Hybrid vs Plug-In Hybrid vs Electric - Which should you buy in 2022?

as the age of internal combustion is drawing to a close more and more people are evaluating other forms of propulsion for their cars so in this newly updated guide i will explain the differences between hybrid plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles to help determine which is the right one for you and whether or not it's actually worth taking the step away from conventionally powered cars at the moment to aid your decision as to which is best for your lifestyle i will judge them all in five categories along with giving specific scenarios where certain power trains would be ideal the categories are as follows purchase price running costs ease of use model availability and finally environmental sustainability let's begin by taking a look at all of the different types of alternatively fueled vehicles available on the market today we'll start with the oldest system the conventional full hybrid setup which is also cleverly marketed as the self-charging hybrid in this system there is a regular internal combustion engine typically a petrol which is aided by a relatively small system of batteries and electric motors generally speaking the engine does most of the work but in certain situations such as while braking the battery can be charged either by the engine directly or by regaining otherwise wasted energy once the battery is charged it can deploy that energy to help the car under acceleration or even replace the engine completely and run under electric power for short distances at low speeds typically under a mile before it needs recharging it's not possible to externally charge the battery all the driver has to do is fill it up with fuel as is the case with any other conventional car now let's move to the opposite end of the spectrum looking at the fully electric setup where there is no internal combustion engine the only thing the driver has to do in this case is charge the battery so they can provide energy to the motors the time it takes to fully charge varies greatly depending on the size of the car's battery and the power of the charger available it can take anywhere from one hour to one entire day the range depends on the battery size efficiency type of vehicle and also how you drive it you can expect around 100 miles of real world range from smaller and cheaper hatchbacks while figures closer to 300 miles can be achieved for some more expensive models coming in as a middle way between these two is the plug and hybrid setup as with regular hybrids this system contains both an internal combustion engine and electric motors however the battery is much larger typically offering an all-electric range of around 20 miles and crucially it can be externally charged because the battery is smaller than in a fully electric car charging time should not take any more than a few hours at most there are three main ways to drive one of these cars the first is on electric power alone when the battery is drained the car will switch to the second type of driving mode where it will run in the same way as a regular hybrid charging the battery from regenerative braking the third mode is running with just the engine in this mode the engine will also use its power to charge the battery for later use or if it's already charged it will preserve the all-electric range for another time such as when entering an urban area there are also a few other types of powertrains one of them is the mild hybrid system which is very similar to a regular hybrid system except it has a much smaller battery so the car is only supplemented by the electric motor it can't run solely on electricity because of this the gains in fuel economy and reductions in emissions are only minimal hence why i wouldn't typically recommend spending extra for one of these cars however many car manufacturers are now adding mild hybrid systems to their existing engine lineups as standard meaning you don't really have a choice which is why i won't be including these cars in the video another type of powertrain is the range extender hybrid this can almost be thought of as the opposite of a plug-in hybrid system instead of having a combustion engine as the primary source of power it's the electrical systems that take priority with a small petrol engine present that engine never powers the wheels directly it only acts as a generator to charge the batteries if they are running low and can't be charged normally the reason why range extenders won't be featured in this video is because there simply aren't any new models to choose from the final type of alternative powertrain available to consumers is the hydrogen fuel cell system where hydrogen is used to react with oxygen to produce electricity for the motors however it's currently extremely difficult to recommend any of these vehicles because the technology is still in its relative infancy the refueling structure is extremely limited in comparison to electric car charging points and current models of which there are very few to choose from are extraordinarily expensive compared to conventional cars in their class now we move on to the second part of this video evaluating the three main systems in each of the categories to come to a final conclusion as to which type of powertrain is best suited to your needs i'll begin with purchase prices there are a huge amount of factors that contribute to the price of a car which often means that just comparing the raw list prices of cars won't give an accurate comparison of which type is more expensive for you since you could actually end up paying a very different amount in general however when comparing like for like petrol and