{"id":5687,"date":"2021-06-29T10:59:01","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T10:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euromenaenergy.com\/?p=5687"},"modified":"2021-06-29T10:59:01","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T10:59:01","slug":"why-hybrid-cars-are-popular-in-an-increasingly-electric-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/?p=5687","title":{"rendered":"Why hybrid cars are popular in an increasingly electric world"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Kyle Stock Bloomberg<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Confession: I\u2019m an auto writer and I drive one of the world\u2019s most boring vehicles.
\nIt\u2019s a minivan and a hybrid, though not a particularly robust one.
\nThe 2018 Chrysler Pacifica manages just 30 miles on a charge.
\nDid I mention it\u2019s white?
\nWhile my Tesla-driving neighbour may snicker, my dad-math is simple and sanguine: my crew seldom rolls more than 20 miles in a day.
\nEven with a standard outlet, we can fully recharge the Pacifica\u2019s meagre battery overnight and start again the next day, cruising on the electric motor on the eight-mile soccer commute or the 12-mile Home Depot lap.
\nOn the rare road trip, we burn some fossils.
\nAll told, we buy gas about four times a year.
\nElectric vehicles are killing the gas-powered car \u2013 even faster than expected \u2013 but they are also running roughshod over hybrid vehicles like mine, their cranky older siblings.
\nIn America, sales of fully electric vehicles eclipsed those of plug-in hybrids four years ago and have steadily pulled away since.
\nAmericans bought four EVs for every hybrid in the first quarter of this year.
\nIn Asia, hybrids lost the lead to EVs almost six years ago and the gap is far wider.
\nI get it, no one wants to do dad-math while they\u2019re standing on the sales lot.
\nWith a purchase that big, the heart wants what the heart wants \u2013 namely something new and exciting.
\nA hybrid, increasingly, is a flip phone in an iPhone world.
\nHere\u2019s the thing, though: hybrids are bonkers good these days.
\nThe nice thing about writing about the auto industry is that I get to drive a lot of different vehicles \u2013 \u201cpress cars\u201d in the industry lexicon.
\nThe first-hand experience is helpful when interviewing auto executives, and one of the best ways to stay familiar with what they\u2019re making.
\nLately, my driveway has been a parade of excellent hybrids.
\nRight now, it\u2019s a Toyota Highlander that is steadily posting 35 miles to a gallon.
\nBefore that, there was the Hyundai Sonata, Kia Sorento and a sublime BMW 530e.
\nSome, like my Pacifica, can be plugged in and charged, but many generate their electricity exclusively by dragging off the car\u2019s momentum when it slows.
\nIn the industry argot, the former are plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, and the latter are hybrid electric vehicles, or HEVs. Their much cooler, electric-only cousins are known as battery electric vehicles, or BEVs.
\nNothing with an \u201cH\u201d in the acronym carries any gravity in the Tesla-sphere, but they all quietly nudged the needle on carbon emissions.
\nAnd they\u2019re all a little more fun to zip around in than their combustion cousins.
\nThe standout of late was the Toyota RAV4 Prime, which goes for 42 miles before the spark plugs flare up and the tiny explosions start.
\nThat\u2019s top of the hybrid class these days, and more than enough for the average US commute.
\nAnd on a road-trip, it entirely cancels out the biggest EV bugaboo: range anxiety.
\nThe combustion engine on a car like the RAV4 Prime is like a standby package of hot dogs at a barbecue or a well-rested starting pitcher sitting in the bullpen.
\nDon\u2019t think of it as a gas vehicle with a trickle of electrons, but as an EV with a robust Plan B.
\nTrue, it lacks the tech smugness of a silent, sentient Tesla, but the tradeoff is pretty good.
\nAnd I\u2019m not the only one who thinks so \u2013 the rigs are selling like ice cream at the beach, according to Samantha Groot, Toyota general manager of vehicle marketing.
\nIn the first quarter of this year, nearly one in four vehicles Toyota sold in the US was some form of hybrid, up from 12% a year earlier.
\nHonda is part of the acceleration, as well.
\nThe share of customers buying its hybrid CR-V SUV surged 10-fold this spring.
\nZombies With Batteries In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, more stringent emissions thresholds in the first quarter boosted plug-in hybrid sales ahead of purely electric vehicles for the first time in nearly three years, according to BloombergNEF.
\nIn America, EVs stayed far ahead in that period, but there\u2019s some evidence the chimera vehicles gained back some ground in the second quarter.
\nCombination gas and electric vehicles accounted for 6% of US vehicle registrations in April, more than double the share of fully electric rigs, according to IHS Markit.
\nThis isn\u2019t coming from Gen Z early adopters.
\nThe new wave of hybrid buyers tend to be older, and many of them live in the South and Midwest, according to IHS.
\nIn short: it\u2019s regular old car people making slightly more pragmatic (and greener) decisions.
\nTesla surely doesn\u2019t care, but rest assured this stat isn\u2019t lost on other auto executives.
\nIn the race to EV supremacy, the slow lane will be stacked with better and better hybrids.
\nSo don\u2019t pour one out for the Prius just yet.
\nIt\u2019s still doing just fine, and is increasingly in good company.
\nJust this week, Ferrari unveiled its second plug-in hybrid.
\nIt\u2019s a lot like my minivan, save for the 205 miles-per-hour bit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kyle Stock Bloomberg Confession: I\u2019m an auto writer and I drive one of the world\u2019s most boring vehicles. It\u2019s a minivan and a hybrid, though not a particularly robust one. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8],"tags":[46,48,57,63,68,76,77,82,86,87,90,96,99,103,107,109,111,113,137,139,146,148,160,174,183,184,201,202,209,222,230,232,233,244,246,249,256,262,263,267,277,279,280,285,288],"class_list":["post-5687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blue-economy","category-clean-energy","tag-aramco","tag-athens","tag-baroudi","tag-blue-economy","tag-carbon","tag-climate","tag-climate-change","tag-co2","tag-cyprus","tag-decarbonising","tag-democracy","tag-doha","tag-eastmed","tag-egypt","tag-embargo","tag-emissions","tag-energy","tag-energy-peace","tag-gas","tag-gazprom","tag-greece","tag-greenenergy","tag-international-maritime-disputes","tag-lebanon","tag-maritime-boundaries-east-mediterranean","tag-maritime-disputes","tag-offshore","tag-oil","tag-opec","tag-pollution","tag-poverty-alleviation","tag-putin","tag-qatar","tag-rosneft","tag-roudi","tag-russia","tag-saudi","tag-solar","tag-solar-power","tag-straddling-hydrocarbons-reserves","tag-total","tag-trump","tag-turkey","tag-unclos","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}