As we get closer to decision time, and the miles add up on our '07 Civic, I came across this article today… Good start!
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, also called plug-ins or PHEVs, are the right choice for many drivers for much of this decade, until the number of public charging stations increases, battery-pack bang for the buck improves and overall prices fall on pure battery electric vehicles.
Half of our favorite plug-ins go at least 30 miles, roughly the length of the average U.S. round-trip commute, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The others get you to work and started on your way home. None of them will strand you because they have a gasoline engine and tank.
I think many agree that plug in hybrids are a better choice at this stage. Toyota especially is on record saying this is the best solution for now. We hope 10 years from now infrastructure will be in place to make other options more feasible.
Of course another way is an EV for your daily commute and then rent a gas guzzler for your vacation travel.
Well, we’re long retired, so a lot is just poking around town, but driving my F150 up to Seattle recently, it did get 16+mpg, but still a tad costly from the SF Northbay area… It’s also the trailer tow vehicle. So our Civic is the one we’d replace… Hence the confusion in some ways, leaning towards a hybrid, but also aware of the improvements in EVs… I’d thought before this article that the hybrids had a longer battery range, but now see their limitations… Still in the research mode, I guess…
I bought one of these and it works very well. Please remember that a Tesla-to-J1772 adapter only works on level 2 chargers, they do NOT work for Tesla superchargers.
Looking over that company’s products, they have a LOT of options, adapters, for all manner of EV’s and more, home, industrial inlets, outlets, plugs, connectors…
Plug-in hybrid are really higher MPG ICE vehicles that, depending on your local cost of electricity, will net save a few bucks a month in commuting fuel costs. Today BEVs are ideal for short distance daily city driving but at best become longer distance driving headaches. Hybrid plug ins make us feel environmentally conscious, but they are really EV surrogates until the massive electric infrastructure is built to accommodate interstate rapid level 3 chargers that can accommodate hundreds to thousands of vehicles per day with acceptable recharging times. Just an opinion, but for those who are retired, I doubt we’ll see this in our lifetimes. And be aware, a local BEV only driver may be tethered to their locality making interstate emergency or family holiday travel impossible.
Odds are any long distance driving, at least as long as I’m the driver, we’d use our ICE F150 as I’m more comfy being up higher, seeing further ahead, sirius radio and now CarPlay linking to my iPhone/ It’s the ICE Civic we’d like to replace at some point… Since it’s mainly DW’s car, she’ll be content with a hybrid… We talk, dream of going to Tesla, but it’s a bit much just for local tripping… We’ll see down the line how it shakes out… Other family members have a bit of each, some have solar as well… The combo might work, so far I only see the hucksters pushing solar a bit too hard, so I ignore them, but I need to, if we look deeper, talk to my Nieces husband more about the details, just haven’t yet… He’s had Volt’s, solar on hist place for several years now… Many choices, no rush, for now…
An update: We made the decision to go with a 2023 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Limited model… ('24’s aren’t out yet) A cancelation on an order, caught by a local dealer/sales lady let up plop down the reservation fee, so now we await as it’s still in transit… I have the VIN, but the Toyota site won’t let me add it, likely as the sale isn’t completed yet…
So the wait is on, mid September, so it’s getting close…
But I have found, downloaded the manuals, and learned a bit, after 2020, they bumped the battery warranty from 5 years, 100K miles to 10 years, 160k miles, good to see, might outlast me!
Other dealers have been pushing non-hybrids, ignoring…
Many gadgets to figure out… Owners manual is 500+ pages, I’m not going to print it out… A Quick Start manual is only 67 pages, but still see no need to print it… Most vehicles I’ve owned, I’ve bought the Shop Manuals, but I think this days are over, too minicomputer systems, not user accessible…Leave it to the dealer it seems…
With gas prices here in WA at or very near $5/gallon without any price relief in sight and electricity 8.6 cents per KWh, a plug-in hybrid is looking a bit more attractive as a replacement vehicle for our 2016 Mazda CX-5. But I figure we need a 40-45 mile range on electric which makes the Rav 4 Prime with its 18KWh batter and 40+ mile range a good consideration. However, I haven’t yet checked local price and availability.
I haven’t tried the EV mode of the RAV4 yet, so can’t be sure what the range is, and I don’t recall the claimed miles… So far it’s in combo mode, engine kicks in depending on throttle position, power needs, and I see, if I display the power flow being retuned as braking occurs, so no straight EV so far…
Availability was tight here in Northern CA, de[ending on color, model, we were after the Limited in the pearl white, evident’y a rarity, naturally, once we had one, we see them all over, well, not really, but more awareness of toyotas, in any case… Dealers, even when we posted we wanted a Hybrid, kept pushing the ICE versions, almost fooled once, but, in the end, we just got lucky that someone had cancelled their order… And our sales lay grabbed it, made sure we took delivery before she left on vacation…
So far all is good, DW has to practice more, our garage is a snug, lengthwise, fit, so it has to be nudged a bit to come close to the front wall… Laser markers from our Ryobi garage door opener have been adjusted to one lines up with a dash vent, just ignore the warnings, may take some adjusting…
the collision avoidance, detects cross traffic while backing, alerts when getting too close to stuff.
My RAV4 does NOT detect pedestrians.
the brake “HOLD” function.
the automatic high beam headlights.
Put beam adjuster stalk to “Auto”, push the stalk forward to “hi” position.
Press the button on the dash in front of your left knee cap. It’s hard to see.
the back seat backrest has an upright and a slightly “reclined” position.
The same paddle lever, on top of the seat back, that folds the seat forward, can be used to recline the seat a few degrees.
the auto tail gate height can be adjusted. Open the tail gate, stop it at the desired height. If it’s already open, pull down to the desired height. Press and hold the “auto-close” button, till it beeps 4x. Now, it’s set to that height. To reset, press n hold the auto-close button till it beeps 6-7x.
eco mode. I keep it here, and it has plenty of pep when I want it.
The EV mode. I’ve not used it.
In my 2010 Prius, EV mode worked at speeds 8mph or less. Over that, and it automatically switched to engine assist mode.
I believe all the above were carried forward into the 2023, likely the 2024 models…
I was concerned about the auto tailgate lift rise, particularly in our garage so dove in, found the settings, of the 5 possible, I set at 3, just a little higher that the top. We discovered outdoors, you can override that by simply lifting it fully, but the original lesser setting remains, but I did check before doing it in the garage…
I just removed the driver side window warning sticker, a little penetrates, then glass cleaner and the goo was gone… Why it was so sticky, made no sense… Saved it in the manual holder…
Lots of options… I found a Toyota RAV4 Experiences Group in Facebook, more info, not all Hybrid related…
Likely other similar discussion groups out there, too…
