Help me decide BEV or EREV

[J Alynn]

We will go 6-9 hours depending on where but after that we fly. I’ve done some 10-12 hour drives but now a days it’s tougher than when I was in my 20’s and 30’s.

 

[cyure]

We will go 6-9 hours depending on where but after that we fly. I’ve done some 10-12 hour drives but now a days it’s tougher than when I was in my 20’s and 30’s.

My husband and I did a trip out to California a few years ago to visit my mom. 4400 miles in a week. We took the Supra. He drove freeway, I drove once we got into towns. We made it the whole way without one argument, talked about all kinds of stuff and listened to hours and hours of Dateline. Now every time I hear that intro music I think of our trip.

 

[J Alynn]

I was reminiscing yesterday about the road trips I did over the years with my mom. She used to read all the road signs/billboards. And down I-95 from mid Virginia to South of the Border she would read all the Pedro signs-IYKYK!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

My husband and I did a trip out to California a few years ago to visit my mom. 4400 miles in a week. We took the Supra. He drove freeway, I drove once we got into towns. We made it the whole way without one argument, talked about all kinds of stuff and listened to hours and hours of Dateline. Now every time I hear that intro music I think of our trip.

This is what my partner and I prefer.

If it’s just me, I’ll do up to about 16 hours in two days of driving or 24 hours in three days. But if it’s me and my partner, we’ll do a week or more of road tripping. I’ll drive most of the day and then she’ll drive in the afternoon/evening—I have trouble once it gets dark.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Example of why I don’t fly unless I have to:

From where I live, flying anywhere is at least half a day and $500 or more.
There’s only one airline that flies to my city. And there are two one-stop destinations. Any farther and it requires at least an hour layover in the connecting city but usually two or more hours layover. If I want to fly to one of the two first stops, it’s a minimum of 2 hours and likely 3-4 hours for the farther destination. I could drive between my home and the airport in the closer connecting city in less time than it takes to fly there. But the parking there is outrageous.

That time, the time to get to the airport, the hassle, and the cost mean it’s just not worth it to fly unless I’m going across the country.

To fly from my home city to the LA area is a minimum of 6 hours (there’s a quicker flight, but it only has 20 minutes between landing and takeoff in the connecting city, which is impossible). After getting to LA, I have to wait for luggage and get a car, then drive to my destination. That’s at least an hour and usually two. So we’re talking 8 hours and $500-$1500 to fly round trip.

Or I can drive for 7.5 hours. Along the way, I get to listen to a good audiobook, take several stops for clean restrooms and to stretch my legs, a stop for a good lunch, another for a good dinner. And I have my own car when I’m there. That costs $70 one-way.

 

[Scout948]

I just posted this to a similar question on the other popular forum, so will give my two cents on this topic. Technically I have owned both BEV and EREVish tech; specifically a Mach‑E GT for three years and a 1st Gen Chevy Volt for eleven. With the Scout BEV offering nearly 100 miles more electric range than our current EV, the choice is pretty straightforward for us. We already rarely need public charging, only on longer vacation trips, and a 350‑mile range will easily cover all of our regular driving. Like a lot of families, most of our longer non-local trips are the classic 1.5–2 hour drives to see relatives, which fall well within that round‑trip range.

So people really need to ask themselves whether they truly need 500 miles. And when they do, is it worth giving up the extra EV performance and taking on the added maintenance that comes with an EREV platform? It's true that Hybrid tech gives you the pros of both ICE and EV, but they also bring the cons of both. You still have all the maintenance of a gas vehicle and the battery considerations of an EV. As someone who’s been through it, the battery concerns are overblown, but new EV buyers will have to experience that for themselves.

Personally, I’d rather deal with the “cons” of just one technology and enjoy the full benefits of an EV. After living with the instant torque of the Mach‑E GT, I’m not interested in Camry‑level 0–60 times paired with its ICE complexity and maintenance. But that’s just me.

So take it from someone that has already had both techs as I now look at hybrid cars as nothing but a stepping‑stone for people who still have range anxiety or aren’t ready to trust a full EV yet. Believe me, I don't blame new perspective owners as I was once one myself as it took me following this same path before I went full EV. But the tech has come a long way, and for most drivers, especially those who aren’t racking up huge daily mileage, skipping the hybrid stage altogether makes a lot more sense today.

