loaded Kia Sorrento PHEV is about the same price as my fully loaded Murano was 12 years ago.... Not sure where either of you are coming from.
Matt, your spot on with the PHEV. It’s a good balance. The infrastructure supporting full EV is way off. The cost for something like a Toyota is better, reduced use of rare earth metals, very low carbon footprint.
Toyota performed the study, and it proves out hybrids lower the carbon footprint more…because you get them in more hands.
Strongly considering a V60 Hybrid Plug-In T8 R-Design eAWD as my next daily. Fits perfectly into my needs and lifestyle, and looks fantastic.
I had 2020 V60 PE, which my wife is now using when I moved to Polestar 2 BST. Both are excellent cars.
Love this Video, especially Zack, his jokes and commentary finally shaping into a really cool independently source, first time I preferred listening to him. Bravo Zack
Wildly great commentary! Keep up the good work!
I also live in an old apartment building that can't support charging anything more then my DeWalt impact driver. I used to drive a Ford CMax plug in hybrid but traded it in for a '21 Honda CRV Hybrid. Great vehicle for commuting, it's not a plug in but I get 37mpg and the engine doesn't turn on very much on my short commute. It has an electric only mode and when the engine turns on you can charge the battery . I put gas in once every month , no plug needed.
I'm convinced. Plug-In hybrids are the way of the (near) future. Great video, Matt.
Actually the Volt has a charging option. You just have to switch the drive mode to "Mountain", so it would charge and keep the battery up to ~50%.
💯
I agree with you a lot that's why I bought a Mini Cooper electric, the small battery works just fine for me.
I loved this video! More like this please. I traded my Stinger GT2 RWD for a 2021 VW ID.4. I liked the EV life(although slower), but damn I hated VW's software. After 14 months I traded it for a 22' M340i. I wanted a Polestar 2 but I mountain bike, and good gravy does a bike on the roof ruin range. I'd loose >20% range with my MTB on the roof. Maybe the XC60 is what I need... and a trailer hitch!
Why do you guys put bikes on the roof anyway? Looks like a pain in the ass.
@@aluisious Never understood that either. The rear mounts always seemed easier.
@@aluisious 1. I already have roof mount racks. 2. Not every car has a trailer mount hitch option.
@@custommotor Not every car has the option for a trailer hitch, or for a third party mount.
Great video! Hopefully phev owners realize the self-charging mode will cost significantly more money (in extra gasoline) than home charging.
Anyone who could possibly afford this car also values their time saved more than the cost of charging from the engine. Also, the cost to charge this 19kw pack on average Cali electricity price is $6, and it should only take about 1-1.5 gallons of gas to charge the pack fully. So at most you are saving $1-2 to not have to wait at a charger.
Exactly, the battery hold or battery charge modes of PHEVs are very rarely useful. Good to have options I suppose.
@@SNiiPEDoGG There's no point charging the electric battery in a PHEV from the gasoline engine - if you use the same volume of fuel to propel the vehicle instead (via the ICE), you will go further. You can then fill up at a gas station, in less time than the charging would have taken.
@@Wellspicedchaffinch It could come in useful, though, if you're going to a destination where you need to plug stuff into the car (laptop, etc.) and want to do it off battery power alone when your're stopped.
Yes of course it will but I don’t do the average 12 to 20 miles a day in my work. Some days 10 miles and others 125 miles or 200 miles and the electric only range of mid 30s in my Mazda cx60 is not enough. So I can regenerate on the trip a couple of times on motorway and end up at destination city with a full range of electric. Overall mid 40s mpg for a 2.1 tonne vehicle on motorway at 70 mph.
I was in Los Angeles for week and rented a Wranger 4XE plug in hybrid. The Jeep was brand new with only 8 miles on it when I picked it up, I plugged it in at my hotel every night and with 25 miles of electric range I only used about 5 gallons of gas the entire 6 day trip. Also, and this relates to your podcast, I rented from Fox at LAX and the the total price for those 6 days was 500 bucks! Not bad for a brand new 65k vehicle that used very little gas
That California bill actually restricts PHEVs as well, only 20% of a manufacturer's sales can be PHEVs under the legislation. Given the numerous advantages of hybrids compared to EVs, why do you believe people and legislators are so opposed to adopting them?
