Discussion
jrjeksjd8d: I finally put my money where my mouth is and bought a PHEV. In the past month I've done all my errands around town exclusively on battery power (30-40 miles per charge) from a home L1 charger.I know EV purists will complain about the complexity of maintaining the gas engine, but this hits the perfect sweet spot for me - it doesn't weigh a million tons, it cost under 40k new, and the one weekend a month when I need to I can drive 300 miles each way on a single tank of gas.
nico: I think plug-in hybrids are the perfect combo. You get amazing flexibility and if you mostly drive locally, then 80-90% you are probably purely driving electricWhen we bought are last car, I would've bought one of those if there had been a Toyota or Honda minivan. We ended up going for a regular hybrid instead. Hopefully this category gets adopted by more car makers
rtkwe: It's funny to see these gas prices spike as companies are announcing they're killing their EV models here in the US.
toomuchtodo: The problem with PHEVs is the data shows that, at scale, consumers typically use them in ICE mode vs EV mode. Its great it works for you, and hopefully BEVs kill the need for PHEVs in the next few years as the technology continues to rapidly improve around charge rate (<10 minute 10%-80% battery state of charge).Plug-in hybrids use three times more fuel than manufacturers claim, analysis finds - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/18/plug-in-... - February 18th, 2026Smoke screen: the growing PHEV emissions scandal - https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/smoke-screen-t... - October 16th, 2025
0cf8612b2e1e: That seems like cherry picking the offenders to invalidate the entire class of vehicles. …Porsche hybrids consumed more fuel – around seven litres per 100km – than other PHEVs when the electric motor kicks in, and significantly more than non-PHEVs in combustion engine mode. The lowest fuel consumption levels were found in the cheaper end of the PHEV market, in Kia, Toyota, Ford and Renault vehicles, which often used under one litre per 100km, or as much as 85% less fuel than the Porsche. If I am buying a PHEV, I am not getting a Porsche or BMW.
nico: > Plug-in hybrids use three times more fuel than manufacturers claim, analysis finds > three times more fuel than manufacturers claimBut in the article:> Porsche hybrids consumed more fuel – around seven litres per 100km – than other PHEVs when the electric motor kicks in, and significantly more than non-PHEVs in combustion engine mode. The lowest fuel consumption levels were found in the cheaper end of the PHEV market, in Kia, Toyota, Ford and Renault vehicles, which often used under one litre per 100km, or as much as 85% less fuel than the Porsche.So it seems like they are putting all cars in the same bucket based on the worst performing one, Porsche. Kinda misleadingAlso, even if the claim applied to all cars, for a Chrysler Pacifica PHEV for example, instead of 82 MPGe (32 mi electric-only range), you'd get ~39.2 mpg (using 6 L/100 km, the figure from the article), which is still better than a Toyota Sienna hybrid at 36 mpg, and way better than a Honda Odyssey at 22 mpg (gas only)
ericjmorey: Who is this a problem for?
emestifs: I thought the same thing. Incredibly short term thinking at the corporate and government level to flip flop. Meanwhile Norway is now 97% EV sales and covered in chargers north to south. Not to mention China's fierce EV market domestically.
PedroBatista: I'm sorry to be that guy, but can we reintroduce a good dose of skepticism in our mental diets?BYD was already selling a ton of cars when the oil prices were "low", of course there's some very creative accounting business moves you would expect from a Chinese company like BYD ( companies from other places have their own peculiarities too ).Gas prices have been "sky high" for a week and people who are under financial stress just decided to ditch their cars and buy a brand new BYD? Are we children now? listening bedtime stories?The concept of electric vehicle is technically superior to support the context and lifestyle a large majority of people have. It will "win" over time. There is no need to this bullshit simplistic feel-good articles.Btw, the the market movements of people trying to get rid of their gas-guzzling SUVs when prices are high and trade them for a smaller and more economical car ( what they should have been doing in the first place.. ) already happened in the past many times, there is no news here. But these movements don't happen in a time span of a week or a couple weeks.Sorry for the rant, but between AI's "Absolutely, you're entirely right!" and these bullshit articles.. I don't know.To be clear: EV's will "win" and BYD has been selling a ton of cars because they are cheap and not terrible right out of the gate, also people don't have much disposable income.
bdcravens: Very true. It's not like EV owners were feeling regret when gas hit the (mythical ) $2/gallon. Honestly, while it's fun to know I've "saved" $5k or so in gas costs during the 4 years I've owned my EV, if saving money was my only goal, I would have paid cash for a slightly used efficient four cylinder gas car.
