I would settle for a PHEV that is available for under 35k and actually on lots and has a range of 100 miles on electric only.
I dunno, Im personally fine with like a 40-50 mile electric range in a plug in hybrid. The vast majority of all drivers trips are below that so you still get the benefit of EV and can switch to gas any time. If I had the new Prius prime with a 40 mile electric range I bet I would only have to fill up the gas tank like once every 3 months. Almost all of my trips are short around town where my LX gets like 11mpg lol. For a plug in hybrid 100+mile range is overkill because then the battery starts getting way too heavy plus you have an ICE drivetrain so its just not practical with current tech (and I would argue with an engine as a backup even with better battery tech its still overkill,just make the car lighter with the same 40-50 mile EV range).
I could live with that range but obviously I am not the target audience of even a PHEV being I drive 100 miles a day 5 days a week.
I actually was planning on buying a Ford Lightning. Financing pre-arranged and everything. Three things caused me to cancel my reservation when it came up. 1. The price increase + the loss of the tax credits were going to make it nearly $20k more than initial pricing 2. The many starts/stops in production and component issues. 3. I've had a lot of experience with the F150 Hybrid in the last 15 months, and that thing's spent weeks of that in the shop, it has less hp/torque than my Silverado Duramax had and gets significantly worse real-world mileage. It's a nice truck though, when it's not in the shop.
Buying a new off the assembly line car/truck is still a joke. I came to the conclusion i will never own a brand new car about 4 years ago when all the manufacturers were fing around and dealerships were stacking on top of it
Don't disagree with you, but with used car prices being so insane, it's hard to swallow near new prices for a car with 20k+
If you have a 50 mile drive to work and could charge while you are there and basically never touch the gas engine. The benefit of these smaller batteries is they don’t take long to charge. Even if you couldn’t charge at work basically half your trip is EV and the other is still very efficient hybrid driving with regen braking and whatnot.
Oh damn f150 hybrid is pretty appealing. I like the fact it can be used as a generator backup for your house in a power outage. I think it has a 7.5 or 15kw inverter built in which is an awesome idea.
It is defiantly something I could do. Main reason it interests me at all is because I have solar at home so can use the extra I make in the summer to charge the car. Winter is a different story lol...
As Josh says, that's the lightning (full EV) that can act as a reserve for your house. The hybrid can be optioned up to 7.2kw, which is essentially four 15a circuits, so it can provide a lot of power, but it has to be burning gas to do that for long. Great for construction where you might not always have established power though. There is a use case for the f150 hybrid, but it's not saving money or gas.
The Prius PHEV is probably the smartest hybrid out there right now, and it's finally not designed to make you feel righteous by suffering for the environment. But it didn't fit the bill for me right now. The Chevy Bolt is the real future of the mass EV, not Tesla or $100k+ luxury vehicles that weight 10k lbs and have 400mike ranges that'll get used once a year. We just don't want to hear it as car enthusiasts.
(Assuming highway legal) that's more or less what I plan to do when the C1X super73 bike comes out. 100-150 mile pure electric range and use the ramp charging.
In truth, my summer commuter is a 49cc 2-stroke scooter. It isn't the cleanest burning thing, but the fact that it gets like 75mpg makes it pretty clean. And it is in fact fun as hell. But I can't bring my kids to school with it, or hop on the freeway to manage system at our datacenter, or deal with bad weather (I'll ride it down to just above freezing, but I ain't risking ice on the road).
Am I the only one that's legitimately concerned about buying one of these electric trash heaps in 15-20 years when they're the then-current clapped out used car I can afford (and the nut bags have finally done away with all of the old gas burning Subarus)?
People have done it, and it looks pretty good. I think the plastic arches look cheap, but not enough to actually do anything about them.
I really need to read the whole post, lol. Curious on your thoughts about the new WRX. My wife and I will be buying a new house within the next two years and I will be getting rid of the M5 to have a payment more in line with a new house. Not sure what I want to do, but Subies are on my top of the list.
Already started modding it! Tore off the front bumper. On the corner of our back steps while parking. Then spent several minutes swearing and started putting it mostly back on. Nothing but the push pin clips was really damaged, but I'm waiting for a nice warm day and a handful of new clips to do the job right.
IDK about you but thats how most of my high school relationships started....tearing up her front end...