Types of Electrified Vehicles

Who they are for

HEVs are an excellent choice for people who do not have easy access to charging infrastructure. This includes people who usually have to park on the street or at apartments or condos that have not yet added charging stations.

What they are

Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs, or hybrids) use a small electric motor and smaller battery (1-2kWh) to boost the internal combustion engine and can travel very short distances on electric only. These electrified vehicles do not have a charging port and charge their batteries off of regenerative braking* only.

Image: Honda Accord hybrid from manufacturer's website

Who they are for

PHEVs are an excellent choice for people who can charge easily and often and primarily drive in the city and fairly short distances. They are also a good choice for someone who may want a full electric vehicle but have regular road trips that are more than ~150 miles without good charging infrastructure along the way.

PHEVs are not a good choice for people who cannot charge regularly, an HEV would be a more efficient choice in this case.

What they are

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs, or Plug-in hybrids) use an electric motor that is strong enough to power the vehicle on its own, but does not provide full vehicle rated power without the internal combustion engine. This is most useful for in town driving and slower highway speeds. PHEVs can drive in electric mode for 15-50 miles (~6 - 20kWh) depending on the vehicle and then can act as a standard hybrid when the battery has mostly depleted. They will primarily use the combustion engine on higher speed highway driving, especially on longer distances. These electrified vehicles do have a charging port, usually J1772, and can charge overnight from a standard wall outlet (L1) or, for faster charging, an L2 home charging station. Most PHEVs cannot charge at high speed (L3/DCFC) charging stations.

Image: Volvo XC60 Recharge from  manufacturer's website

Who they are for

BEVs are an excellent choice for people who have a L2 home charger, drive on trips that are less than 150 miles regularly with charging at each end, or longer trips with good charging infrastructure. The charging infrastructure has improved greatly over the past few years for road trips and, it has been found, that most BEV charging happens at home.

BEVs are also a better choice than PHEVs for people who have good local community L2 and L3 charging but don't have charging at home since most BEVs need to charge with a similar regularity to combustion engine vehicles heading to a gas station. 

What they are

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs or EVs) only use electric motors and have the largest battery packs, (60 - 100+kWh) to be able to go long distances. BEVs can drive at any speed and are often more responsive than combustion engine vehicles (they feel, and often are, very quick). BEV driving range depends on the vehicle, options, and driving conditions and can be from 150 - 325 miles on a charge.

Image: Kia EV9 from manufacturer's website