• The primary advantage of electrics (and plug-in hybrids to an extent) is the fact that you don’t have to go to the pump at all. You not only save on gas costs but also spend no time waiting in lines or making a detour on your commutes. You wake up each morning and your car is ready to go. Most offices and malls also have charge outlets, so you can juice up your car while you work/shop, so you save time.

• All-electric cars are meant to be charged overnight. Most of them take 6-10 hours for a full charge on a residential 240v (level 2) outlet. The time doubles on a regular 120v outlet. Plug-in hybrids with their smaller batteries can typically be fully charged in 2 hours or so.

• All-electric cars now have about 200 miles of mileage on a single charge. As long as your drives take you around generally populated areas, you should be good with that kind of mileage. There would be no massive difference between 240 miles range and 200 miles range, so don’t use the exact number in your considerations. There is a great NYTimes long read on this https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/27/opinion/electric-car-battery-range.html

  • If you want to own a single car, want to go on long drives, and want it to be all-electric, then a Tesla with its supercharger network is the only viable option as things stand, although Volkswagon, Chevy, and Mercedes are trying to set up a similar network of their own.

• Even though the MSRP of hybrids and electric vehicles is higher (about 10-20% higher than equivalent gas models), consider the fuel savings and government rebates that might offset some of the extra costs. The dealer can help you get the final cost after applicable discounts.

• All-electric cars have lower maintenance costs, as they have no oil changes, fewer moving parts, and a lot of technology to assist with diagnostics. However, insurance cost does increase by 10% or so because individual parts are more expensive to replace.

• 'Hybrid's come in two primary flavors for different models/manufacturers. If you like a car, make sure you understand its fueling online or when talking to the dealer.

  • Plug-in hybrid: They have a battery that can be charged via a plug, and then a gas engine for backup. The battery usually has a limited range (less than 50 miles), before gasoline kicks in and takes over. As long as the limited range is larger than your commute, you can use these as an electric car for daily use and switch over to gas for long drives.
  • Regenerative / Parallel Hybrid: Battery that charges while you drive, only used at low speeds (where gasoline is very inefficient). Switches to gas at higher speeds. The primary motive is to increase the EPA's estimated mileage.

<aside> 💡 There is no ‘one formula’ when it comes to plug-in hybrids. Different manufacturers have used the battery on vehicles in vastly different (albeit creative ways). You have Toyotas that have used batteries to extend gas efficiency for as long as we can remember, Hyundai gives a 40-mile battery that lets you select a ‘pure-electric’ mode for daily commutes, and Volvos use the battery to give a ‘kick’ to the gas engine so you get bursts of acceleration at any speed, Mercedes’s cars transition between battery and gas smoothly based on driving conditions. As a result, the plug-in hybrid of one manufacturer can feel very different from the plug-in hybrid of another.

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