The uncomfortable truth about hybrid vehicles

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Apologies to the Toyota Prius, but the notable first hybrid vehicle was the Semper Vivas, developed by Ferdinand Porsche (yes, that Porsche) in 1900. Semper Vivas (Latin for “always alive”) used two combustion engines to power generators, which then provided power to motors inside the wheel hubs. The fact that it took modern engineers more than a century to appreciate the merging of internal combustion engines with electric power is a sign that ingenuity is not always a foregone conclusion in the automotive world.

Car companies are now trying to make up for lost time. Due to stagnant EV sales, hybrid vehicles are seeing a huge increase in popularity, with sales reaching record levels in 2024 and 2025. Hybrids are often positioned as a stepping stone between yesterday’s gas-powered cars and tomorrow’s fully electric cars. Plug-in hybrids can offer 20-60 miles of electric-driving for daily use, as well as a gas engine for longer trips or when they can’t recharge. And as EV growth slows, many automakers clearly see hybrids — and more specifically, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) — as a better fit for America’s fluctuating tastes. To give you an idea of ​​where things are headed: The Toyota RAV4, America’s most popular vehicle of any kind, is now only available in hybrid trims.

But cracks have started to appear in that market too. Without stricter fuel economy standards or EV tax credits, some automakers are moving away from PHEVs. For example, Jeep recently axed its PHEV model, despite being one of the best-selling plug-in hybrids in the country. Recently, automakers have been turning to extended-range EVs (EREVs), which use small gas engines to recharge EV-sized batteries for additional range.

But for plug-in hybrids to deliver on the promise of lower emissions and better gas mileage, they need to be plugged in. Don’t plug them in, and you’ll be left with a heavier, potentially more polluting gas car.

On the question of whether people are actually plugging their PHEVs in, the research is not very promising. Several studies have shown that plug-in hybrid owners often neglect to charge their batteries, defeating the purpose of having a vehicle capable of emission-free driving.

In 2024, telematics and fleet management company Geotab analyzed 1,776 PHEVs used in commercial fleets. It found that North American fleet operators were relying on gas for 86 percent of their total energy needs, suggesting that they were failing to charge their batteries well enough to run on electric-only power. Additionally the PHEV delivered an average fuel efficiency of 1.6 gallons every 62 miles (100 km), which is approximately 37 miles per gallon. That’s only a tiny bit lower than the average fuel efficiency of its gas counterparts, which consume 1.8 gallons every 62 miles, or 33.1mpg.

Another study released earlier this year by the Fraunhofer Institute used onboard fuel consumption monitoring (OBFCM) data from 981,035 vehicles across Europe. With data from nearly one million cars, the study authors were able to draw conclusions about the behavior of plug-in hybrid owners. The results were quite shocking: PHEVs required an average of 6 liters of fuel per 100 km, almost three times more than previously claimed. This was because these vehicles were running on electricity as well as consuming fuel – contrary to the claims of many manufacturers. And because drivers weren’t plugging their cars in, they weren’t getting the full benefit from their powertrains, instead choosing to stick around with a near-drained battery while using far more fuel than they should have.

Toyota hybrid owners were the best, using 44 percent of the energy they used for driving, which suggests these drivers were plugging in more often. Porsche owners were the worst, averaging just 0.8 percent, 7kWh over two years. Ferdinand Porsche is probably rolling in his grave.

There is still some hope for hybrid vehicles. Some automakers think they can get their customers to get serious about plug-ins by making a game. For example, a prototype feature that simplifies charging was recently added to Toyota’s ChargeMinder app in the US and Japan. The feature used notifications, positive encouragement, and quizzes to help motivate owners toward better charging habits. In the US, PHEV owners were influenced to increase their charging frequency by 10 percent – ​​and as a result, their own ownership satisfaction improved by 16 percentage points.

Other automakers are betting on extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs, which essentially takes PHEVs and turns them around by starting with an EV-sized battery and platform and adding a small gas engine to recharge the battery. Of course, the EREV also needs to be plugged in. And Filled with gas, which takes us back to the same problem. Drivers seem to be good at refueling Or Recharging, but when asked to do both, they falter.

This puts many automakers in trouble. Take General Motors for example. The company’s Chevy Volt was one of the best-selling plug-in hybrids in America for years. But then GM scrapped it in 2018, opting to go completely EV instead. And while it resulted in some success — Chevy’s electric Blazer and Equinox are top sellers — it wasn’t enough to stem the political tide that is swamping EV policy at the federal level. This has forced GM to write off more than $6 billion from its EV investments, and now CEO Mary Barra says the company is actively exploring hybrids again.

But during a recent conference in Detroit, Barra voiced the inconvenient truth about hybrids: “What we also know about plug-in hybrids today is that most people don’t plug them in,” he said. “So we’re trying to be very thoughtful about what we do from a hybrid and plug-in hybrid perspective.”