I've been asked this question a lot by friends, co workers and fellow enthusiasts on CL, so I thought I would give my reasons why I chose a BEV over a HEV. Before I get into that, let me talk about two particular hybrids I've driven recently, a 2021 Toyota Camry XLE hybrid and a 2021 Lexus LS500h. First let me start with the Camry Hybrid. It's an extremely nice car, fairly comfortable, and well built. It's pleasant to drive slow, and is generally smooth and quiet. But what's most impressive is the combined 52 mpg, and the 673 mile range on a full tank of gas. What's not impressive is it has a little raspy whining sound when accelerating hard. Also what's not impressive is its 0-60 in 8 seconds and 208 hp gasoline/electric motor. For most people that's adequate, but not for people like me.

The next hybrid I've driven is the 2021 Lexus LS500h. Much better driving experience with AWD, really nice 10 speed, smooth shifting eCVT. It has decent power at 416 354hp/442 257 ft-lbs torque. Extremely smooth pickup and driving experience. When it comes to a great driving experience, can't complain here. Even has pretty good acceleration with 0-60 in 5 seconds. I could live with and love this car. Except when I look at MPG...a combined 21 28 mpg. Ok, it's actually pretty good for a 400 354 hp 3.5L. My 2010 IS350 with roughly 50 hp less doesn't gets this mpg on a really good day.

Now let me get into why I prefer BEV over HEV by contrasting it with the EV I bought and drive every day by looking at the efficiency and performance. Keep in mind that I am not making an apples to apples comparison, as the Camry is a mid-size appliance and the LS500h is a full size luxury car. I'm only comparing performance and efficiency between hybrid and BEV. With that out of the way, Here are the specs of my Polestar 2:

Dual Motor AWD, 408 hp/487 ft-lbs torque. 0-60 between 4.1 and 4.4 seconds. 85 Combined MPG equivalent (MPGe), real world MPG has been over 100 MPG equivalent. 240 mile range on a full charge, supports 150 kWh Fast charging, depending on battery temp, charging time is between 25 and 35 minutes. 99 percent of charging is done at home, and average electricity cost per month is $30.

An argument can be made that some hybrids can go long distances without fill-ups, and that is absolutely true, but I haven't had to visit a gas station in months so that "strength" doesn't mean much to me. Also I've taken my Polestar on a long trip (you can see the details in my Polestar thread) and it took the same amount of time to reach my destination and back if I had taken one of my ICE vehicles. The only shortcoming, which is really not a shortcoming to me is the 240 mile range, except it's never been a problem because I'm usually fully charged every morning, and in the event I need to charge fast, there are superchargers all around me, and usually a 20 minute charge is usually sufficient.

To summarize, the Toyota Camry hybrid is underpowered, slow, has an annoying buzzy engine under load, and gets 52 mpg, the LS500h is super smooth, pretty peppy but gets a combined 21 28 MPG, the Polestar 2 is not only peppy, quiet and super smooth, but has 408 hp and gets above 100 MPGe. For my particular needs, that makes BEV the way better choice over HEV.

I've already stated my points on why I wouldn't buy a hybrid, I really have nothing more to add. Please have at it, I only ask that people remain respectful to each other

 

It's a half-measure that really only serves to relieve range anxiety. I have a hybrid myself, and it's probably one of the worst hybrids ever made. I like it for what it is, but as a hybrid, it's terrible.

 

LS500 uses the 10-speed auto. The LS500h uses a Multistage electronically controlled continuously variable transmission (eCVT) paired with a four-speed automatic transmission. Also it's rated at 22 city / 29 hw / 25 combined for fuel economy, and the total system horsepower is 354hp. 416 is the LS500.

The Camry Hybrid uses an eCVT

Neither are a traditional CVT you're thinking of in say a Nissan hybrid. Toyota uses something profoundly better, eCVT is really a PSD or power-split device which uses a planetary gear set not the belts and pulley's of a traditional CVT.

 

Hybrids are fine for what they are, but the biggest joke is calling them "self-charging EV's" like certain companies like to do.

 

These HP.TQ ratings are not correct.

MPG rating is incorrect too.

 

I stand corrected:

Maximum Horsepower @ RPM
354 @ 6600
Maximum Torque @ RPM
257 @ 4900

EPA Greenhouse Gas Score
NA
CO2 Emissions, 15K mi/year (tons)
6.3
Range, city/highway (miles)
555.00 / 732.60
EPA Fuel Economy, combined/city/highway (mpg)
28 / 25 / 33

 

Thanks for correcting that. It didn't feel like a CVT. I mixed up the 10 speed with the non hybrid LS500. I didn't get to drive this on a regular road, I drove it at a Lexus driving event last year

 

I'm not a fan of half measures, unfortunately ( I want my cake and to eat it)

 

I personally like having a sunroof in my car that opens. I was looking at the Toyota bZ4x and no sunroof, so I guess that is a NO NO for me. Venza lack a sunroof tool which is very weird.

 

I've had three cars with sunroofs (2006 Camry, my current 2010 IS350, and a 2018 Civic Si, and I may have opened the sunroof twice...between all the cars

 

I open mine almost every single morning en route to wherever from the month of March-November. Obvi when its raining or snowing its closed. IMO it makes the care special I really do not like the trend of giant fixed glass roofs. Venza has that cloudy thing where it goes all dark and cloudy and the Mirai has a fixed roof with a beam in the middle as well as a sunshade. Meh

 

Wish my car had a sunroof...it wasn't an option on the 7th gen Accord Hybrid. Oh well. I have a convertible for the nice days anyway.

Sunroofs are wonderful for the commute, with the sun lower to the horizon. The electrochromic sunroof thing is really cool to show your friends, but that's about it.

 

Lol 99% of people want a car with sunroof but they never use it. Admittedly, I don't either but in this disgusting climate of western Washington I don't have much of a reason.

 

Most automakers are moving to fixed glass roofs, I'm not a fan either, I chose a steel roof. As far as sunroof, never use them. Also one thing to note, in the 2IS forum, a lot of leaking/stuck sunroofs

 

Sunroofs require cleaning. Specifically of the drains, especially if they're parked outside. It's a maintenance item, and while dealers will recommend it as part of regular service, most people think it's useless and skip it. Until a particularly heavy rainstorm leaves 2" of water in their footwells.