So I just came back from fall fishing in Utah for the week and noticed there were ZERO PHEV, Fuel Cell, or EV cars on the road unless they were tourists from other states. All I saw were 4WD and AWD cars that locals drive (snow and ice territory)... I do wish Honda would make a AWD Pilot or CRV that is a PHEV or FCV flavor - then I could drive her to colder states and fish instead of renting an ICE.... Another factor was the fuel prices were very low in UT. $2.59 / gallon in UT compared to $4.89 / gallon in CA. That might be the biggest reason people won't buy an alternative propulsion car.... My vacation week in Utah chasing brownies on the rivers: My guide wanted a selfie with a smiling brown trout: Cold winter day and then a warm day in beautiful Utah fishing on the Weber river with a drowned dry fly...
Great pictures. Wish I was there! Here is the answer to your problem and it’s all BEV, but perhaps not as practical as an SUV. (but a lot more fun!) https://electrek.co/2019/10/28/borgwarner-ariel-nomad-electric-off-road-beast/
Toyota has the RAV4hybrid in AWD and the upcoming PHEV model is suspected to also use the same (e)AWD design. I just filled up the Clarity here in south Texas for $2.09/gal for a total of $9.40 for the week's long commute. Plus, we have a "free nights" electricity program for charging so combined that works out to about .02 cents/mile! Another beauty of dual-fuels. Need to educate the public more but that is a very long and slow process. We'll get there..... eventually.
Good to know Toyota will be coming out with a PHEV version of the RAV4. The current RAV4 hybrid is pretty impressive but the biggest seller for me would be the AWD and PHEV together...
The baby step from Honda will be the CRV hybrid AWD that is already available in Europe. Not a PHEV, but shares a lot of similarities to the Clarity but with a battery about 1/10th the size and power available to all 4 wheels when needed, and obviously in the SUV format. I watched this review of it - and as an aside this is the best youtube car review I've ever seen; it is cool that he was able to push it to its' maximum speed on the autobahn - and I am hoping that Honda can extend it to a PHEV or BEV at some point.
I guess you must have missed me. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah and drive a Clarity PHEV. Also, if you had gone downtown in Salt Lake City you would have seen many charging stations that are free State of Utah furnished and paid for. One other thing: Electricity cost are very low in Utah. I pay 8.6 cents per KWh.
Unfortunately, Utah get 70% of its electricity from coal.... https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=UT
Yeah, but the good news it was 78% in 2007, and the latest data (July 2019) shows it is below 60%. So it is decarburizing quickly, and solar is increasing (25x 2015 levels).
I have always viewed the Clarity as a transitional vehicle for ~5 years. I came "this close" to buying a Tesla but I figured if EV's are great today wonder what they will be like in 5 years? Landscape changes monthly. By 2021/2022 there will be a whole host of PHEV/BEV's available for purchase. I figure by then the public charging infrastructure will be more widely available, range will increase, overall efficiencies greatly enhanced...etc. Most major car manufacturers have outlined strategies to increase EV vehicle presence in the marketplace which means more advertising which means more cajoling of the public for acceptance of the technology. There's hope on the horizon.
Here's 2017 & 2018 numbers by state that show Utah in the middle of the pack at #23 a bit below North Carolina where I live. It's also interesting to change the sort to Market Share within the state which makes Utah a respectable #14 while dropping North Carolina to #25. https://evadoption.com/ev-market-share/ev-market-share-state/ Our Clarity is really lonely when we visit relatives in West Virginia which comes in at #46 or #48 on the list depending on how you sort it! geo
No state can give away for free, something it hasn’t first taken away. They have no other source of revenue. Charging stations are paid for with funds from bonds. EV’s in Utah and many other states pay additional registration fees. Everyone is paying for it and a few may reap the benefits. I may feel free, but it isn’t.
This might explain why the Clarity is not being pushed for sales. New models are coming out soon to replace test units that we are driving ?
I'm waiting for the RAV4 PHEV. If it's got good mileage and a large enough battery it just might replace my 2008 Sorento. I am not, and won't be for a while, a fan of pure EV. If enough chargers are ever put in place and regulated (a poster on the FB page showed pictures of 2 hour limits and vehicles were parked there for up to 11 hours) then I might change my mind. I am very skeptical of the ability of this country to emplace the infrastructure required to alleviate range anxiety.