[0:00] [MUSIC PLAYING]
[0:02] SPEAKER: If you're not
sure an EV is right for you
[0:04] right now, trust me, I get it.
[0:06] I live in an apartment, and I
don't have a place to charge.
[0:09] An EV just doesn't make sense
for me right now either.
[0:11] Also, the average
transaction price of an EV
[0:14] is well over $50
grand at the moment.
[0:16] But, but, but gas
ain't cheap either.
[0:19] So what if you want a little
electrification in your life?
[0:24] The average transaction price
of a hybrid is around $42,000.
[0:28] That's almost $10 grand less.
[0:29] So let's find some
middle ground.
[0:31] We're going to run down the
differences between the hybrids
[0:33] and the plug-in
hybrids of the world.
[0:35] And at the end, we're going to
show you which ones we think
[0:37] are the best of each.
[0:38] So what's the difference?
[0:42] Oh.
[0:43] See, both hybrids and
plug-ins combine a gas engine
[0:46] with an electric motor, but you
can only plug one of them in.
[0:51] A conventional hybrid's
only fuel source
[0:53] is the gas you put in the tank.
[0:54] They take care of
their own battery
[0:56] by recapturing
energy during braking
[0:58] and using some power
from the gas engine.
[1:00] Hybrids can charge themselves up
because their batteries are tiny
[1:02] relative to a full electric car.
[1:04] The current Toyota
Prius, for example,
[1:06] uses a battery
that's 99% smaller
[1:08] than the battery in the
Tesla Cybertruck, seriously.
[1:13] Now, plug-in hybrids have
much bigger batteries
[1:15] than regular hybrids.
[1:16] But they're still
smaller than full EVs.
[1:18] They take gas and
you can plug them in
[1:19] to charge up the battery.
[1:20] So you can drive a plug-in
on pure electricity.
[1:23] Most plug-ins will
get you somewhere
[1:24] in the neighborhood of 20 to
25 miles of pure EV range.
[1:28] Some of them you can get up
to 40 miles on a full charge
[1:30] and you've still got hundreds of
miles of gas-powered range left.
[1:34] You can plug a PHEV, or plug-in
hybrid electric vehicle,
[1:37] into a level 2 or level
3 charging station.
[1:40] But you don't have to.
[1:41] Even if all you have is a
regular outlet in your garage,
[1:44] that's enough to charge a
plug-in hybrid overnight.
[1:46] Most will take anywhere
from 6 to 12 hours
[1:48] to get a full charge.
[1:52] That said, the goal here
isn't to drive everywhere
[1:54] on electricity alone,
but rather to blend
[1:56] gas and electric propulsion
as efficiently as possible.
[1:59] If you want to learn a lot more
about how hybrids, plug-ins,
[2:02] and EVs work, check out
our explainer video.
[2:04] Now, let's talk about what
this means for your wallet.
[2:07] In simple terms, you're going
to be saving money either way.
[2:09] The average price of gas in the
US right now is around $3.60
[2:13] a gallon.
[2:14] If you drive around 10,000 miles
a year and get an average of 25
[2:17] MPG in a regular
old gas-powered car,
[2:19] you're going to spend around
$1,400 a year on gas on average.
[2:22] A hybrid that gets
50 MPG immediately
[2:25] cuts that cost right in half.
[2:26] Plug-in hybrids are
a little bit trickier
[2:28] to calculate the savings on
because charging it up at home
[2:30] will add to your
electricity bill.
[2:32] Everyone's situation is
different, but simply put,
[2:34] electricity is
cheaper than gasoline.
[2:36] Last year, the average
price of electricity
[2:38] was about $0.15 per
kilowatt hour, which
[2:41] means most plug-in hybrids
only cost a couple of dollars
[2:43] for a full charge.
[2:44] So if you can plug-in
a PHEV at home,
[2:46] you'll cut your
gas usage even more
[2:48] and save that much more money.
