Road trip in a plug-in hybrid (PHEV)

 

EV Nerd stuff, but interesting...

We have a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) Compact SUV.  PHEV are in between hybrid and fully electrical vehicles.  They have a larger battery than a hybrid, which can be charged like a full EV.   PHEV have a gas engine so we don’t have to have the battery charged.

 

	Normal SUV	PHEV SUV	Full Electric SUV
Battery	0	14.1 kilowatt-hour	60-90 kWh
Battery Range	0	16-32 miles	200-350 miles
Gas Tank	18.5 gallons	14.3 gallons	0
Extra Weight	0	530 lbs.	~500 lbs.*

 * The full electric battery and motors are heavier but that is offset by not having a gas engine.

We are taking our smaller power cord that can plug into a normal outlet (120 Volt, 15 Amp or a 240 Volt, 20 Amp).  At home we have a larger 9.6 kW power cord but our car can only charge at 7.2 kW rate.

Outlet	Power	Time to Charge
120 Volt, 15 amp (normal outlet)	1.4 kW	10 hrs.
240 Volt, 20 amp	3.8 kW	4 hrs.
240 Volt, 50 amp	9.6 kW	2 hrs.

Most people don’t know the charger (power supply) is built into the car.  On board chargers range from 3.2 kW to over 12 kW.

Our SUV has a battery range of 16-32 miles.  For our trip we are assuming a full charge equals about a gallon of gas. At home it costs us about $1.50 to charge.  On the road we are willing to pay up to $5 for a full charge.