The Little Things Count

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are coming to the auto-mobile market later this year, with more in development and concept stages set to enter the market before 2020. PHEVs combine the technology of plug-in electric vehicles, hybrid technology and gasoline engines to provide the best combination of all automotive technology and engineering to give consumers a car that is cheap to run, has very low emissions, and very efficient. There are two different types, series and parallel PHEVs, series PHEVs are more fuel efficient (in gasoline terms) as the electric motors drive the wheels, and the gasoline engine is used only to charge the battery, thus, for short trips series PHEVs may not use any gasoline. Parallel PHEVs are similar to the conventional plug-in hybrid, where the electric motor only drives the wheels at low speeds, with the gasoline engine taking over a higher speeds, or but both work together under most driving conditions.

 Mitsubishi will be the first company to put this technology into an SUV, with the North American Outlander model set to roll onto forecourts in early 2014 if all goes well. The Chevrolet Volt was the first PHEV to enter the North American market in 2010, followed by the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid in 2012. Worldwide the Prius version has achieved 50% of the total sales of the Volt in just one year, likely because of brand loyalty and the strong reputation of previous Prius models. In North American markets the Chevrolet Volt has outsold the Prius. Interestingly, the Volt provides greater consumer savings than the Prius because of its series set up and the greater battery storage. Two ford models (C-max Energi and Fusion Energi) are currently available on the US market as well as the Toyota and Chevrolet options, Fisker also provide a fast and sporty PHEV for a cool US$102,500.

Many other manufacturers are bringing PHEVs to the market soon, these include the Volvo V60 (the first diesel PHEV), Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid, and Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV. Planned for introduction to the market in the next few years are many other models from different manufacturers, the following are coming to the market this year: BMW i3 (European introduction) and i8, Porsche 918 Spyder (limited production), Cadillac ELR, Volkswagen XL1 (limited production), and Fisker Atlantic.
Models planned for later production include a Ford Escape model, Volvo V70, Suzuki Swift, Audi A1 e-tron and A3 e-tron, Dodge Ram 1500 (the first PHEV pickup truck), Volkswagen Golf variant twinDRIVE, Chrysler Town and Country PHEV.
If all of these PHEV concepts make it to the market we will start to see a revolution in the automotive industry, a move away from gasoline engines which will increase in pace if consumers respond and start buying these vehicles. But why buy one? Won't the maintenance be expensive with all of that fancy technology? Not necessarily, in fact, the maintenance costs may well be less. As the US Department of energy puts it:

"All-electric vehicles typically require less maintenance than conventional vehicles because:

• The battery, motor, and associated electronics require little to no regular maintenance

• There are fewer fluids to change

• Brake wear is significantly reduced, due to regenerative braking

• There are far fewer moving parts, relative to a conventional gasoline engine." Source

Here's another cost-saving to consider, the miles per gallon (imp.) equivalent (mpg-e) for PHEVs for those tested so far is over 100 mpg-e. Furthermore, the annual costs of driving PHEVs is less than $1,200*, which translates into over $1,000/year in fuel savings depending on how far one drives. Whilst these vehicles are more expensive to buy than other conventional vehicles, some US states offer tax credits for the purchase of PHEVs. Interestingly, in 2009 Barack Obama announced billions of dollars in federal funding for the hybrid and plug in vehicles, which likely played a role in the advancement of PHEVs and other alternative vehicles by North American manufacturers and the introduction of vehicles by Asian manufacturers whose hybrid technologies are further into research and development than their North American counterparts.

Personally I look forward to the proliferation of PHEVs and hybrid vehicles in general, there are enough outdoor plug ins within Canadian parking lots that charging one's car when not at home would be feasible. Although in some parts of Canada the energy used from the power grid may be from coal which is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. However, in some provinces which have 50% hydro and a significant amount of Nuclear power the greenhouse gas emissions, and thus the ecological foorprint, from PHEV charging and use. If an individual was very committed to reducing their emissions, switching to 100% renewable energy (guaranteed by some suppliers - e.g. Bullfrog Power) would remedy the greenhouse gas emissions from charging.



*Based on 45% highway and 55% city driving. Electricity cost of US$0.12/kw-hr, premium gasoline price of US$3.81 per gallon (used by the Volt and Karma), and regular gasoline price of US$3.49 per
gallon (as of November 30, 2012). Conversion 1 gallon of gasoline=33.7 kW-hr.