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Cold-weather range hits aren’t as bad for EVs with heat pumps (arstechnica.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 1 point 2 years ago* (4 children)

Eh, I think they're probably more relevant today than ever. EVs still don't have enough range for road trips, and hybrids offer the same range as gas with significant fuel savings.

That said, I think plug-in hybrids have pretty limited usefulness and should probably be phased out (and IMO should never have happened). You're not going to plug your car in during a road trip, so the main benefit is local trips, which is better served by an EV anyway. If your household has two cars, you should probably have an EV and a hybrid.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (3 children)

    We have three cars. Two EVs that are primaries. The third is a Miata that's used for Miata things. It works out fine as long as we plan things out.

    Batteries rolling off assembly lines right now basically give as much range as needed. It takes a few years for car manufactures to get new components into actual cars, but that's just engineering work at this point. We're not waiting on lab breakthroughs to convert into practical manufactured batteries. Both range and weight will thus likely be fixed in the next couple years. The only place for hybrids left will be a few odd people who travel exceptionally far every day as a job.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    We frequently travel >500 miles on road trips, often 800+ in a single day. If we used an EV, that trip would take an extra 1-2 hours, depending on how charging stations are spaced out (and they're spaced pretty far out in many areas in the US). We do one or two such trips every year, and my parents do it about 3-4x/year to visit grand kids and whatnot.

    A hybrid fills that gap perfectly. You can use it for local trips and still get pretty decent efficiency, or you can use it for road trips and get pretty good range (gas stops add <30 min to the total trip, and they're everywhere).

    If EVs get >400 miles range (preferably >500 miles range), I would agree with you. But until that happens, there's a pretty big niche for hybrid cars.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    This now gets into human limitations. If you're doing straight 500 miles without a break, you are running into safety issues. You need a break. Both for your own health--sitting that long is not good--and for others--your attention is not holding up.

    In other words, a 350 mile EV that needs 20-30 minutes to charge is forcing you to do what you're supposed to be doing anyway.

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