If you decided between a regular hybrid and a hybrid plug in...

[Anonymous]

...which one did you choose and do you have any regrets? I'm trying to decide between the Toyota Rav-4 hybrid plug in and the Honda CR-V hybrid. The Honda has more cargo space and I've always like my current Honda. It's not like I haul a lot of stuff around, but the extra space can come in handy on car trips, etc. The Toyota costs more, but I like the idea of not having to go to the gas station, as a charge would cover my daily commute.

If you made a similar choice, which one did you pick and are you happy with it?

[Anonymous]

Bought brand new 2024 XC90 Ultimate Recharge Plugin. No complaints with 20k miles

[Anonymous]

If you have a place you can plug it in every night, get the plug in.

Don't bother if you can't plug in at home.

[Anonymous]

I have the Rav 4 Prime and can charge it at home and pretty much never use the gas mode. So you can basically run it as an all electric car with a gas backup.

[Anonymous]

I traded in my 12 year old crv for a rav4 prime. Love it. I charge overnight and the ~40-50 electric miles covers my day driving (kids sports after school all non highway). Weekends are games on highways and that’s when I drop into hybrid. I get about 600-700 miles per fill up. I’ve had it for 2.5 years. No huge jump in electric bill and we plug it into our existing outside holiday lights outlet.

I haven’t noticed a significant loss of storage space. It holds 6 carryons, or 2 twin mattresses (with the seats down). Our kids are both over 5’ 9” and no complaints from them in back seat space.

When our oldest turns 16, she will get this car and I’m buying a new version of the rav4 plug in.

[Anonymous]

With a conventional hybrid, you're always using gas (albeit more efficiently than a non-hybrid)

With a plug-in hybrid, you have an EV for the first 25-40 miles (depending on the model). For most people that are able to recharge overnight at home, this means essentially having an EV for all/most of local driving and not having to get gas unless you're driving long distance.

[Anonymous]

Also bought a Volvo xc90 recharge. Love it. Only use hybrid/gas for freeway driving, but 95% of the time it’s pure electric. So nice not to have to stop for gas! And so quiet!

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking of getting one, but DH keeps saying that it can have double the issues because it has both power trains. IDK, but I still like the idea of one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So nice not to have to stop for gas! And so quiet!

A nice perk people often don’t think about is if you’re stopped and idling for awhile (say, waiting to pick up kids from an event) the plug-in will let you idle in electric for a decent duration…it’s much quieter than running a gas engine, and also less disruptive to pedestrians sitting nearby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking of getting one, but DH keeps saying that it can have double the issues because it has both power trains. IDK, but I still like the idea of one.

He is right. They don’t have double the issues, but they do have 70% more issues vs traditional hybrid or gas-only vehicles: https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/electric-vehicles-are-less-reliable-than-conventional-cars-a1047214174/#:~:text=Plug%2DIn%20Hybrids%20Have%20Fewer%20Problems%20Than%20Before,than%20both%20standard%20hybrid%20and%20gas%2Donly%20vehicles.

Part of this is because the technology is newer. Reliability of PHEVs will improve a fair bit over the next 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking of getting one, but DH keeps saying that it can have double the issues because it has both power trains. IDK, but I still like the idea of one.

He is right. They don’t have double the issues, but they do have 70% more issues vs traditional hybrid or gas-only vehicles: https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/electric-vehicles-are-less-reliable-than-conventional-cars-a1047214174/#:~:text=Plug%2DIn%20Hybrids%20Have%20Fewer%20Problems%20Than%20Before,than%20both%20standard%20hybrid%20and%20gas%2Donly%20vehicles.

Part of this is because the technology is newer. Reliability of PHEVs will improve a fair bit over the next 5 years.

To op’s specific question about the rav4 plug in/Prime and quoting the article you linked:

“But our survey also shows that some longstanding Toyota and Lexus hybrids and PHEVs remain some of the most reliable vehicles, period. The Toyota RAV4 Prime and RAV4 Hybrid SUVs, Toyota Corolla Hybrid sedan, Toyota Prius hatchback, and Lexus NX Hybrid are all on our list of the 10 most reliable cars, joined by the Hyundai Elantra Hybrid sedan.“

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bought brand new 2024 XC90 Ultimate Recharge Plugin. No complaints with 20k miles

+1

We get about 2400 miles on a tank of gas mostly due to short drives around town.

[Anonymous]

Not having to get gas is amazing. I’d almost say life changing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking of getting one, but DH keeps saying that it can have double the issues because it has both power trains. IDK, but I still like the idea of one.

He is right. They don’t have double the issues, but they do have 70% more issues vs traditional hybrid or gas-only vehicles: https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/electric-vehicles-are-less-reliable-than-conventional-cars-a1047214174/#:~:text=Plug%2DIn%20Hybrids%20Have%20Fewer%20Problems%20Than%20Before,than%20both%20standard%20hybrid%20and%20gas%2Donly%20vehicles.

Part of this is because the technology is newer. Reliability of PHEVs will improve a fair bit over the next 5 years.

This. I am the PP with a Volvo - I leased bc I don’t think it’s reliable enough to buy and I negotiated a good deal. Hoping when the lease is up there will be more interesting fully electric. I don’t known that it makes a ton of sense to purchase any electric vehicle at the moment - they depreciate quite a bit and the tech changes so fast. But they are awesome!

[Anonymous]

I adore my Prius prime. I buy very little gas now. It's amazing.