You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

[Lynn]

It is a 2019 Hyundai Ionic Plug in Hybrid. I don't even have a "quick charge" cord for it. I just plug it into a 110 outlet. All the outlets in my garage are just 15 amp. I have never had one pop.

The plug in feature charges the HV battery enough that I can drive 35 miles without the gas motor kicking in. Of course that is assuming City driving. My commute is 18 miles, mostly highway. Driving at 80 mph, we would run out of the pure electric mode at about 26-28 miles. When I get to the office, I plug in. That means the HV battery is fully charged when we leave. MOST (not all) days are like today. We used zero gasoline. When I turn it off, it show "18 miles, 999 mpg" That's as high as the readout goes.

The great thing about it is if we decide to drive across country, then it functions just like a normal hybrid. We drove it to MCACN last year and got 50 mpg for the entire trip. The rear seats fold down giving incredible storage. We brought home four tires and ralley wheels as well as some other parts and our luggage.

Just turned over 33k miles. So far, all I have had to do is change oil & check the air in the tires.

Winter driving is a bit different. For some unknown reason, they did not put in any kind of auxiliary heater (unless you count the heated seats). That means if I turn the heater on when we leave the house, the gas engine kicks in just to run the heater. Still, normally on one of those trips it gets 300 to 400 mpg. If it isn't really cold, sometimes we don't turn on the heat, but just use the seat warmers. My garage is heated, so it isn't like we are getting in a cold car.

I don't understand why the powers that be think we need to go 100% electric cars by xxxx (pick your date). Plug in hybrids are the perfect transition, IMHO.

As far as the cost of the electricity; I bought a meter to see how much electricity I was using to charge it overnight. After driving home (18 miles, mostly at 80 mph) it takes between 36 cents and 40 cents. I think the biggest variable is North wind or South Wind. When we first got it in March of 2020, it cost about 27 cents. OG&E has hiked the rates from 7.1 cents per kwh to 10.56.

I fully expect rates to continue to climb. The increased demand for electric can't result in any thing other than higher rates.

Not trying to make this a political post; just reporting what is working for me.

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Keith Seymore]

Thank you, Lynn. Good summary*.

Originally Posted by Lynn

It is a 2019 Hyundai Ionic Plug in Hybrid. I don't even have a "quick charge" cord for it. I just plug it into a 110 outlet. All the outlets in my garage are just 15 amp. I have never had one pop.

The plug in feature charges the HV battery enough that I can drive 35 miles without the gas motor kicking in. Of course that is assuming City driving. My commute is 18 miles, mostly highway. Driving at 80 mph, we would run out of the pure electric mode at about 26-28 miles. When I get to the office, I plug in. That means the HV battery is fully charged when we leave. MOST (not all) days are like today. We used zero gasoline. When I turn it off, it show "18 miles, 999 mpg" That's as high as the readout goes.

The great thing about it is if we decide to drive across country, then it functions just like a normal hybrid. We drove it to MCACN last year and got 50 mpg for the entire trip. The rear seats fold down giving incredible storage. We brought home four tires and ralley wheels as well as some other parts and our luggage.

I think many folks here know I was on the Volt program, and therefore drove a series of preproduction vehicles over a four year period.

It worked great for me, too. It was 33 miles to the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, so I could go all the way there on one charge, spend the 8 hours (or 10 or 12 hours) during work re-charging and then head home. I could go months without turning on the internal combustion engine.

Conversely, if my wife called and pulled me off my normal commute I didn't have to worry about running out of juice while performing her errands.

Originally Posted by Lynn

Winter driving is a bit different. For some unknown reason, they did not put in any kind of auxiliary heater (unless you count the heated seats). That means if I turn the heater on when we leave the house, the gas engine kicks in just to run the heater. Still, normally on one of those trips it gets 300 to 400 mpg. If it isn't really cold, sometimes we don't turn on the heat, but just use the seat warmers. My garage is heated, so it isn't like we are getting in a cold car.

Same here; we did have some die-hards on the team who were "hyper-miling", and would drive through the winter without turning the heat on. I wasn't quite as hard core, but with the seat heaters it didn't take much cabin heat for me to be comfortable.

Originally Posted by Lynn

I don't understand why the powers that be think we need to go 100% electric cars by xxxx (pick your date). Plug in hybrids are the perfect transition, IMHO.

Unfortunately - the hybrid vehicles are the "worst of both worlds" in terms of complexity, housing both the internal combustion engine and everything that goes along with that, plus the electric drive and everything that goes along with that. They are both "fish and fowl", so to speak. I suspect that is why, from a manufacturer standpoint, there is a desire to go fully electric.

But, like you, I felt the hybrids were the perfect transition, helping owners and potential owners wean themselves off "range anxiety" while providing some impetus to develop the infrastructure, if not in earnest at least as a practice round.

*My comments are also apolitical; I don't have a political bone in my body. I tell people I am just a dumb car guy.

[Tenney]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

I think many folks here know I was on the Volt program, and therefore drove a series of preproduction vehicles over a four year period.

Good goin', Keith and team! Had two Volts, loved 'em - Went for a third and they were cancelled!