Rivian 1/2 ton high temp, grade test. Good read/video

valhalla360 wrote:

Reisender wrote:

Both Ford and GM have been doing some development in the hybrid truck market although it’s not clear if they’ll actually enter into serious production.

For cars, in developed countries it doesn’t make a lot of sense to go hybrid. Hybrids still have high maintenance and operating costs and none of the performance advantages. Hybrid cars tend to be doggy things in comparison to electrics. Hybrid sales have been falling for a few years although Toyota is still committed to making a comeback.

The next few years will be telling.

Old style hybrids don't make a lot of sense.

Plug-In-Hybrids make a ton of sense. None of the range issues of pure EVs and for most buyers who do mostly commuting, you can get 80-99% of miles of electric.

Honestly, it makes no sense why the EV proponents aren't pushing them hard as they answer 99% of the complaints for passenger car buyers.

PS: The maintenance cost thing is way overstated. Modern ICE are incredibly reliable and typically require little more than an annual oil change for $25. Vast majority of repair costs are for things like tires, suspension, brakes...which are present in all cars. You might save a little on brakes but PIH often do regenerative braking and if you aren't abusive, it's not hard to get 30-50k miles out of a set of brakes, so that's not a big issue.

Im sure plug in hybrids will continue to find a market and they probably suit some people’s driving needs quite well right now. But they are more complex and really not any cheaper. As well the range on many of the full EV’s sold now combined with good charging infrastructure (read Tesla) is sufficient for road trips of 600 to 800 km assuming a lunch break charge.

Toyota’s Prius prime seems to be hanging in there though so there is still a market for plug in hybrids. Nice car. Hate the goofy looking front end. It has a good reputation though.

Re maintenance costs for hybrids. From what I gather they are pretty low. However when in gas mode their operating expenses are similar to an ICE car. Depending on where you live and what the gas and electricity prices are that can be quite high in comparison to a pure EV. Our total operating and maintenance costs were about 8 times higher with a Grand Cherokee than a model 3 Tesla. Both vehicles cost roughly the same. Grand Cherokee had great cargo room though. Meh. Pros and cons all around. I didn’t think we would want to go back to a premium high performance sports sedan...and yet here we are. LOL :). Who knows what it will be next time. :).