haunter: The new Prius with the solar charging roof is my dream car. Alas 50,000€ T_T
Tiktaalik: > Gas prices have been "sky high" for a week and people who are under financial stress just decided to ditch their cars and buy a brand new BYD? Are we children now? listening bedtime stories?The situation is something that makes people pause for a second.Like everyone knows that EVs are the future, but when gas is fine, status quo fine, that future can be a fuzzy thing in the distance and it's really easy to shut off your brain, live in the present, and not really do any thinking and just go through the motions.A sudden oil shock puts the issue of EVs on the front burner and gives people reason to think about things for a moment.
roryobrien: PHEV is the absolute way to go. Next car is 100% going to be this. I rented two EV's and had serious stress about charging in locations I wasn't familiar with. All the different plug types and speeds was also not helpful. PHEV is a great gateway into full EV.
epistasis: Rental cars as EVs are pretty much the worst possible case. We are at the transition where we don't have chargers everywhere, but we will soon because chargers are way cheaper than a gas station. Also rentals tend to be driven for longer trips, and for uncertain distances! And on top of it all rental companies tend to not give people any choice, education, or help with the EV.I wouldn't bother with a PHEV for a vehicle I buy as I'm always going to buy EVs from now on, but for rentals a PHEV makes a lot of sense.
longislandguido: Ah yes, I'm sure in the Philippines, where the average yearly salary is ~ $4k USD, everyone is rushing out to buy brand new EVs tomorrow, which they will plug into their tin-roofed shack to charge.In reality, most working class Filipinos travel via public transit or ICE scooter.I know they write this stuff to generate clicks but at least pretend to try.
gib444: Will be so funny watching the rug pull when the cheap overnight electricity rates disappear, especially in the UK where electricity is very expensive.Not if. When. You never 'win' in the UK, not in the long term
jrjeksjd8d: Anecdotally, some brands are better than others. I test drove a Kia hybrid where the gas engine was pathetically underpowered and it ran constantly. Even when the battery was full it was still burning gas.I think Toyota might be the only company with a good PHEV drive-train. A Prius or Rav4 PHEV can do highway speeds on battery. And they have a heat pump so the gas engine doesn't kick in unless it gets very cold.Another factor is home charging availability. The Canadian government gives a rebate for PHEV vehicles, but they took away the subsidy to install L2 chargers. It's very attractive right now to buy a PHEV and never charge it just to get the purchase rebate.
Marsymars: > I think Toyota might be the only company with a good PHEV drive-train.I've lost track a bit, but Ford has a pretty comparable drivetrain (e.g. in the Escape PHEV), and Toyota is sharing their drivetrain with Mazda (e.g. the CX-50 has same drivetrain as RAV4) and Subaru has Toyota-derived drivetrains in the new Crosstrek/Forester hybrids. (Mazda/Subaru don't currently have PHEVs available for their Toyota-sourced hybrids, but that could presumably easily change.)Availability of various models is wonky now due to US tariffs.
paxys: Genius strategy by the USA to disincentivize EVs, disincentivize solar and wind, increase dependency on oil & gas, and...start a war that makes oil and gas more expensive for everyone. Markets are now forecasting oil prices will stay above $100 a barrel for multiple years. Best of luck to the economy.
wrs: "Strategy", you say.
tlogan: The problem with many of these EVs is that they were way too expensive. The main reason companies were producing them is due to regulatory requirements and how emissions standards are calculated, not necessarily because wanted to sell these EVs.What we really need are incentives for companies to build more affordable EVs. California could play a role here, but given the strong opinions we have about Elon Musk, nothing will be done.
decimalenough: China and increasingly India are building very affordable EVs. You can get this guy for $7700, or full-featured models from $10,000:https://driveauthority.com/cheapest-ev-car-in-china/All you really need is a political snap of the fingers to remove tariffs, so they can start selling them in the US.Of course, there is absolutely no way this will happen with the current administration.
leosanchez: Yeah seeing more and more 2W, 3W and 4W in India along with rooftop solar with government subsidies.Mind you I am living in a Tier 4 “city”.
triceratops: > public transitMetros and light-rail systems tend to use electricity. Manila has both.> ICE scooterYou know EVs are allowed to be scooters too, right?
rilindo: It is worse than that. Companies are killing their EV models and discontinuing [sedans](https://www.autoblog.com/features/these-automakers-no-longer...) in favor of trucks and SUVs.
rossjudson: I see no reason to downvote this, so I upvote it.I think you're missing something. This war is an inflection point. Consumer behavior is likely to change after it.So yes, this is just a transient thing...but I think the effects will be permanent.
triceratops: Why not have 2 $20k used cars instead? One EV and one ICE.
bluGill: You have to insure each, pay license and taxes... most also need a parking spot.
