Plug-in hybrids were once a novelty. But no more. Battery-electric cars with on-board gasoline generators are rolling into dealer showrooms in growing numbers. Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Hyundai, McLaren (if you have $1 million-plus to spend) — pick a car company and you’ll find it in the plug-in hybrid business.
Plug-in hybrids can be fast and sexy. The McLaren P1.
What an amazing development. At the end of the last decade, plug-in hybrids were nothing more than a promise and a dream. Now they are commonplace. This happened almost overnight. Did you notice?
I watch these things pretty closely, but the magnitude of change did not hit me until I started listing the various plug-in hybrids, one by one. I was gobsmacked.
And just so we’re on the same page, a plug-in hybrid is a car that functions as a pure electric vehicle for 40-80 km or so on a daily basis, then uses an on-board gasoline engine to re-charge the batteries and thereby extend vehicle range to 600, 700, 800 km or more.
2016 Chevrolet Volt
The Chevrolet Volt pioneered this. Yes, the Volt. The second-generation version has now gone on sale, but the first Volts hit showrooms in the United States in late 2010. From there, the Volt rolled out across more markets in 2011 as a 2012 model.
The Volt was and remains a technological marvel for which General Motors does not get adequate credit. This is surely because the Volt began to change the EV (electric vehicle) conversation in and around the time of The Great Recession — when General Motors was sliding into bankruptcy, only to be rescued by taxpayer money.
Whatever your thoughts about GM…
Well, the General does have an inordinate number of detractors who cannot or will not forgive it for sins of the past. But for the record, GM is now a highly profitable car company making high-quality products and employing hundreds of thousands of people. In any case, the Volt was and remains a triumph of ingenuity and vision.
GM also beat Audi to the plug-in hybrid market (A3 e-tron). And BMW (i8, X5 xDrive40e), Ford (C-Max Energi, Fusion Energi), Hyundai (Sonata Plug-in Hybrid), McLaren (P1), Mercedes-Benz (C350 and S550 Plug-in Hybrids), Porsche (918 Spyder, Cayenne and Panamera S E-Hybrids), and Volvo (XC90 T8). I could go on.
The point is, lots and lots of very good carmakers have followed GM down this road. More plug-in hybrids are coming, too. Heck, Hyundai is creating something akin to an entirely new sub-brand called Ioniq. The Ionic due late this year or early next will be offered as a plug-in hybrid, as well as a pure battery car and a gas-electric hybrid.
Toyota Prius Prime Plug-in hybrid.
So the electrification of the automotive fleet is well under way and plug-in hybrids are central to all of it. We’re not being force-fed plug-ins, either. On the contrary, consumers are surprisingly agreeable to the idea of plug-in vehicles, whether plug-in hybrids or pure battery-electric vehicles (BEV).
A McMaster University-led survey found that 30 per cent of Canadians are open to owning an “affordable” electric vehicle. A Simon Fraser University study concluded that if consumers have adequate and affordable choices (56 or more), EVs (electric vehicles) of all sorts could capture more than 20 per cent of the entire new-car market. In other words, with enough choices, Canadians seem willing to buy 200,000 or more plug-ins a year by 2030.
Under the skin of every plug-in you will find a tremendous technology array — as you can see here in the 2016 Volt.
What’s happening here?
The Simon Fraser researchers found that all buyers associate a plug-in with pro-environmental beliefs – and such beliefs are on the rise. Plug-ins also allow buyers to explore new technology and cut energy costs. Electrified cars project a certain positive image, too. The plug-in is slowly but steadily becoming a symbol of style and success. Who would have predicted that in 2010?
Image aside, plug-ins are good for the planet. The Simon Fraser study found that plug-ins have the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80-98 per cent in British Columbia, around 45 per cent in Alberta, and 58-70 per cent in Ontario.
The 2016 Chevrolet Volt can run on pure electricity for 53 miles on a single charge, nearly 40 per cent more than the first-generation Volt.
It’s fair to argue that Toyota got the electrification ball rolling with the Prius hybrid, but the modern plug-in parade was pushed forward in earnest with the launch of the Chevy Volt — though Toyota did make a half-hearted effort at offering a plug-in hybrid Prius with very limited battery range at the start of this decade. In any case, together, the Volt and the Prius have changed the marketplace forever.
Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid.
And until battery technology advances to the point where affordable BEVs have a range of 400 km or more between charges – charges take just a few minutes to complete without heat issues — plug-in hybrids will be at the forefront of the electrified vehicle parade for years to come.
Hyundai is coming with a plug-in hybrid version of the all-new 2017 Ioniq.
