I Don’t Understand the Point of Gas-Powered EVs Like the Chevy Volt, but I’ve Been Told I’m Missing the Point, Here’s Why I Disagree

BIODiesel in a small generator to recharge the battery would be best.

Running a Diesel at optimum efficiency and clean Bio fuel would be the trick.

As a Honda Clarity PHEV owner, I will say this car is more EREV in nature than a traditional plug in hybrid where the engine drives the wheels. The Clarity mainly uses battery for my around town driving. When I need to get on the highway for a longer drive, I simply turn on the engine and it produces electricity to send to the AC motor. That’s similar to how an EREV functions. It can also charge the battery pack if it’s low. The car relies on have a battery pack that has some range on it because the AC motor uses more electricity than the engine alone can output.

So for Volvo… it will depend on how they develop this car. If they make it to where it mainly drives on battery, and the engine is only needed for longer drives, and it just produces electricity or charges the battery, then it sounds like a solid product. Will it sell? Depends on how much of an audience is out there for a car like that. If I had a BEV that could do 100 miles and had an engine inside that can turn on for extended driving on the highway, I would like that. But 100 miles is a good amount of battery range for city driving and the engine might not be used much at all if someone only drove it around town. The future buyers of this vehicle need to decide if it’s worth it for them.

I disagree. For people who live in a metropolitan area and who never drive cross country, I think your argument has merit. For those of us who live in between rural and metropolitan areas, we always have to drive 30 to 45 minutes one way to get to civilization. In order to do anything else, it is a minimum 20 minute drive. If I'm going to be spending 40 to $70,000 for a car, it's going to perform every single thing that I needed to do. When I go run errands, I want EV. When I drive 500 mi so my family can see our relatives, I don't want to rely on an immature charging network with an immature battery technology that charges too slow. This is the perfect in between. I even had a Chevy Volt, it would have been the perfect car if it had 100 mi range on the battery, and all wheel drive.

This article proves that those who denigrate the idea of an EREV really don't, and perhaps can't "get it". The logic used against them is so twisted as to be comical.

Let's examine the argument above of the engine and fuel tank adding weight and space that could otherwise be used for cargo or "clever storage". Using a Chevy Volt as an example, it has a 40-50 EV range on a 17kw battery. Unless you keep the range the same while adding cargo space instead of the engine, you'll need a larger battery - much larger. In fact you'd need 3-4 times more battery which will both add more weight than the engine and a full gas tank, and take up as much or more of the "clever storage".

So you see that if your mind is already made up on a given subject, before objectively analyzing the issues, you can make any random argument appear to support your preconceived conclusions..

I think the point is kind of getting missed here. A majority of our on-road vehicles are still fully flags powered. EREV is going to be a fully electric drive train with a onboard generator in it (Think Edison Truck design late 2025). The issue that they are solving is range anxiety for people who drive longer than 300 miles in places that have no chargers available either due to lack of tech or too many EVs in the area. OR work trucks. They are creating the industry like Ram's REV. The same design. It's more efficient. Our greatest defeat with combustion engineering isn't emission, it IS transmission. Electric drivetrains have 96% of power generated from the motor is transmitted to the wheels? Most vehicles barely utilize 80% of the power generated especially at higher RPM. As well as the performance drop off of combustion engines at those higher RPM's

We're retired and own two Chevy Volts. They fully meet our needs for local errands as active seniors.

We ONLY charge them at home in our garage. Our Solar Panel System fully covers our charging needs along with covering ~80% of our total household electricity usage. We typically fill our 2014 Volt with gasoline twice yearly and our 2013 Volt once yearly. Both require oil changes every two years. No other non-warranty services have been required on either other than the 12v batteries. As an example, neither have required ANY work on the brakes since they're not engaged unless you're having to make a panic stop that locks the wheels.

Downhill travel ADDS battery range! Descending Pikes Peak added 54 miles of battery range with hand-touchable brakes!

We've visited 38 states in our 2013 before purchasing a motorhome 4 years ago. Neither of our Volts have ever been connected to a public charging station. Both get an aggregated ~40mpg on the highway.

In essence, our Volts are our perfect retirement vehicles for our local errands.

We now use our motorhome for all out of town travel.

Miles Of Smile!

I read your piece titled "I Don’t Understand the Point of Gas-Powered EVs Like the Chevy Volt, but I’ve Been Told I’m Missing the Point, Here’s Why I Disagree"

And yes, I do think you are in fact missing the point. I think the best way to get the point across is that you are specifically, and lots of the redditors whose comments you shared, think there is "the" reason for getting an EV, as opposed to various reasons.

Miserable-Towel-5079 said "I don’t understand the point of extended range electric vehicles except for specific niche situations."
Wrong.
By adding a range extender to an EV, you are not fulfilling a niche, you are actually making the vehicle broader in functionality. EVs have limited range and charging limitations (location, wait times to get to use a charge, wait times to complete the charge).

The electric portion could be used for around town purposes, and the ICE range extender doesn't just give you more immediate range, but also more flexibility as you can drive for hundreds of miles, fill up in 2 minutes, and hit the road again for hundreds more miles.

They also said "Having to get oil and filters changed twice a year for those (one? two? zero?) times I need to drive further than my battery range and can’t stop at a DC charger for whatever reason seems just really burdensome to me.”"
EVs have their perks but many Americans drive long distances fairly regularly. Maybe *this* person only drives far 0, 1, 2 times per year, but for me it's almost weekly. 5 days a week I might not drive more than 50 miles total to and from the store or soccer practice for the kids. But come the weekend we're going a few counties over, pumpkin patches, hiking, Christmas tree farms, family reunions, weddings, wine tasting, etc. An EV wouldn't always cut it.