Magi604: Happy PHEV owner here. I have a few quibbles with my particular model, but imo this is currently the way to go. It's the best of both worlds.
arzig: All the EV tariffs are staying place past the end of the Trump administration because protectionism is now bipartisan.
linuxhansl: How much many more wars over gas or oil do we need to finally just take the energy that (for the most part) is available locally and renewable?!The petrol era is coming to an end. Our current administration might desperately want to remain a petrol state (for reasons that escape me), but it will only delay the inevitable. The EU is not much better either. The writing has been on the wall, and even since the Russian invasion into Ukraine not much has happened.What is going on? Are we all insane, or is it just intense lobbying of yesterday's petrol industry?
longislandguido: > You know EVs are allowed to be scooters too, right?You are rebutting a completely different statement which was not said, and arguing in bad faith.The biggest hindrance to EV adoption are EV people and their religious fervor to win at all costs.
triceratops: What am I trying to win? Who am I hindering from getting an EV?
arzig: It’s been a month. Not long enough for a trend. Every time gas prices spike these celebratory pieces come out and then when gas prices drop at the end the consumer markets revealed preferences are made bare again. Let’s find out if this can sustain for more than a year after gas prices drop.
louwrentius: I still feel that PHEVs combine the worst parts of both worlds.The battery of a PHEV is relatively small and will be strained much more (as compared to an EV), especially if you drive a lot in EV modus. PHEV batteries tend to wear out faster for this reason. This drives up cost of ownership.Then you still have the maintenance / cost of the ICE drivetrain. It does not make sense to me.I feel that a lot of people buy vehicles because of the long-distance trips they make a few times a year. Long-distance trips are not a big deal anymore with the current status of the fast-charging stations.Yes you may still do 600 miles on a single tank of gas with a ICE or PHEV, but you have to stop and rest, use the bathroom, drink something. Everytime you stop is a charging opportunity.Anno 2026 there is so much choice for 'pure' EVs for the budget you stated, especially second-hand.And then you may be able to charge at home, with solar, it's a no-brainer to me. This is possible with an PHEV too, but well, we discussed that here.
kenhwang: I'd rather wear out and replace a smaller PHEV battery (<20kWh) than buying a larger EV battery that I don't need and will lose that much capacity in a decade regardless of whether it's used or not.Besides, batteries are still improving. I'd hope those replacements are cheaper or better.
01100011: Please don't downvote a perfectly valid question. This isn't reddit. If you think op is wrong, leave a reply or move on.
michaelteter: If one removed the country names and just looked at where investment (focus, planning, and money) was, we would see two greatly different pictures.One country is disincentivizing or even blocking renewable energy production, rolling back climate protection measures, trying to revitalize the coal industry, slashing investment in scientific research of all kinds, demonizing higher education, and spending vast and rapidly increasing amounts of public funds to create direct, physical conflicts.Another country is increasing their renewable energy generation capabilities dramatically each year, encouraging EV adoption, investing very heavily in scientific research, and also investing in military (although without initiating direct physical conflicts).One of these two countries is riding on momentum, but the drag from waste and mismanagement of resources is increasingly slowing it. The other country is building momentum while reducing drag.The difference in these approaches will be obvious in a decade, and in two decades one of the two countries will be just another chapter in a book about the rise and fall of empires.
dangus: I love renting EVs now, when they’re available.They’re always the cheapest option and they’re often nicer than the cheapest gas ICE options. I’d rather be in a Genesis G80 Electrified than a Camry.I just got a $100 charger for my relatives garage, which almost immediately paid for itself.(Though I’ll admit, I’m lucky that they installed a 220v outlet for appliances in their garage).
triceratops: A car's ownership costs are dominated by fuel and depreciation (which is a proxy for repairs and maintenance - brake pads, oil changes etc). You're probably going to come out ahead of the fixed costs of licensing, insurance, and registration on gasoline savings alone.The parking spot may or may not be an issue. If you can charge an EV at home, you likely have a garage or driveway. If not, then sure this doesn't apply.The bonus: with 2 vehicles you can use exactly as much car as needed for each trip.The EV can be a smallish hatchback or sedan with low-to-medium range. You aren't going too far and won't carry much stuff. It's enough for 90% of your miles driven.The ICE can be a minivan or SUV, since you'll likely need more space for road trips. You aren't pointlessly driving that hulking PHEV SUV on milk runs.
MangoCoffee: you got the smartest man on Earth, Mr. Orange telling American to drill drill drill while American is losing its edge on EV.
milkytron: Where do you see these long term forecasts?
legitronics: Well the USA is a net exporter of all oil products since 2019, this will probably make some people very rich and has the potential to be good for parts of the us energy sector.The west coast is the only part that relies on middle eastern oil. And a spike in prices will just get them in line and connected to the rest of the shale powered system.I don’t like any of this, but I think the doom and gloom lies elsewhere.
jimbokun: Trump is emulating the Carter presidency, except for being the exact opposite in character and temperament.