 

[J Alynn]

I just posted this to a similar question on the other popular forum, so will give my two cents on this topic. Technically I have owned both BEV and EREVish tech; specifically a Mach‑E GT for three years and a 1st Gen Chevy Volt for eleven. With the Scout BEV offering nearly 100 miles more electric range than our current EV, the choice is pretty straightforward for us. We already rarely need public charging, only on longer vacation trips, and a 350‑mile range will easily cover all of our regular driving. Like a lot of families, most of our longer non-local trips are the classic 1.5–2 hour drives to see relatives, which fall well within that round‑trip range.

So people really need to ask themselves whether they truly need 500 miles. And when they do, is it worth giving up the extra EV performance and taking on the added maintenance that comes with an EREV platform? It's true that Hybrid tech gives you the pros of both ICE and EV, but they also bring the cons of both. You still have all the maintenance of a gas vehicle and the battery considerations of an EV. As someone who’s been through it, the battery concerns are overblown, but new EV buyers will have to experience that for themselves.

Personally, I’d rather deal with the “cons” of just one technology and enjoy the full benefits of an EV. After living with the instant torque of the Mach‑E GT, I’m not interested in Camry‑level 0–60 times paired with its ICE complexity and maintenance. But that’s just me.

So take it from someone that has already had both techs as I now look at hybrid cars as nothing but a stepping‑stone for people who still have range anxiety or aren’t ready to trust a full EV yet. Believe me, I don't blame new perspective owners as I was once one myself as it took me following this same path before I went full EV. But the tech has come a long way, and for most drivers, especially those who aren’t racking up huge daily mileage, skipping the hybrid stage altogether makes a lot more sense today.

I agree with your logic. For the couple times a year I need 350 miles I’ll live with the extra 25 minutes. I talked with a client today who knows I’m following Scout and he has a Mach-E. He spent last day driving from northwest of Philly to DC then back up. Today he stopped at a T supercharger and took 16 minutes to charge from 14% to 80%. So for a full day of reasonable driving you only add 30-35 minutes-give or take. Said he grabbed a bite and checked emails and car finished before he did. BEV just makes sense

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I just posted this to a similar question on the other popular forum, so will give my two cents on this topic. Technically I have owned both BEV and EREVish tech; specifically a Mach‑E GT for three years and a 1st Gen Chevy Volt for eleven. With the Scout BEV offering nearly 100 miles more electric range than our current EV, the choice is pretty straightforward for us. We already rarely need public charging, only on longer vacation trips, and a 350‑mile range will easily cover all of our regular driving. Like a lot of families, most of our longer non-local trips are the classic 1.5–2 hour drives to see relatives, which fall well within that round‑trip range.

So people really need to ask themselves whether they truly need 500 miles. And when they do, is it worth giving up the extra EV performance and taking on the added maintenance that comes with an EREV platform? It's true that Hybrid tech gives you the pros of both ICE and EV, but they also bring the cons of both. You still have all the maintenance of a gas vehicle and the battery considerations of an EV. As someone who’s been through it, the battery concerns are overblown, but new EV buyers will have to experience that for themselves.

Personally, I’d rather deal with the “cons” of just one technology and enjoy the full benefits of an EV. After living with the instant torque of the Mach‑E GT, I’m not interested in Camry‑level 0–60 times paired with its ICE complexity and maintenance. But that’s just me.

So take it from someone that has already had both techs as I now look at hybrid cars as nothing but a stepping‑stone for people who still have range anxiety or aren’t ready to trust a full EV yet. Believe me, I don't blame new perspective owners as I was once one myself as it took me following this same path before I went full EV. But the tech has come a long way, and for most drivers, especially those who aren’t racking up huge daily mileage, skipping the hybrid stage altogether makes a lot more sense today.

This is great.
One addendum: From someone who is about mid-range on miles per year (15k to 25k per year, depending on work and family obligations), and a higher-than-average road trip miles/year, my BEV experience is far superior to my hybrid experience.