California is opposed to personal choice as a whole. Politicians do whatever they’re paid to do by lobbyists. Here’s hoping oil companies pull out entirely due to the legislation they just passed this week. Let them collapse.
@@Bob_Smith19 so you think oil companies don't spend more money on lobbying than whoever would benefit from more evs? : D
Ive always believed that the PHEV makes more sense than a BEV. We currently use a 2017 Volt as our daily driver and have averaged over 150 MPG. There's nothing fancy about it but its super efficient and fairly comfortable to drive. Wish they wouldn't have killed it off.
great video! do you remember how much did the recharge recharge (😂)on the 40 mile journey to the destination
Great video! Love this new format
I always love seeing that Weiss watch on Zach's wrist!
The watch shot when Matt was putting the Volvo in charging mode tho
This video genuinely sold me on plug in hybrids
So you DO still do videos!!!! Great!!!! Now I am also turning all notifications ON for your LATEST videos!!!! (Even though will be out of RUclips for a while due to work and stuff, but will return soon around this Summer to Fall!!!!) Good luck!!!!
7pm Christmas Day, I arrived into Minneapolis from Costa Rica. It was 5 degrees and my car was in a park and stay lot. Exactly where I left it with a full tank 7 days earlier. It was under a foot of snow and it had been a cold week. I wiped it off enough to get in and start it, then finished cleaning it off. I then drove up to the hotel to get the family and luggage. We visited the restroom and departed. 350 miles later, we arrived at home. We never stopped once. I had 100 miles plus range left. The car is 12 years old and has 275,000 miles on it. I don't think you can make that drive with any current EV on that cold day after a week in that lot.
Polestar 2
@@johngaudet6316 Good luck with that. On the best day, with a fresh charge, you'd be very lucky to make it. You'd need a strong tailwind. A week in a zero degree lot and a the same temperature on the drive, you'd be lucky to make it out of Minnesota, let alone to my garage.
Great to see our petrolhead heros have taken the time to investigate the use case for hybrids and ev's. It can be 'both/and' instead of 'either/or'. Great job guys.
As someone living in a Condo who has been told absolutly no fast chargers can be installed full EV is simply not an option.
We have two chargers at work that are regularly busy
Side note, having fuel in the tank that never gets used can be all kinds of trouble. Good to know the Volvo cycles it occasionally. Don't know about Matt's Volvo but previous generation Volvo EV's have been horrible as far as reliability
OG listener here, excited to hear Thaddeus's name. I would love to see more of him.
You are spot on with your analysis of hybrids. Can you edit and publish an abbreviated version of this? I love your channel but want to send this episode to some influential folks and it's too long to get their attention as it is (but I love it). Thanks much.
I don’t know about y’all, but I’m sold on PHEVs as one of our 2 future cars. A PHEV - if it’s fun to drive - and a BEV would make a well-rounded pair of cars for all occasions barring a truck for super dirty tasks, which could be rented as it’s not often needed in our situations.
Seems odd to be lugging around a legacy ICE engine, including the extra maintenance it entails, just for the minority of times you need the extra range and also assuming you can't access public chargers with a straight EV car. There is certainly a place for hybrids, but I would think it's only for a small minority of use cases.
This is one of the things that frustrates me so much about Toyota. Make every hybrid a plug-in. I want a plug in Sienna but they don't make it. I refuse to consider a Stellantis product, they're not reliable long term.
RE: Polestar 2 - you can actually buy a regular dual motor without ANY of the $5000 option packs Zack mentioned, and pay only $1200 for an OTA performance upgrade which is the deal of the century by ICE standards. You get the full 480hp/500+torque and the smaller wheels and more comfy non sport suspension. Standard brakes are fine. Big savings vs the BST270 (or the sports pack) unless this will be a track car for you (which is unlikely). Also the google map battery charge prediction is uncannily accurate. Impressive car !
Loving our Honda Clarity
First clip felt like a Red Bull racing promotional video lol I love it
I enjoy never having to think about any of this shit. That's real luxury.
That Polestar is such a looker. It looks like an 80's Buick
Great intro boys and great format. ❤