Marsymars: > The battery of a PHEV is relatively small and will be strained much more (as compared to an EV), especially if you drive a lot in EV modus. PHEV batteries tend to wear out faster for this reason. This drives up cost of ownership.With appropriate battery management, this doesn't really drive up the cost, it just moves the depreciation curve around.Think of it from the other side - with an EV, you're paying up front for a bunch of battery value in a consumable good that you'll never depreciate.
1270018080: China is going to take over the world economically off of this energy crisis. They print solar panels like America prints money.
TremendousJudge: They've been on this path for a while now. The reckoning has to come at some point right?
soco: I'm in Western Europe and while there are chargers everywhere, you need hundred apps to register to charge, some slots are broken (empty yet show busy), some refuse to charge my PHEV... we're not there yet.
mikestew: It's not like EV owners were feeling regret when gas hit the (mythical ) $2/gallon.Gas could be free, and I'd still have no regrets. Because an EV is simply the better vehicle. And I think after over a decade of mass-produced EVs that maybe it's time to get away from "saves on gas" or "good for the environment", and maybe start marketing as "full every time you pull out of the garage", or something. Kind of like Mazda's old commercials for their Wankel engine cars: "piston engine goes 'boing', but the Mazda goes 'hmmmmm'".https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHzeGEHWMjo
macintux: I'd be more interested in EVs if they didn't come with significant privacy and complexity trade-offs.I don't want a door handle that can't open in an emergency. I don't want my vehicle constantly phoning home to the mothership (sadly I have to deal with that today, I really need to go disable that functionality). I certainly don't want a touchscreen through which all controls are routed.I have a 20-year-old Jeep with significant mechanical problems; I should really convert it to a BEV.
mlinhares: It is a strategy, the oil producers in the US are making bank right now. They're getting exactly what they paid for by buying this presidency.
paxys: There's a sweet spot in oil pricing that maximizes profits for producers, and $110 a barrel is well over that. If there's a recession then nobody is buying your product.
Pxtl: I drive a PHEV with an old AC J1772 port on it.Now that I'm comfy with "oh, install yet-another another charging app" and the prevalence and backwards-compatibility of modern DC chargers and learning how to check which standards are supported by where, I'd be comfy with a full-EV, but I could understand being intimidated by that without the practice of driving a PHEV.But to be blunt: It's a hump you'd get over, as long as you had access to an overnight charger of any kind (even just 110V mains) at home.The port war is basically over here in North America - CHADEMO and CCS2 aren't a thing here and any charge station that offers those is just an old station that was hedging their bets. The only real standards you'll see are- J1772 (the old AC power system),- CCS1 (DC upgrade to J1772, backwards-compatible with J1772 chargers, looks like a J1772 with extra bits on the bottom)- NACS (the Tesla port).And unless you've got an old J1772 AC-powered car (like my Prius Prime), you can get adapters. So basically if you get a CCS1 car you need 1 adapter, and if you get a NACS car you need 2 (both CCS1 and J1772) if you want to be able to charge literally anywhere.
dangus: I totally understand the learning curve aspect, but I think if you owned one that stress would fade away pretty quickly.I will first point out that for DC fast charging, there are only two connectors to think about. It is not really more complicated than that. It's a learning curve, but not much different than learning the difference between gasoline, diesel, and which octane to put in your car.You would have your charging station at your house. That removes a whole lot of the burden.Then, there’s just the sheer size of the expansion and reliability in charging networks over the past year or two. Where I live, there is no direction where I can travel on an interstate where there aren't chargers on premier networks at normal rest stops/truck stops (rather than in odd parking lots behind Walmarts or what have you).You've also got newer non-Tesla EVs that have NACS compatibility or NACS built-in, doubling the size of the charging network for those vehicles.You wouldn't have the problem of lacking the right adapter if you owned the car.With long trips, we are talking about multiple hours of driving before needing to charge, so I think we need to rethink the amount of burden it really is to plan your route ahead of time. It’s gotta be less of a burden than getting multiple oil changes per year or visiting a gas station every week or two to cover your daily commuting.I think the only people for whom EVs don’t work are people who take long road trips with a frequency that far exceeds the national average (e.g like a monthly 600+ mile trip).
