Hybrids vs EV systems analysis

I have watched that video and I agree with you Bob. Rationally, spreading the battery capacity across more cars makes sense, however philosophically the marketing allure of "kicking gas" seems to be winning out. The consumers' hearts and minds are resonating more with the purity of going all-electric. As well, on an individual basis as economies of scale and competition continue to drive down battery costs, the financial penalty of carrying extra battery capacity will become a more minor factor.

What I wonder is what will play out in the heavier consumer vehicle sector. When pickups and large SUVs go electric, will they choose to have even more massive battery packs or will they go PHEV? As the recent discussions around towing performance has illustrated, you're going to need a lot more energy to push larger, less aerodynamic vehicles through the air. As you know, I am a Clarity PHEV owner, and I think that PHEV still makes a lot of sense for these applications. In fact, a pickup which is normally driven around town unloaded, but takes a trailer when taking a long trip, extremely amplifies the issues that current EVs have about being suitable for daily use but needing fast charging infrastructure for long distance travel.

From an emissions-avoided perspective, I would much rather see a PHEV truck offered that meets anyone's needs and get adopted widely and runs 75% of miles on EV, than to have a pure-EV truck which gets rejected by most due to not being suitable on 10 days of the year, who then continue to drive with gas-emissions vehicles 100% of the time.

 

From what I've heard, the future of the larger vehicles might be hydrogen engines rather than electric ones.

Hydrogen isn't convenient for regular cars because it is too costly to have lots of hydrogen stations but for fleets of tow trucks, busses, and other large vehicles, that might make sense.