Its got to be the plug. Its about the plug!

About the plug

A friend passed along a New York Times article titled Should I Get a Hybrid or Go Full Electric? The title is linked. After reading it, and combined with additional information that was already running around my head, I emailed him back remarking that its all about the plug!

Two hybrids

The article explains the two types of hybrids: conventional and plug-in. Conventional hybrids have a battery that powers an electric motor to augment the gasoline engine. It also incorrectly seems to suggest that energy from braking alone charges the battery, when in fact the gasoline engine charges the battery continuously.

A plug-in hybrid has a larger battery that can powering car solely with electricity for short distances, on average 40 to 50 miles. And they can be charged using the same Level 1 or Level 2 chargers that EVs use. High power Level 3 charging is off the table, which the article misses.

But this is not intended as a critique of the article…

So, back to the point. The battery in a plug-in hybrid will be charged by the gasoline engine if its power is drained, operating exactly as a conventional hybrid.

Imagine you are the owner of a plug-in hybrid. Theoretically, if you drive less than the battery’s range, you can go indefinitely with using any gasoline. What’s needed now is a convenient place to plug in, and the willingness to, in effect, manage an EV!

Further, in the scenario described, a plug-in hybrid needs to be plugged in daily. A full EV only needs a charge maybe once or twice a week!

This is what was rummaging through my mind. The European auto market is down, way down, and only one segment one segment is up, albeit slightly. And its the conventional hybrid market.

Its all about the plug!

Plugging in is the change. As a people, we’ve grown accustomed to driving and stopping randomly for a fill-up. The plug is the change of religion. Everything else is essentially the same: a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, brake pedal, and on and on and on.

In the interim, the EV market continues to grow, and despite problems in Europe, faster than anyone imagined, exposing more and more drivers to the “new” religion.

The last hurdle will ultimately be more places to actually use the plug!

Heck, even EVs have warning lights. Lots of them. See our page here.

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Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.