Marsymars: > I don’t really understand why it’s such a burden to plan the route ahead of time. It’s gotta be less of a burden than getting multiple oil changes per year or visiting a gas station every week or two for your typical commuting.Well it depends on your specific configuration/workflow.I just get oil changes when I have my vehicle in for seasonal tires changes anyway - I drop it off in the morning on my way to my office and pick it up after work. The experience would be identical with an EV.
dangus: How often do you stop at the gas station to fill up?With an EV, it's 0, unless you are doing a long road trip.I also have to ask how long a road trip has to be before you'd rather buy a flight. I don't personally drive longer than 500 miles. It just doesn't make sense both financially and in terms of how I want to spend my time.The DOE says average cost to drive a car is around .58 cents per mile. So if I'm talking about a 1000 mile road trip, I could instead buy $580 in plane tickets.If we are talking about a 500 mile road trip, that's going to be roughly 3 charging stops, so I don't see that as a particularly crazy time/planning burden.(I do not currently own an EV, though my next car will be one)
fpoling: Toyota hybrids are very reliable and probably the reason taxi drivers around Europe prefer those. And with the proper PHEV the wear is even less.
macintux: Last time gas spiked above $4/gallon nationally people were trading in their huge gas guzzlers at an extreme loss (because no one else wanted them either). I read an article about someone who was contemplating losing $30k on their trade-in instead of continuing to pay high gas prices.(I don't know what my point is, just that people have short memories, and are generally speaking not rational about purchases, or money in general.)
morkalork: It IS a great strategy if you're an oligarchy or you've quasi-annexed an oil rich central American country. Just sucks for us peasants.
Marsymars: > A car's ownership costs are dominated by fuel and depreciation. You're probably going to come out ahead of those fixed costs on gasoline savings alone.Depends how much you drive. If you don't drive much to start, and then having two vehicles cuts that in half, your effectively-fixed costs go up - e.g. you start having to replace your tires because the rubber is getting too old long before the tread wears out, insurance doesn't scale down linearly for low-mileage drivers, etc.
seanmcdirmid: > A car's ownership costs are dominated by fuel and depreciation (which is a proxy for repairs and maintenance - brake pads, oil changes etc).Only in the USA. In the rest of the world, taxes and parking fees are also significant. Americans are really spoiled when it comes to low car ownership costs.
mikestew: I'd be more interested in EVs if they didn't come with significant privacy and complexity trade-offs.You're going to be really disappointed when you go to look at new ICE vehicles. This "EVs are a privacy nightmare!" trope needs to die, all cars do that now.I don't want a door handle that can't open in an emergency.Only one car manufacturer to my knowledge has that problem, just don't buy one of those. Again, nothing to do with electric cars.I certainly don't want a touchscreen through which all controls are routed.So far, other than the poorly-designed door handles of one manufacturer, nothing you've listed is unique to EVs. All you've done is describe "most new cars".
macintux: [delayed]
cogman10: > Markets are now forecasting oil prices will stay above $100 a barrel for multiple yearsIt'll never go below $100 a barrel.It went bellow $100 a barrel for the last few years because as US shale processing came online, opec decided to also keep production high which cut oil prices from $100/barrel to ~$50/barrel where it's roughly stayed for the last decade.There's not another "new way to extract oil for cheap" technique on the horizon. Israel and Iran are both destroying oil extraction and processing facilities in the gulf region, it'll take years and a huge amount of money just to rebuild those. By the time that's finished, assuming it finishes, inflation will have firmly caused the price of oil to stay above $100.This is basically a permanent increase. We are sort of at global warming catastrophes now. It's not a question of if it will be bad, it's a question of how long and how intense. The longer this war/military operation/regime change/whatever we are doing goes forward, the worse it will be. And, unfortunately, I don't think there's any specific goal the trump admin is trying to achieve. This is such an obvious F-up and Trump will only pull out if he can somehow make a claim that it isn't.
Pxtl: I think that's the important distinction.> Israel and Iran are both destroying oil extraction and processing facilities in the gulf regionThis isn't like Katrina where oil infrastructure was being temporarily evacuated, shut down, and taking some water and wind damage.The oil infrastructure is being blown to smithereens. And not just pumps that are sucking oil out of a hole in the ground. Refineries. Big expensive factories that process oil. Stuff we don't even bother to build in progressive parts of the world because the combination of environmental regulations and concerns about climate change mean it's possible they'll never pay off their massive construction costs.
nico: > Gas prices have been "sky high" for a week and people who are under financial stress just decided to ditch their cars and buy a brand new BYD? Are we children now? listening bedtime stories?Have you actually seen the news and the situation? Gas prices will continue to rise and will stay high for at least 3-5 years, given the damaged infrastructure and how long it will take to rebuild. And that's if nothing else happens, so the situation could get a lot worseThis means 2 things: 1) it might be a better alternative to drive electric (depends on the numbers), and 2) if enough people start preferring EVs, prices for EVs might spike in the next 1-2 years. So buying now could be a good move depending on how things turn out
fpoling: Russia has been recovering from Ukrainian drone strikes again oil industries within months. And Ukraine inflicted much serious damage than Iran on Gulf states.Drones with 100-150kg just not capable of inflicting hard to recover damage. What they are good is striking repeatedly. But judging by numbers Iran is not capable any longer of sustained stacks with hundreds of drones per day.