Plug-in hybrids were once a novelty. But no more. Battery-electric cars with on-board gasoline generators are rolling into dealer showrooms in growing numbers. Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Hyundai, McLaren (if you have $1 million-plus to spend) — pick a car company and you’ll find it in the plug-in hybrid business.
Plug-in hybrids can be fast and sexy. The McLaren P1.
What an amazing development. At the end of the last decade, plug-in hybrids were nothing more than a promise and a dream. Now they are commonplace. This happened almost overnight. Did you notice?
I watch these things pretty closely, but the magnitude of change did not hit me until I started listing the various plug-in hybrids, one by one. I was gobsmacked.
And just so we’re on the same page, a plug-in hybrid is a car that functions as a pure electric vehicle for 40-80 km or so on a daily basis, then uses an on-board gasoline engine to re-charge the batteries and thereby extend vehicle range to 600, 700, 800 km or more.
2016 Chevrolet Volt
The Chevrolet Volt pioneered this. Yes, the Volt. The second-generation version has now gone on sale, but the first Volts hit showrooms in the United States in late 2010. From there, the Volt rolled out across more markets in 2011 as a 2012 model.
The Volt was and remains a technological marvel for which General Motors does not get adequate credit. This is surely because the Volt began to change the EV (electric vehicle) conversation in and around the time of The Great Recession — when General Motors was sliding into bankruptcy, only to be rescued by taxpayer money.
Whatever your thoughts about GM…
Well, the General does have an inordinate number of detractors who cannot or will not forgive it for sins of the past. But for the record, GM is now a highly profitable car company making high-quality products and employing hundreds of thousands of people. In any case, the Volt was and remains a triumph of ingenuity and vision.
GM also beat Audi to the plug-in hybrid market (A3 e-tron). And BMW (i8, X5 xDrive40e), Ford (C-Max Energi, Fusion Energi), Hyundai (Sonata Plug-in Hybrid), McLaren (P1), Mercedes-Benz (C350 and S550 Plug-in Hybrids), Porsche (918 Spyder, Cayenne and Panamera S E-Hybrids), and Volvo (XC90 T8). I could go on.
The point is, lots and lots of very good carmakers have followed GM down this road. More plug-in hybrids are coming, too. Heck, Hyundai is creating something akin to an entirely new sub-brand called Ioniq. The Ionic due late this year or early next will be offered as a plug-in hybrid, as well as a pure battery car and a gas-electric hybrid.
Toyota Prius Prime Plug-in hybrid.
So the electrification of the automotive fleet is well under way and plug-in hybrids are central to all of it. We’re not being force-fed plug-ins, either. On the contrary, consumers are surprisingly agreeable to the idea of plug-in vehicles, whether plug-in hybrids or pure battery-electric vehicles (BEV).
A McMaster University-led survey found that 30 per cent of Canadians are open to owning an “affordable” electric vehicle. A Simon Fraser University study concluded that if consumers have adequate and affordable choices (56 or more), EVs (electric vehicles) of all sorts could capture more than 20 per cent of the entire new-car market. In other words, with enough choices, Canadians seem willing to buy 200,000 or more plug-ins a year by 2030.
Under the skin of every plug-in you will find a tremendous technology array — as you can see here in the 2016 Volt.
What’s happening here?
The Simon Fraser researchers found that all buyers associate a plug-in with pro-environmental beliefs – and such beliefs are on the rise. Plug-ins also allow buyers to explore new technology and cut energy costs. Electrified cars project a certain positive image, too. The plug-in is slowly but steadily becoming a symbol of style and success. Who would have predicted that in 2010?
Image aside, plug-ins are good for the planet. The Simon Fraser study found that plug-ins have the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80-98 per cent in British Columbia, around 45 per cent in Alberta, and 58-70 per cent in Ontario.
The 2016 Chevrolet Volt can run on pure electricity for 53 miles on a single charge, nearly 40 per cent more than the first-generation Volt.
It’s fair to argue that Toyota got the electrification ball rolling with the Prius hybrid, but the modern plug-in parade was pushed forward in earnest with the launch of the Chevy Volt — though Toyota did make a half-hearted effort at offering a plug-in hybrid Prius with very limited battery range at the start of this decade. In any case, together, the Volt and the Prius have changed the marketplace forever.
Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid.
And until battery technology advances to the point where affordable BEVs have a range of 400 km or more between charges – charges take just a few minutes to complete without heat issues — plug-in hybrids will be at the forefront of the electrified vehicle parade for years to come.
Hyundai is coming with a plug-in hybrid version of the all-new 2017 Ioniq.
About the Author / Jeremy Cato
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