OT: PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid EV)

[Anon1683841811]

Hey board -

Might have to start driving significant miles and thinking of getting a PHEV. Currently drive an Audi S5 that is getting up there in miles and want to keep it as my fun car.

Been looking at the BMW 330 PHEV. Don’t want to break the bank but it’s gotta be at least a little fun to drive.

Any experiences, good or bad?

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

Does the 330 run just on electric for a few miles? Whats the combined mpg they advertise and reviewers saw?
here with Thomas:

 

[PSU Mike]

Are you going to install a home charge system? Personally I think the Tesla Model 3 long range with acceleration boost is still fun enough. Get a lightly used one in the mid-30’s. It really does go 0-60 in 3.7 secs (145 tops), and the long range takes all weather tires. The performance trim hits 3.1 secs (162 tops) but runs on summer tires, so you need the second set if you’re in the NE, so you’re looking at an extra $6-8,000 total investment.

We have a Model Y performance for my wife-figure and I’m abandoning my Outback for a Model 3 in the next week or so. We do two long trips a year, and we always see 80% vacancy on road charge stations, so I’m optimizing to the 90+% of driving we do. I found a 2023 with 4,000 miles on it for $39k, which is pretty fair. It’s only 9 months old so I have 39/48 months of factory warranty left and 7 years/116k on the battery and motors.

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

and you said you weren’t a car guy

 

[SleepyLion]

Are you going to install a home charge system? Personally I think the Tesla Model 3 long range with acceleration boost is still fun enough. Get a lightly used one in the mid-30’s. It really does go 0-60 in 3.7 secs (145 tops), and the long range takes all weather tires. The performance trim hits 3.1 secs (162 tops) but runs on summer tires, so you need the second set if you’re in the NE, so you’re looking at an extra $6-8,000 total investment.

We have a Model Y performance for my wife-figure and I’m abandoning my Outback for a Model 3 in the next week or so. We do two long trips a year, and we always see 80% vacancy on road charge stations, so I’m optimizing to the 90+% of driving we do. I found a 2023 with 4,000 miles on it for $39k, which is pretty fair. It’s only 9 months old so I have 39/48 months of factory warranty left and 7 years/116k on the battery and motors.

The question that you asked is very important. If you are not able to charge at home and/or while you are parked at work, when are you going to plug-in?
If you are not going to have a home charge system look to a HEV. You can get 45-50mpg on these without much problem. More mpg with some effort.

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

If I needed to hyper mill I’d consider this

 

[PSUAXE70]

The question that you asked is very important. If you are not able to charge at home and/or while you are parked at work, when are you going to plug-in?
If you are not going to have a home charge system look to a HEV. You can get 45-50mpg on these without much problem. More mpg with some effort.

I have a 2023 Prius Prime. it is a plug in that goes about 45 miles on electric before it switches over seamlessly to gas where it gets 48 mpg. Since so many of the places I routinely visit are close I can go there on the electric and plug in to 110V at night and it is ready for the next day. If I didn’t have to go to Penn State, Florida, and Maine I would never need gas. When we are home I can go 2 or 3 months without buying gas. The first year I drove 8000 miles and over 4000 of them were in electric mode. I cut my gas usage in half. A plug in hybrid might be a good choice if most of your driving is short trips.

 

[PSU Mike]

and you said you weren’t a car guy

Haha, just happened to do research into that segment because I’m a picky shopper. Now if we want to talk about Dad’s A-title ‘69 Chevelle with the 383 that I need to find a third stall for …

I grew up at York US 30 dragway in the 70’s. I was a car kid then.

 

[Bosco2]

The question that you asked is very important. If you are not able to charge at home and/or while you are parked at work, when are you going to plug-in?
If you are not going to have a home charge system look to a HEV. You can get 45-50mpg on these without much problem. More mpg with some effort.

Except for winter months I get low 50s from my Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. Ten year bumper to bumper coverage for an extra $1500. It's got plenty of pep.

 

[PSU Mike]

Except for winter months I get low 50s from my Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. Ten year bumper to bumper coverage for an extra $1500. It's got plenty of pep.

Oops, nevermind. I misread your post to think yours was a plug-in

 

[PSU Mike]

We get almost exactly 4 miles per kWh around town, and a kWH costs almost exactly $.15 here in Chicagoland. At 95% charge efficiency it costs us about $.04/mile. I’m a gentle driver and my Outback still struggles to get 20 mph over the same driving, or about $.20/mile.