epistasis: That's good to hear! We had some visitors, and we went on a trip to the mountains, and the nearest Level 2+ charger was some 70 miles away. It was a bit stressful for them, as they had never used an EV before, and the Electrify America chargers at the time tended to be either broken or in use. It was a major pain and stress point.This will all get easier as the chargers become more prevalent.
smallerfish: > in two decadesWhile I agree with your overall point, I'm reminded of "the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent" here. The US is a huge economy with a massive military infrastructure. I don't think it's fading to fallen empire status that quickly.
raw_anon_1111: Europe is wisely waking up and starting to loosen its military dependence on the US. Hopefully they are/will do the same when it comes to medical research since the US has been taken over by anti-vaxxers.
caminante: > Have you actually seen the news and the situation?Have you seen what's happened to wholesale power market prices? Have you seen that BYD's care sales in 2026 are down y/y?Trusting anecdotal hype from BYD salesmen and a renewables blog isn't sensible.
mbgerring: Wholesale power market prices are responding to shocks in the natural gas market from two wars that disrupted those supply chains. Solar and batteries have been and will continue to he the cheapest source of power, and globally, deployment is accelerating.Not so much in the US, where our braindead political culture is intent on ignoring the obvious economic advantage of renewables, but definitely everywhere else in the world.
macintux: Extra weight, extra drivetrain complexity, and many owners don't actually charge their hybrids so they're getting worse mileage.Tradeoffs everywhere, so "perfect" is very much not the word I'd apply.
nico: Well, if you want to be pedantic, sure, nothing is perfect. You can always find fault with anything. Like you say, there are always tradeoffsIt all depends on what you want the car for and how you use it. It will also depend on the very specific car and manufacturer. In my case, even though I love the concept of PHEV, I'd still wouldn't buy a Chrysler, so, to your point, I prefer to get a different brand that is not a PHEV, than get that specific make
TremendousJudge: What I find most amazing about all this is that this is literally the market that Tesla was aiming for. Affordable EVs for regular people was their whole thing, they were years ahead of BYD, already had an established brand, they just had to keep doing what they were doing, adding cheaper models to their lineup, and they would be much stronger competitors.
cogman10: > this will probably make some people very richyes> has the potential to be good for parts of the us energy sector.No way this is good for anyone other than oil producers. The only potential positive it'll have on the US energy and shipping sectors is this is going to put even more pressure on adopting renewables as fossil fuel cost spikes.
ambicapter: Well then that's good for the US renewable energy sector, no?
seanmcdirmid: Or the Chinese renewable energy sector.
jancsika: > I'm sorry to be that guy, but can we reintroduce a good dose of skepticism in our mental diets?Of headlines? Always. Of the content of the article? Not without you providing counterevidence.Speaking of the content:* BYD has seen an uptick in demand for EVs* "At one [BYD] dealership in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, demand is so high that it booked a month’s worth of orders in just the past two weeks"* another dealership nearby had to hire more salespeople* small uptick from Edmunds for people researching EVs in relevant period[1]1: https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/electrified-vehicle-researc...
slaw: You start with wrong assumption. Compare PHEV with 70kWh battery + ICE vs the same model as BEV with 100kWh battery.
seanmcdirmid: > The west coast is the only part that relies on middle eastern oil. And a spike in prices will just get them in line and connected to the rest of the shale powered system.The west coast is adopting EVs at a faster pace than the rest of the country. You could just as well see accelerated adoption of EVs in personal and freight transportation, Chinese manufacturers opening up US EV production, and so on.The answer isn't necessarily drawing shale from Alberta that we can't really process anyways (without mixing it with light crude from Texas anyways).
jjcm: ~4 years ago my wife and I planned on buying one EV and one ICE car purely as a hedge on both. We bought the EV first. After ~1mo of driving it we changed our plans and went for 2 EVs. Even driving long distance (we've made a ~3hr drive around every 10 days for the last 4 years), the convenience factor of EVs has outweighed gas. That doubled once we got solar - there's just something magical about having the operating cost of your vehicle be near zero. Even maintenance is significantly less for the EV. I will never buy a gas car again - it feels like switching from a platter hard drive to a SSD, once you make the switch it's very hard to go back.