[2:50] The EPA has a handy
calculator that you
[2:52] can use to figure out how
much you'll save if you take
[2:54] the plunge on a plug-in hybrid.
[2:55] We'll link that down below
so you can see how it works.
[2:58] I included a hypothetical
scenario for me
[3:00] if I were to buy,
say, a Prius Prime.
[3:02] Here's what that looks
like per the EPA.
[3:09] It's worth figuring out how
much you'll save over time
[3:11] because you'll pay more upfront
for a hybrid and even more
[3:14] for a plug-in.
[3:15] Another thing you might
want to keep in mind
[3:17] is that some plug-ins qualify
for the federal EV tax incentive
[3:20] if you're financing or buying,
which can help bring down
[3:23] that price Thanks to some rule
changes this year, a lot more
[3:25] of them qualify for at least
a partial credit if you lease.
[3:28] So keep that in mind
when you're shopping.
[3:30] If you want to learn
more about the EV tax
[3:32] incentive rules for
2024, guess what?
[3:34] We've got a video for that, too.
[3:36] Just click right up here.
[3:38] Now that that's
all out of the way,
[3:40] here are some of our favorite
hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
[3:46] When it comes to
hybrids, our picks
[3:48] are the Prius, if you want
a car, the Kia Sportage
[3:51] hybrid, if you want a crossover,
and the Toyota Grand Highlander
[3:53] if you want a three-row.
[3:55] The Prius won the Edmunds
Top Rated Car Award for 2024.
[3:58] And the Sportage hybrid, that
won the Edmunds Top Rated
[4:01] SUV for 2024.
[4:02] They get great fuel economy,
are pretty good to drive,
[4:05] and manage to pack in a bunch
of value in their own ways.
[4:08] The Grand Highlander
is super spacious
[4:10] and can be had with two
different hybrid systems.
[4:12] The basic hybrid gets great MPG,
but I'd go for the Hybrid MAX.
[4:16] Not only is it the most powerful
Grand Highlander you can buy,
[4:18] it's also so seamless, the
whole hybrid thing just
[4:21] falls away into the background.
[4:22] And you can still get up
to an EPA estimated 27 MPG.
[4:26] That's really impressive
for something so big.
[4:30] When it comes to plug-ins,
well, your choices
[4:32] are a bit slimmer since
they're not as popular.
[4:34] The Prius Prime is a
great option for a car.
[4:39] It takes the sleek lines
and fun-to-drive nature
[4:41] of the current Prius, adds an
even larger battery, even more
[4:44] power, and in our
real-world testing,
[4:46] it managed more than 30
miles of EV only range.
[4:51] If you're going for a
crossover, the Hyundai Tucson
[4:54] plug-in hybrid is
a great choice.
[4:55] It's about as spacious
as the Sportage
[4:57] we just mentioned, comes with
a ton of great tech and safety
[5:00] features, and gets
up to an estimated 33
[5:02] miles of electric-only range.
[5:04] When it comes to
people-hauling, though, nothing
[5:06] delivers quite like a minivan.
[5:11] The Chrysler Pacifica plug-in is
our pick if you need three rows.
[5:15] It's not only hugely spacious
and gets an estimated 32 miles
[5:18] of EV range, it also qualifies
for the full $7,500 EV tax
[5:22] credit.
[5:24] And there you have it.
[5:25] Thank you so much for watching.
[5:26] Be sure to do all the likey,
subscribey stuff down below.
[5:29] Word around here is
it's worth five minutes
[5:31] of good luck or something.
[5:32] We'll see you next time.
[5:34] Bye.
[5:34] And show you which
ones we think are
[5:36] best between hybrids and PHEVs.
[5:38] That's also not the line.
[5:40] [BEEP]
[5:40] Even if all you have is a
regular outlet in your garage--
[5:42] [BEEP]
[5:43] What if you want a
little el-- elec--
[5:45] So you can drive a PHEV--
[5:47] plug-in.
[5:47] [BEEP]
[5:48] So what's the difference?
[5:52] That works.
[5:54] That's good.