They also said "Not having to maintain a gas engine is one of the biggest perks of having an EV."
This is a non-issue for many people. I have only ever had ICE cars and I don't consider them high maintenance. My oil changes cost $25 and take about 10 minutes, in and out. Regular maintenance is not a big deal. And also, EVs also have oil and require oil changes.

You said "One undeniable fact is that EREVs generate emissions, a reason why many consumers purchase pure electric vehicles (BEVs)."
How many is many? Because no one I have talked to cares about emissions, included people that have EVs. People buy them for convenience and/or cost of charging at home especially if they have solar, or maybe even free charging if their employer offers free chargers. They buy them for the EV credit. I don't think many people actually care about emissions. People say they do in public because it's the 'right' answer, but behind closed doors few actually care.

Um, great if you’re in the city, try this when sales job takes you outside the range and you have to explain to the client “I had to recharge” IF you can find a place to do it. Or family lives further than 300 miles. If it works for you, great-don’t preach to us that it doesn’t.

And just wait until you have to replace that battery. There goes all of your “gas savings”.

Yes, I agree. The hysteria surrounding PHEVs is puzzling. With the EV market in slow motion, some OEMs are acting all smug because they didn't invest in electrification, (see Toyota and Mazda.) Newsflash: the electrification of the automobile is inevitable; it's just going to take longer.

I love my Tesla. I pay $15 a month to charge at home (midnight to 6am, gives me about 150 miles per day).

thirteensix made an interesting point about plug-in hybrid cars:
“People don't buy extended range EVs. There are tons of PHEVs on the market. A huge number never even get plugged in.”

This is true. We purchased our 2014 used (a "pristine," never smoked in, lease return) in 2019 with only 32K on the odometer. The aggregate mpg was < 50 mpg which means that it was rarely charged. Since we've owned it, the aggregate has risen to > 90 mpg.

While more complex, the EREV as in the Volt is a superior car to a Hybrid. No transmission and stress on the engine. The small 1.3L engine runs at three speeds, all perfectly tuned. Constant torque. There is little maintenance on a EREV engine because of the optimal operation. Also the limited range battery, 30-40 miles, handles 90% of my daily driving. So even after 140,000 miles I have only needed 4 oil changes. The electricity for that 30-40 miles on pure electric costs about half of gasoline. And since I do have a engine generator, I have no range anxiety, and get about 42 mph on the highway on gasoline. EREV are not hybrids, they are much better, and more reliable.

I bought a bmw i3 rex specifically for the range extender. It's a bmw moped engine, very reliable and has been around for years. I almost never need it and charge at home. The gas tank is two gallons and takes up very little room. Love the car and will probably upgrade to the scout rex when it comes out.

I previously leased a Volt. I liked the technology, battery driving for daily use and range extender for travel. But I didn't care much for the car in terms of drivability, comfort, etc. I purchased a used 2016 Cadillac ELR in 2018. It makes up for all the shortcomings of the Volt, although it's a 2 door, rather than 4, which I like. I also own a Bolt, which is not as comfortable or as enjoyable to drive due to handling, etc. I love the bolt for around town, if I'm not in it too long. I definitely prefer the Cadillac for both short and long distance driving. I use very little gas in the ELR, although with a range of about 32 miles, and a larger city, where I do some weekly shopping, is 12 miles to the city limit. So when I'm in town, I never use gas. For my weekly shopping, I use very little gas, about a gallon per month. I've taken the Bolt on a longer voyage and it was not very satisfying, because of the aforementioned comfort and the short charging range. I did find a better app for charging and that helped, but I would still prefer the Cadillac.
I'm waiting for the Optiq to improve its range beyond 450 miles. Then I will trade my Bolt for an Optiq. But I'll probably keep the ELR because it makes sense for me and it's enjoyable to drive.

As was said in Field of Dreams, "If you build it they will come", is the mantra for solid-state batteries.

First we need 600 miles of range and 10 minute charging, then the charging infrastructure will follow. Then we can cut the battery size in half for 300 miles of range and reduced costs for the batteries and everything else that can be reduced as the weight of the EV is reduced.

At this point no one will be buying ICE vehicles as they won't be price competitive.

I think about freedom often, especially when I review who is chasing my dollars. If not the government or "big oil" then its some healthcare entity. Consider the impact big oil has had on the freedom of billions of people on the planet. If people can get an electric car with the kind of range that means they can almost always recharge at home, that's the kind of freedom big oil and the big electric utilities would oppose. This provides the incentive for setting up renewables-based recharging at home, freeing one from the grasp of both big and hugely infuential groups. Volvo understands how to give people thier freedom back by removing the one aspect of transportation which has long made slaves of common people, the I.C.E. propulsion.

I think about freedom often, especially when I review who is chasing my dollars. If not the government or "big oil" then its some healthcare entity. Consider the impact big oil has had on the freedom of billions of people on the planet. If people can get an electric car with the kind of range that means they can almost always recharge at home, that's the kind of freedom big oil and the big electric utilities would oppose. This provides the incentive for setting up renewables-based recharging at home, freeing one from the grasp of both big and hugely infuential groups. Volvo understands how to give people thier freedom back by removing the one aspect of transportation which has long made slaves of common people, the I.C.E. propulsion. In our free society we recognize how competition is needed to make things better over time. Big oil is lacking only one thing, real competition.