diesel-powered cars tend to be the cheapest hybrids tend to be a couple of percent more expensive with there being a larger gap to plug-in hybrids and then an even larger gap to the full evs the price gap between the power trains decreases as the general type of car becomes more expensive for some small city cars their electric counterparts can be around double the price whereas in the luxury segment the percentage change is a lot smaller with a lot of that price difference not correlating directly to the powertrain rather other factors such as brand image the running costs of a hybrid can be much lower than that of a petrol or diesel car if most of the driving is done at lower speeds and traffic where the electric motor can do more work however if most driving is done on higher speed roads then fuel economy will be similar to a regular petrol car maintenance and servicing costs should also be similar because the battery systems don't require as much attention while road tax should be much lower due to the lower claimed tailpipe emissions overall owning a hybrid car should cost a similar or moderately less amount than a conventional car once you get past the high initial price of an electric car you'll enjoy the lowest running costs out of the three types of powertrain fully charging an electric car typically costs under 20 pounds even for the largest of batteries what's more is that electric cars can be exempt from fees to enter many cities low emission zones and often don't have to pay road tax at all servicing and maintenance costs are also reduced as there are fewer moving parts that need to be checked repaired or replaced the only caveats are the battery degradation that takes place over time and the higher depreciation if you are buying outright regarding the battery manufacturers have put long warranties into place such as up to a hundred thousand miles to assure you that the cars will still retain almost all of the initial battery capacity they had when they were new running costs of plug and hybrid cars vary massively depending on the usage and their outrageous official mpg ratings should be taken with a pinch of salt if most of your journeys are relatively short such as under 20 miles then the car will be able to run on electric power almost exclusively meaning fuel costs should be the same as fully electric cars even if your journeys are longer and at slightly higher speeds plug-in hybrids can return mpg that is significantly higher than what you would expect in a regular hybrid or internal combustion engine car if most of your driving is on long journeys the battery will likely be consumed quickly meaning that the plug-in hybrid will work like a regular hybrid consuming fuel at a similar or slightly reduced rate to conventional cars because you have an engine and complex electrical systems servicing costs for plug-in hybrids can be slightly higher than the other types of cars however you do enjoy a lower tax rate compared to regular hybrids and in many cases entry into low emission zones the ease of use of a hybrid car should be exactly the same as a conventional car because apart from having a little bit of electrical assistance everything else will be the same with their range and charging limitations electric cars are not the easiest to use on long motorway journeys longer routes will need to be planned in much more detail with more frequent stops to avoid range anxiety however if they're mainly being used for shorter journeys they can do on a single charge and you have a place at home to install a fast charger then electric cars can arguably be easier to use than regular cars you use the car as you normally would and just plug it in overnight with no need to visit a petrol station with more and more public charging points being installed and rapid charging technology continuing to improve electric vehicles are closing in on more conventional cars in terms of all-round convenience plug-in hybrids can technically just be filled up with petrol and nothing else making them as convenient as conventional cars however doing this defeats the purpose of these cars and doesn't let you extract the maximum efficiency out of them to do this you will need to both charge and fill up the car while sometimes also having to toggle between the driving modes for different types of journeys making these cars the least convenient and most complicated to use on a daily basis so far it's looking good for the hybrids however it's in this category where they fall short the main producers of these vehicles are toyota and their sub brand lexus with very few models available from other manufacturers and while the toyotas do have a fantastic reliability record their hybrid offerings just aren't as good to drive or as competitively priced as the competition their cvt transmissions can make acceleration seem unnatural and especially compared to their german rivals the interiors aren't the most intuitive it seems as if there's a new electric car model being announced every other day the market is developing rapidly and there are electric offerings from multiple companies and almost every class of car giving you more choice than you might expect because of how many heavy and complex systems plug and hybrids have to carry there aren't really any to choose from in the city car and super mini classes moving up to larger and more expensive cars however gives a lot more variety around the same as with fully electric cars a fully electric car should be less damaging to the environment over its lifetime compared to a hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicle which in turn should cause less environmental damage compared to a petrol or diesel car the complete