A lot of people still like to take longer trips (400 or so miles) in their automobiles. Not as often as they run around town, obviously, but these are things people think about when purchasing a vehicle. So, while hauling around a gas engine and tank seems wasteful, people are not yet willing to forego having a car with decent enough range to take them away for vacation.

For instance here in the Mountain Time Zone we pretty much get 1 1/2 cities per state and they're not small states so there's usually monthly trips of ~200 miles (± driving in the city).

It would take an in-depth study to be sure, but we may already live in a world where a hybrid is better than a conventional car on most measurements, and if we don't we're heading in that direction.

The basic theory is that an ICE that only need to cover part of the driving range can be more efficient than one that needs to scale from pulling out of the drive to speeding down a freeway overtaking a lorry at short notice. Bus manufacturers were experimenting with flywheels and all sorts of crazy tech to take strain of the main engine because this hit them hardest for various reasons.

As battery and electric car tech improves and lowers in price, purr electric cars will encroach further onto hybrids, but the same forces will let hybrids encroach further onto ICE territory at the same time.

I don't understand the rationale of your comments. An electric only car would need a larger (heavier) battery for a longer range too, is that also wasteful in your view?. We need technologies like these to fill the gap until we can depend solely on batteries

There's nothing irrationale about that. One disadvantage of the battery technology is that "half-filling" a battery doesn't half its weight. A Tesla-sized battery pack for 100 km daily trip wastes lot of energy (several hunders of kilograms of dead weight, even regenerative brakes cannot recovery all the kinetic energy.)

Sounds like a hybrid isn't for you, then. The good thing is other manufacturers make pure gasoline or pure electric cars, so there is choice.

For some of us, a plug-in hybrid is a great choice, at least until the range improves on pure electric cars.

To clarify, I think hybrids are great and electric cars are great. I think it's wasteful to take a hybrid and mostly use it as an electric car.

Specifically, in the linked article they are trumpeting increased electric range in the Volt. It makes more sense to get a Leaf and rent a Prius for long range driving.

>you are wasting electrical power hauling around a gas engine and gas tank

The Volt weighs much less than the Tesla. The reality is that battery tech is expensive, heavy, and delicate so hybrids still make sense. A near empty gas tank weighs nothing and a near empty battery weighs the same as a full one. This stuff gets a bit more complex as you look into how it really works. Not to mention the Volt comes in at pricing that's half or even 1/3rd the price Tesla, depending on packages/trim.

The Volt is a great concept and the next logical step in hybrid technology. It leans more on the battery powered aspect, than say, the Prius, which is still primarily powered by gas. We're just not at the point where a full electric is in the cards for most people.

It will be interesting to see how the different approaches develop. While there's something to be said for the "purity" of an all-electric car, there's also some reasons to think a plug-in hybrid with a moderate size battery may be the better choice for the mainstream.

- Batteries are expensive and buying a vehicle with batteries that are large enough to cover most uses will often be a more expensive approach than hybrid.

- There's a lot to be said for a vehicle that isn't range-limited even if it's normally used as a second vehicle to drive around town.

I assume you don't have a spare tire in that case. Or jumper cables?

Or a wife/husband?

and how much does the OP weigh?

I weight too damn much :-), but I'm still a lot lighter than a four-cylinder engine and transmission.

Doesn't the car use regenerative braking? In which case, the electrics are helping you even when using gas.

This is only a problem if you haven't taken other measures to lighten the car to compensate.

Edit: That also depends on the weight of each component. If the gas engine is not expected to run all the time, it can be smaller/lighter than an engine in a comparable car. If it is just a generator, which it seems to be, then a whole lot of complexity is saved, beginning with the transmission. Electric engines are very small for their power, which also helps.

> If you often use the gas engine, you are wasting gas hauling around extra-large batteries

... but batteries can still provide lot of gas-free kilometers before becoming a dead weight, making big contribution to your mpg.

Alternately, the best of both worlds. The battery pack in the Tesla is some 1300lbs. The Volt's battery pack is 400lbs. That's 900lbs less of battery you're accelerating around all day, and contributes to the fact that the Volt weighs some 1200lbs less than the Tesla.