 

[BW Lion]

Hey board -

Might have to start driving significant miles and thinking of getting a PHEV. Currently drive an Audi S5 that is getting up there in miles and want to keep it as my fun car.

Been looking at the BMW 330 PHEV. Don’t want to break the bank but it’s gotta be at least a little fun to drive.

Any experiences, good or bad?

Forget the plug-in requirement.

The Mercedes “450” package consists of a turbocharged inline 6 cylinder engine equipped with a 48 volt battery which completely eliminates turbo lag.

I bought wife #4 a GLE450 and she loves it. She drives fast but that thing gets 30+ mpg

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

I bought wife #4

wut? Lmao

 

[SleepyLion]

I bought wife #4

wut? Lmao

maybe he has a harem...

 

[PSU Mike]

I’d love to see a poll of each poster’s HH value of vehicles to net worth ratio. I’m curious where I, and a few select others, rank.

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

I drive a 06 Infiniti m35x and moms drives a 2014 Mazda Cx5. What my net worth?

 

[BW Lion]

I’d love to see a poll of each poster’s HH value of vehicles to net worth ratio. I’m curious where I, and a few select others, rank.

If you purposely own a Subaru, you don’t want to know.

That might help the numerator of your silly ratio, but it speaks louder about who you aren’t as a person.

 

[PSU Mike]

I’ve long suspected there are (only?) car people and dumb people that ***** about their situation in life in the higher-ratio groups.

And I have driven Subaru for 11 years because their owners are know to skew toward the mellow. Maybe I just like to sneak up on people …

 

[Anon1683841811]

Thanks all. I’m considering a new gig about 70 miles away where I’d need to be on-site 2-3 days a week. Will be putting lots of miles on the wheels.

 

[SleepyLion]

Thanks all. I’m considering a new gig about 70 miles away where I’d need to be on-site 2-3 days a week. Will be putting lots of miles on the wheels.

I drive 70 miles R/T 5 days a week. I live in central PA and have a non-plug in HEV. I get 48-50 mpg. I do not have a place to plug in while at work. I put about 30k miles per year on the car with other trips, etc.
The number of miles you get per charge is what you would need to know. If a full charge gets you 45 miles (speed will impact this range), then you are operating a combustion engine for the other 25 miles. If you cannot charge while at work, you are not getting any (or much) benefit of the electric on the way home. (Some PHEVs can self charge some cannot.) The cold weather will impact the electric efficiency as well.

 

[PSU Mike]

I drive 70 miles R/T 5 days a week. I live in central PA and have a non-plug in HEV. I get 48-50 mpg. I do not have a place to plug in while at work. I put about 30k miles per year on the car with other trips, etc.
The number of miles you get per charge is what you would need to know. If a full charge gets you 45 miles (speed will impact this range), then you are operating a combustion engine for the other 25 miles. If you cannot charge while at work, you are not getting any (or much) benefit of the electric on the way home. (Some PHEVs can self charge some cannot.) The cold weather will impact the electric efficiency as well.

With the Model 3 and a home charge station you can expect your daily commute distance to take about 5-6 hours on the charger in the evening. Range should be good fine even on cold days, but charge may take longer at night.

 

[SleepyLion]

With the Model 3 and a home charge station you can expect your daily commute distance to take about 5-6 hours on the charger in the evening. Range should be good fine even on cold days, but charge may take longer at night.

I do not have any experience with EVs. I've had a friend that had one. Kept it for about 6 months and the range anxiety was enough. Where I live, I would not want an EV, but a PHEV or HEV is fine. Sometimes I don't see a gas station for 50 miles. That area of the world barely has electric lights. Last thing I need to do is run out of gas.

 

[kgilbert78]

The question that you asked is very important. If you are not able to charge at home and/or while you are parked at work, when are you going to plug-in?
If you are not going to have a home charge system look to a HEV. You can get 45-50mpg on these without much problem. More mpg with some effort.

I got 50 mpg going from Columbus to Indy last weekend. In a fully gas Corolla.

 

[WanderingSpectator]

a kWH costs almost exactly $.15 here in Chicagoland.

I pay $.08 per kWh in Phoenix on the EV plan that my provider offers. I plug in when I’m home for the night and it starts charging when the rates drop at 11pm. By the morning, it’s fully charged. Not sure if your provider offers this rate plan, but you might want to check it out.

 

[PSU Mike]

I pay $.08 per kWh in Phoenix on the EV plan that my provider offers. I plug in when I’m home for the night and it starts charging when the rates drop at 11pm. By the morning, it’s fully charged. Not sure if your provider offers this rate plan, but you might want to check it out.