cromulent: BYD are about to launch an EV that charges from 10 to 70% in 5 minutes. As much as I recoil at a brand called "Build Your Dreams", that is quite compelling.https://www.byd.com/us/news-list/DENZA-Z9GT-to-start-Europes...
mikestew: See those big T-shaped things in the picture? Those are the charging stations that BYD (or someone) is going to need to build to see those charging speeds. I'm not saying it can't be done, but as one with an 800V Hyundai that has theoretical charging speed of 350kW, don't expect to just plug in at Electrify America and be done in 5 minutes. (Because the highest I've seen on the Hyundai was 243kW, and I've seen that once, and over 200kW only twice.)But BYD is pushing forward, and though there's some infrastructure to build it'll get there eventually.
crote: On the other hand, 5-minute charging is definitely a luxury thing: most charging is going to be at home, a decent bunch will be destination charging, people doing long trips generally don't mind having the car charge for 30 minutes while they eat dinner in a roadside restaurant, and only a handful of people are insane enough to drive well over 10 hours at a time with only a single 5-minute break.In practice I bet 5-minute charging will mainly be used to show off for your golf buddies. Co-locate it with the megawatt-scale chargers we'll be building for trucks next to major highways anyways, and it can be offered as a very profitable luxury product without too much extra effort.
jimbokun: Or just allow Chinese EVs without tariffs.Would be incredible for US auto consumers.But might put some of our automakers out of business.
tlogan: What about no sales taxes on EV purchases (full sales tax exemption) in California?
bawolff: It seems really unlikely to me that 2 weeks worth of high oil prices is anything more than a rounding error in BYD's years (decade?) long bet on electric cars.Even if they tripled their sales for the last two weeks, it wouldn't be relavent to if their bet will ultimately pay off.
sam345: The oil spike clearly seems it will be short-term. Once the Iran war is over oil will plummet. Car makers can't make decisions on short-term spikes.
seanmcdirmid: It is fading though, we are only arguing about the magnitude of its velocity and acceleration at this point.
nxm: Is it though? Dollar is appreciating in times of turmoil? And what’s the alternative - the all talk Europeans?
tencentshill: EVs were on track to being mainstream 20 years ago. See the other story about the 90s GM EV1 and associated documentary. All the technology was there in 1999, but every EV in development simultaneously shut down once they started becoming usable.
nico: Very interesting take. Not sure about the comparisons though: 1) Russia is a huge powerhouse that can do a lot on its own, I don't think Gulf states have the same capability to recover (at least that's what energy analysts are saying), 2) The US claimed they had completely maimed Iran in the first few days of the war, saying they had fully destroyed their navy and their missile launching capabilities. However, that clearly doesn't seem to be the case, and yesterday Iran even downed an F35, which until then was thought of as an almost impossible featI guess there's a lot up in the air right now, so I personally wouldn't bet on things getting better that quickly
phil21: The west coast also has some of the highest priced electricity in the nation, with apparently projections on it getting even worse somehow.It’s amazing how much grift and subsidy leveraging the US renewables market has engaged in compared to pragmatic deployments elsewhere like China. Utterly insane and it shows how difficult it’s going to be to fix since it’s an endemic problem with American society at its core.
derf_: You know who else is a net exporter of oil and gas? Russia. This is literally the biggest favor Trump could have done for Putin.
nico: I wasn't talking about BYD in particular, nor referencing any numbers or quotes from the blog. I was responding to the above comment mocking/doubting people's decisions about EV purchases and showing how that contrasts with the current macro situationFeel free to expand on the wholesale power market prices you are referring to though, not sure what your take is
caminante: > I wasn't talking about BYD in particular, You quoted the parent's mention of BYD.
outside2344: You mean Trump did what Putin wanted
claaams: Extrapolate this into a forever war where oil is increasingly expensive week after week.
nxm: I’ll trust the markets instead of some emotional ideological posts
HPsquared: 'How did you go bankrupt?''Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.'
outside2344: We also have some the cheapest, because solar covers my 90% of my usage for the whole year.
crooked-v: > for reasons that escape meThe reasons are simple: liberals want renewable energy, therefore renewable energy is bad and must be destroyed.It's oppositional defiant disorder on a cultural scale.
nxm: No- it’s just that people want choice, and not have to pay for tax credits (via lost government tax revenue)
outside2344: We are a net exporter but all Americans still exist in the same market where oil is $100+ and very few benefit from that.