manufacturing process of an electric car does create more pollution than a conventional car and the production of hybrids should create even more due to the need of both electric and fossil fuel powered drivetrain components the environmental gains come with the usage of these cars as they are much more efficient when utilizing the electric motors helping to decrease the comparative environmental harm with more miles traveled for this reason it is the fully electric cars that are the most environmentally friendly followed by plug-in hybrids since they can rely more on electric power and then lastly the conventional hybrids even if the electrical energy is sourced from non-renewables there is no denying that the electric motor is significantly more efficient than the internal combustion engine as well as saving more energy from the simpler transportation just needing cables rather than having fuel delivered and as time goes on many countries are making a lot of progress and having a greater proportion of their energy produced by renewable methods another advantage of electric cars is that none of their emissions are produced directly from the tailpipe which can help to reduce air pollution in built up areas the main area where the sustainability of electric cars could be improved is at the end of their life cycle with the recycling and reusing of the lithium-ion batteries but advancements in this sector are being made to further decrease the environmental impact which varies with different manufacturers [Music] coupled with fuel economy that in many cases can be beaten by a diesel regular hybrids aren't making the strongest case for themselves over other alternative power trains or internal combustion engine cars therefore i would only recommend one of these cars if you cover a very high mileage at low speeds in stop start traffic basically making them perfect for inner city taxi driving the case for full evs is quite a tricky one as there are some good cars available on the market that can be fine to own if there's a solid charging infrastructure in your location but for a very high price they are also rapidly improving which can add to the decision-making dilemma so i've made three general scenarios where you should consider an electric car as your next number one if you're driving consists of frequent ventures into low emission zones that are only getting stricter with time then it really is a no-brainer to buy an ev number two if you don't often go on long motorway journeys but still cover an above average annual mileage then an electric car could eventually work out to be cheaper and not to mention the environmental benefits although in many cases the price difference compared to a conventional car could be quite small alternatively it could be used as a handy second car the final reason to buy an electric car is purely for the sake of buying an electric car depending on your mileage it could be more expensive and of no benefit to the environment but i suspect for a lot of people having something fresh and new something that is part of the future can be a big enough selling point on its own and you'll find out if you are one of these people just by taking a test drive plug-in hybrids are the most versatile of the bunch if you have a place to charge and the bulk of the journeys you make are only a few miles long then these cars can be used predominantly as evs but crucially you have that safety net of the combustion engine ready to turn the car into a hybrid if needed this makes plug-in hybrids a great stepping stone for those not yet ready to commit to a full ev as with full evs however they are more expensive to buy so having this stepping stone could cost you more if your annual mileage isn't very high these scenarios don't cover all possible use cases and that's because conventional cars are still superior in some key aspects if most of your driving is doing long motorway journeys then a diesel is still the ideal choice for the convenience and lower costs when the main focus is the short occasional journey then a small petrol car will be leagues cheaper to buy than an equivalent electric car and you would then have to cover a disproportionately high mileage in the ev to make up the costs if you're going to be doing any serious off-roading or towing then internal combustion is still the way to go as ev technology is not there yet in the event that you're buying a car purely for driving pleasure then again it's still internal combustion that is the best choice in most cases the simple effective sports car such as the mazda mx-5 or toyota gt86 still does not have a proper electric alternative in the ultra high-end supercar market however there are a few interesting electric options coming but you buy those with your heart and not your head and that is the end of this guide in the video description i have linked some articles recommending the best hybrids plug-in hybrids and electric cars available today thanks for watching you

Channel: Vehicle Valhalla

Views: 74,297

Keywords: hybrid, plug, in, plug-in, electric, comparison, explanation, guide, buying, range, model, charging, self, network, 2020, 2021, which, to, buy, best, vs, mild, extender, hydrogen, fuel, cell, petrol, fossil, fuels, tesla, batteries, anxiety, beginners, vehicle, valhalla, driving, electricity, eco, friendly, gov, regulations, diesel, price, cost, convenience, running, models, top, 10, sustainable, sustainability, supercharger, help, easy, simplified, prius, outlander, ioniq, leaf, golf, e up, e tron, taycan, honda, concept, i pace, id3, vw, ford, chevy, bolt

Id: sA2ZJQQPQaE

Length: 15min 27sec (927 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 29 2020