That’s really cheap - good for you! ComEd offers a non-specific (wrt EVs) off-peak rate plan where you can get billed differentially for consumption in different time periods. I think they advertise you can save 17% by charging 1am - 5am, but it’s not clear whether you could actually see an increase in your peak-hours billing as well. They also offer to pay for the install of the charger, but alas we’d already paid for ours.

(Everybody) Keep in mind that when calculating what you pay per kWh that there are likely fixed charges on your bill. You should properly pull those out before doing your math. For instance the $.15 I cited above looks like $.18 if you amortize those fixed fees over our usage.

 

[WanderingSpectator]

That’s really cheap - good for you! ComEd offers a non-specific (wrt EVs) off-peak rate plan where you can get billed differentially for consumption in different time periods. I think they advertise you can save 17% by charging 1am - 5am, but it’s not clear whether you could actually see an increase in your peak-hours billing as well. They also offer to pay for the install of the charger, but alas we’d already paid for ours.

(Everybody) Keep in mind that when calculating what you pay per kWh that there are likely fixed charges on your bill. You should properly pull those out before doing your math. For instance the $.15 I cited above looks like $.18 if you amortize those fixed fees over our usage.

I was getting around 4 miles per kWh from September 2023 to May 2024. When summer temps hit, my mileage dropped to anywhere from 1.9 to 2.6 m/kwh per day. Like you, I would never recommend any type of EV for someone living in an apartment. Tesla SC prices here are between .23 and .47 regularly.

 

[Schoolie]

I have a 2023 Prius Prime. it is a plug in that goes about 45 miles on electric before it switches over seamlessly to gas where it gets 48 mpg. Since so many of the places I routinely visit are close I can go there on the electric and plug in to 110V at night and it is ready for the next day. If I didn’t have to go to Penn State, Florida, and Maine I would never need gas. When we are home I can go 2 or 3 months without buying gas. The first year I drove 8000 miles and over 4000 of them were in electric mode. I cut my gas usage in half. A plug in hybrid might be a good choice if most of your driving is short trips.

My 2020 Prius Prime Plug-in is averaging 81.2 MPEG (combined miles per gallon on combo of gas and electric) since I returned from a round-trip to Tennessee two summers ago. Like PSUAXE70 said, I get gas somewhere between 2-2.5 months apart. You will never hear me complain about that car. Plus it’s pretty spiffy looking and has all the bells and whistles. You can spend all the dough you want on a BMW; give me a Prius Prime Plug-in.

 

[PSU Mike]

Picking up the Penn State Blue & White buggy after work …

https://www.carmax.com/car/25520076

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

Very nice. Don’t forget to name her, let it come to you.

 

[PSU_Lions_84]

Wife and I are probably perfect consumers for an all-electric vehicle. Most of our errands are contained in a 10-mile radius, with an occasional jaunt to a larger town 30 miles away. And even our occasional vacations out West could be configured around charging locations/times. BUT we tend to be late adopters of new tech (not quite Luddites but . . . ) and I am not enamored of what appears to be wild price fluctuations for fully EV units.

I'd be intrigued to try a hybrid that is primary electric/secondary ICE but they seem to be a niche and so are (for us) pricey. In the meantime, I try to maintain our Buick Lacrosse in peak condition - averaged 32.5 mpg, fully loaded and with three passengers, on our recent drive to/from Montana. That includes hitting Chicago rush hour traffic (HUGE mistake) and running on 80-mph rated highways.

Anyone have advice on models to keep an eye on over the next 3+ years? Buick only has 57K miles on it, and I dislike making car payments, but do like doing car research. Thanks!

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

I want this:

look to Kia for full electric value
look to Lexus/Toyota for plug in hybrids (they go 35-40 miles on electric before the gas engine takes over, the PERFECT solution for your use case
look at electric range:

20 Best Plug-In Hybrids for 2025 - Ranked - TrueCar

TrueCar has ranked the best plug-in hybrids for May 2025. Research the top-performing vehicles on our list before heading to the dealership!

www.truecar.com

 

[step.eng69]

Forget the plug-in requirement.

The Mercedes “450” package consists of a turbocharged inline 6 cylinder engine equipped with a 48 volt battery which completely eliminates turbo lag.

I bought wife #4 a GLE450 and she loves it. She drives fast but that thing gets 30+ mpg

I bought wife #4

wut? Lmao

IaKa,

PPB's #4 wife is A 'High Maintenance' type of gal............