undefined | Better HN

undefined | Better HN

0 comments

sheept5d ago

To be fair, the article is written on a website for the auto industry, so it's reasonable for them to assume their target audience is familiar with these terms. I argue the onus is on OP for explaining these since they're sharing it to a different audience than it was written for.

LeoPanthera5d ago

Ignore the "EV" part.

B = Battery

H = Hybrid

PH = Plug-in hybrid (Same as a hybrid but you can charge up the hybrid battery at home)

> Same as a hybrid but you can charge up the hybrid battery at home

And, in practice, the battery tends to be much, much bigger. Some PHEVs are basically mediocre-range electric cars which happen to have a petrol generator.

Its time to call a spade a spade - the bulk of the PHEV category sold to date (with a few exceptions like toyota) has been an emissions scam, designed to skirt EU fleet emission laws.

In practice, most are mediocre range, low-speed only evs that effectively no one bothers to charge regularly because its impractical and annoying. The manufactures claim 80% reductions in emissions, and use those credits to allow them to sell more gas cars in the EU market. But real world emission reduction is 20%. They know this, they've known for years. Its a scam.

https://electrek.co/2026/02/19/biggest-study-yet-shows-plug-...

Some newer toyotas, newer BMWs and the coming EREVs will actually be able to be electric cars most of the time, and might live up closer to the claims. Doesnt change the fact the category has been mostly fraud until now.

Sohcahtoa825d ago

In theory, a PHEV is the perfect middle ground for someone that wants to drive electric but has major range anxiety about road trips.

Something with a 60 mile electric range will likely satisfy all of their day-to-day driving. The generator means they don't have to charge though, so they can still take road trips without worrying about electric range.

In practice though, they're somewhat impractical. You still need an entire ICE drivetrain AND a moderately sized battery and electric motor, driving the price up.

I wouldn't be sure if that's often the case, most PHEVs are just minor upgrades over existing hybrids. The electric motors on most hybrids, except the Nissan system, tend to only cover zero to city speeds. They need the gas engine connected to handle highway and ramp situations.

Which ones?

A colleague drives a BMW 3something hybrid and as far as i know has a 14kWh battery..

Thats good for about a 100km, but i very much wouldn't consider that a "fully" electric car by any means (edit: did you edit your post? couldve sworn you said "fully electric" instead of "mediocre range"?)...

Also, what most people don't realize: if you're only (or mostly) driving it electric, you're putting many more cycles onto that tiny battery.

...which usually costs as much as a "regular" EV battery, x times the size.

https://evclinic.eu/2024/09/05/bmw-hybrid-repeated-battery-f... for example...

...and apparently most owners never plug them in, so people just burn expensive fuel to charge their battery, while offering little or no savings over a hybrid or just the gas version.

> PH = Plug-in hybrid (Same as a hybrid but you can charge up the hybrid battery at home)

Surely that's the "same as a battery but you can use petrol on long journeys"

The only energy input for a "hybrid" is from petrol. It's slightly more efficient. A Toyota Yaris 1.5 hubrid gets about 65mpg rather than the 45mpg on a Skoda Kamiq

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/skoda/kamiq-2023

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/toyota/yaris-cross-2021

LeoPanthera5d ago

> Surely that's the "same as a battery but you can use petrol on long journeys"

Not really. The petrol drivetrain takes up so much room there's no space for a large battery, so the much smaller battery will only take you a short distance if you used it alone, plus now it's much less efficient because you're carrying around a heavy engine with you.

swiftcoder5d ago

> Surely that's the "same as a battery but you can use petrol on long journeys"

They put tiny batteries in a lot of plug-in hybrids. Unless you live very close to work, you’ll struggle to use it as primarily an EV

45 to 65mpg is a near 50% increase. I would say that's "slight"

alistairSH5d ago

Sort of...

IIRC, the latest Honda Civic Hybrid has the ICE decoupled from the drivetrain most of the time (even if it is running to generate power), but it can couple to the drivetrain under some conditions?

rootusrootus5d ago

> Surely that's the "same as a battery but you can use petrol on long journeys"

No, that would be an EREV.

