Is there any harm if one gets a PHEV but never intends to plug in? That is effectively treating it as a normal hybrid car.
Of course you can ask why not get a hybrid only in first place but I am asking whether there is any technical problem.
Plugging phone into charger is enough faff for me, so I rather avoid it with a car :-)
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Probably nothing technical.
But when it comes to sale time someone may prefer a car which has good evidence of "proper" usage by current user (i.e. a high ratio of electric miles v. dino juice).
I can't understand people who find plugging stuff in to be such an issue. It takes seconds.
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Why would you buy a car that has a feature specifically designed to reduce fuel costs, and then choose not to use it?
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>> Why would you buy a car that has a feature specifically designed to reduce fuel
>> costs, and then choose not to use it?
>>
Friends of ours had a Mercedes C300E PHEV for 2 years as a company car. They never plugged it in once (why use your private home electricity to power your employer's car?) but they did enjoy reduced BiK rates :-)
It was running fine when it went back, in answer to the OP.
Abuse of a similar scheme in the Netherlands has lead to the government there withdrawing the carrots, hence a collapse in sales of hybrid cars there.
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Do these cars have separate odometers showing petrol vs electric miles? How do they take care of miles raking with both motor and engine running?
How one would find proof if PHEV was never plugged in?
Do people always charge PHEV using specially installed sockets outside home or via standard electric sockets? If latter, that requires opening windows and carrying a cable inside the home - right?
Are charging sockets universal or requires to be changed if you change PHEV make?
People living in flats is likely to have problems with charging.
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Mine has a lifetime electric MPG display which tops out at 250 mpg, which is what it would show if it had been used solely on electric (and some have). Mine is on about 75 mpg because it was previously owned by a company car user who more or less didn't use it as an EV. I expect there are numerous other less obvious means to tell how much it's been used on electricity, of you have an OBD2.
For a year I charged mine on standard 13 amp socket, which gives a slow charge but uses leccy at a level which my solar panels can sometimes completely provide, in good weather. However I have just changed to an EV tariff with my supplier which gives me overnight electricity for 4 hours at 5p a unit which means I am now using the (free) wall charge, and thus charging at a faster rate. My car will charge from empty to full just inside the 4 hours, and that takes me between 30 - 45 miles at a cost of about 60p at the cheap rate.
As I have a garage and drive I do not have to have cables through windows, the wall charger is just inside the garage and a standard length cable reaches the car parked on the drive.
There are different cable standards but they seem slowly coming to one standard. Public points can often cater for more than one type, but I have no experience of using them - my car charges too slowly, or they are too expensive, for them to be of much use for me. Would be useful for someone with a different driving pattern etc.
There are public chargers (in car parks and parking bays), and some have chargers at work, but yes, as per previous discussions here the infrastructure isn't there for everyone to be doing it yet.
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 20 Dec 18 at 12:46
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If you never intend plugging it in, surely you’re carrying around 200 or so more Kgs of battery than necessary? That’s going to hurt fuel economy!
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>> If you never intend plugging it in, surely you’re carrying around 200 or so more
>> Kgs of battery than necessary? That’s going to hurt fuel economy!
And blunt performance.
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I heard recently that PHEV company cars are being returned at the end of their agreement with the charging cables still in their (sealed) plastic bags. This is because the BIK is advantageous, but it doesn't outweigh the disadvantages, ie not having off-road parking, paying for the leccy, etc, etc.
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It must be a peculiarly soulless type who chooses a PHEV company car purely for the BiK advantage, and never uses the extra performance afforded by the electric motor - not to mention the lack of concern for the environment.
I don't think I'd want to employ a dreary person like that.
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Maybe not dreary. But most probably lazy and/or ignorant!
And cynical!
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>> Maybe not dreary. But most probably lazy and/or ignorant!
>>
>> And cynical!
Cynical is a desirable employee requirement in some industries.
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Life is full of Givers and Takers.
Someone who takes the BIK advantage of reduced tax (to reflect the reduced emissions), but doesn't take the associated responsibility to charge is showing miserable behaviour.
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If not plugging in a PHEV - smokie