Pxtl: At this point I don't see a solution to the arms-race of autobesity besides regulation. Cars that represent a larger threat to other road users need to have that externality internalized onto the driver.Because otherwise we just get things like the Hummer EV which is literally over 9000 lbs.
caminante: > Solar and batteries have been and will continue to he the cheapest source of power, and globally, deployment is accelerating.I think storage is great and solar has a place, but this is not true unless you discard reliability and other features, which should be in the price. Solar plus storage for baseload power matching requires huge overbuilds. Even in the last few years, before the AI hype, installed utility scale renewables costs went up in the US. It's not just the hardware or national politics.And if you can't get renewables interconnected in a couple years, then the install rate won't lower the carbon of the existing grid mix charging your car.
crote: Interesting. I occasionally rent EVs in Western Europe, and they just come with a single RFID card which seems to be accepted by all charging providers.
pingou: You can use the chargemap card which is virtually accepted everywhere but they add their own fees which can be ridiculous, sometimes it can even double the price of electricity.
eqvinox: I'm in Shenzhen currently. Do you know how quiet the city is, even during rush hour? It's amazing. All because almost every car is electric. Even the damn scooters. It'd actually be enjoyable to be outdoor in downtown if they fixed the air pollution… (some of which of course powers these cars… for now.)
fainpul: EVs are only quiet when driving very slowly. At about 50 km/h (30 mph) they are pretty much the same as ICE cars.What's the general speed limit where you are?
seanmcdirmid: I can't imagine the cars can go very fast in SZ during rush hour, Beijing is the same way.
Pxtl: That heavily depends on the Dem primaries. I think after the unpopularity of Biden and the 2024 loss and of Harris there might be more appetite to rock the boat instead of getting another establishment caretaker.However, the more radical wing of Democrats still have some anti-globalism in them (eg Bernie). But still, imho: Unusual outcomes are on the table for Democratic party leadership at this point.
seanmcdirmid: The main noise from cars is tire noise. But if traffic moves slowly enough (which it does in a Chinese city during rush hour), you won't hear much.Even since 2002 I've had to dodge quiet e-bikes in Beijing. They just sneak up on you without any noise, and they have a lot more momentum than a human powered bike.
stavros: Guys I own a BYD and love it, but oil prices have risen in the past, like, two days. Perhaps the headline is a bit sensationalized?
crooked-v: For what it's worth, I feel like it's perfectly logical to make any current new car purchase choices taking into account the US history of Middle East forever wars and that the Strait of Hormuz will probably be a deathtrap for years at this point.
deeg: And even more galling is the why. One country is turning its back on renewables because it's "woke". Just the dumbest people in charge.
while_true_: >> The west coast is the only part that relies on middle eastern oil. And a spike in prices will just get them in line and connected to the rest of the shale powered system.<<Californian here. There is no discussion or any desire to build an oil pipeline from TX/LA across NM and AZ to deliver oil to refineries here. Ha, if you think the Keystone XL pipeline was controversial... it'll never happen.Calif produces about 20% from its own but tired wells. Some oil is imported from the Middle East but larger volumes come by ship from South America and Alaska.
crooked-v: There's a huge difference between getting rid of tax credits, and doing things like forcing unprofitable and obsolete coal plants to say open (https://stateline.org/2026/03/19/trump-is-forcing-coal-plant...) and attempting to arbitrarily ban free market renewable energy projects under no valid legal basis (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn7k6p6k5x5o).
While Asia, particularly Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and the Philippines, has higher EV adoption rates than those of the US and Europe, at around 40%, they are still hit hard by rising oil prices.
decimalenough: > While Asia, particularly Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and the Philippines, has higher EV adoption rates than those of the US and Europe, at around 40%, they are still hit hard by rising oil prices.That figure is highly misleading. Yes, 48% of new vehicle sales in Thailand are now EVs, but their share of total vehicles on the road is much smaller: I can't find recent figures, but it'll be far less than 10%. (Share of new sales was under 20% until late last year.)The Philippines is even further behind, with share of new sales under 10%.
toomuchtodo: New sales are the leading indicator to total fleet composition turnover. As oil prices stay high into the future, and monthly sales of EVs continues to increase, it speeds fleet turnover from combustion to EVs.Ember Energy: ASEAN emerges as a new leader in global EV adoption - https://ember-energy.org/latest-updates/asean-emerges-as-a-n... - December 16th, 2025
embedding-shape: To be fair, they do explicitly say "higher EV adoption rates", not "people who already have EV".
decimalenough: So much data, but they're missing the total share of EVs on the road, and on that figure Norway is still only a third of the way to 100%:https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/one-third-of-cars-o...And Norway is a "best case" as a wealthy country where people turn over their cars pretty quickly. The Philippines is at the opposite end of the spectrum.
linkregister: It's not rational to expect owners to discard equipment long before the end of its service life, especially when the operational costs are not an order of magnitude lower.Without time travel or CCCP circa 1955 property controls, a 100% EV ownership benchmark is unreasonable.