Depends on how you use it. Some never plug in. Some always do. I save a ton of money without worrying about range since there is always gas when I make a roadtrip

Johnny5555d ago

> PH = Plug-in hybrid (Same as a hybrid but you can charge up the hybrid battery at home)

You can, but in practice most people don't. And I can understand why -- it's inconvenient to have to plug in after every short trip, and the short electric range of most PHEV's means you do have to plug in after every short trip.

I plug in my EV around once a week, and it's more convenient than going to the gas station, but I'm not sure I'd want to have to plug it in every time I come home from even a short trip to the supermarket.

wffurr5d ago

I plug in my EV almost every time I get home. The charger is hanging right next to my driver door in my driveway.

bot4035d ago

I own an EV. If I had a phev I'd sure love to plug it in rather than pay more for gas and have to go to the station.

That is why I setup our PHEV plug to be right next to the door, we park, grab the plug and put it in. That is at most 2 extra steps.

traderj0e5d ago

Seems like PHEV can mean it only goes 15-30mi on a charge. Realistically how many people are actually plugging those in?

londons_explore5d ago

They vary widely. Some have 1 mile (and the plug is therefore fairly pointless and usually just to qualify for some subsidy), whilst others do 200 miles and are effectively full EV's with a petrol generator to travel further.

I would. Why wouldn't I? I park my car in an attached garage. If I had an EV or PHEV, I'd walk right past the charger on my way to the door into the house. I don't like standing around at the gas station waiting on the tank to fill. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

I actually wanted a PHEV, since my car is mostly used for local driving but I also drive hundreds of miles for work trips. Unfortunately I couldn't find one I liked.

Most journeys are well under 30 miles.

https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/best-car-insurance/average-car-...

> The average car journey distance in the UK is approximately 8.2 miles

Mine does about 40 miles during summer and 23 miles during winter. Given that my trips are within 25-35 miles range, I charge it daily. It’s at 9.5k miles and I filled up the tank about 7-8 times in 2 years. Rest was all electric.

lot of comments speculating but we have the data.

> Realistically how many people are actually plugging those in?

Answer: almost no one. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/16/plug-in-...

xnx5d ago

Don't forget EREV.

Quite frankly, today there is no need to look anywhere else than a pure electric car. No point to buy an ICE with battery + electric motor. It just adds complexity and makes it expensive to service. The newly released EVs today are so good and have fantastic range.

Unless you travel a lot and live in hotels for months at a time, like I do. Granted, that's not horribly common but there are still legitimate reasons to want an ICE.

Don’t forget PZEV (Partial Zero-Emissions Vehicle) which isn’t even an EV at all!

What horrible acronym/concept are those.

It seems to be a US thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_zero-emissions_vehicle

> In California, PZEVs have their own administrative category for low-emission vehicles. The category was made in a bargain between automakers and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), so that automobile makers could delay making mandated zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs)—battery electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles.

bluefirebrand5d ago

This is actually something I think is a pretty big failing in a lot of internet publishing

You could easily turn those terms in the article into hyperlinks to definitions.

You could even have the links go to definitions hosted on your own website to boost page reads and ad counts if you really wanted to

wffurr5d ago

Most user agents allow you to trivially search from selection. Double-click unfamiliar word, right click, select "search" or on macOS there's also "lookup" but that really only works on dictionary words.

martythemaniak5d ago

It's actually dead simple: there are battery electric EVs and internal combustion cars. That's it.

ICE cars come with a variety of add-ons and schemes to improve efficiency: fuel injectors, ECUs, braking energy capture systems (aka hybrid), small batteries for short trips that no one plugs in (aka plug in hybrids), etc.

neogodless5d ago

You forgot EVs that come with an add-on that generates electricity by burning fuel!

martythemaniak5d ago

AKA container ships and locomotives, lol.

varispeed5d ago

There is also MHEV

Hextinium5d ago

"Mild" hybrid electric vehicle which is just using a oversized starter to break and then drive any accessories instead of the motor.

oblio5d ago

And EREV, the only hybrid that makes sense.

walthamstow5d ago

Is that extended range? I was reading about them the other day. A small ICE engine in the car but it only charges the battery, right? Basically the opposite of a Toyota hybrid.

where ER = Extended Range EV

reactordev5d ago

That’s like Pedal Assist I…

Mild Hybrid… pfffft.

codedokode5d ago

"Must heve"?

ChrisMarshallNY5d ago

"Mild Hybrid". Slight boost. I don't know of any on the market, but I'm sure they're there.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse