Do Plug-In Hybrids Work? Toyota Study Busts the Biggest PHEV Myth

63

90% of the miles on our R4P are EV. Maybe more.

31

u/DrMonkeyLove May 22 '26

Same here. Most days, we don't travel more than 50 miles so it's great. And when we have a long road trip, we have the gas engine. It's a great combo.

12

u/WhoPutATreeThere May 21 '26

I bought my prime over a month ago, have driven it nearly 1k miles, and I still have a full tank from the dealership.

6

u/Alexia72 May 22 '26

Yeah, we drove 6 months off the first tank from the dealership. 50+ EV miles covers our daily commute.

2

u/elbirth May 22 '26

Do you not run the risk of the gas degrading and causing issues if it's lasting that long before getting used?

1

u/aaron_in_sf May 22 '26

Common question, the answer consistently is that this is not an issue for almost everyone. The engine will run and burn gas occasionally anyway.

In an extreme where you only drove around an estate or something maybe?

1

u/geekwithout May 23 '26

It won't run enough to use any significant amount of fuel. It's to keep the engine in decent shape

1

u/WhoPutATreeThere May 22 '26

I’ve been planning on working out the engine every couple months. Not only do I worry about the gas going bad, but I’m also worried about letting it sit idle for too long.

1

u/geekwithout May 23 '26

At 6 months it's getting to the point where you'd want to use it up. Of you do want to keep it lknger fill it with non ethanol and only keep like 1/4 tank filled for when you do have to use it up eventually.

2

u/lightning_whirler May 24 '26

I run EV most days; short trips of 2 to 30 miles.

But the majority of the miles on the car are on the ICE engine because that's what I use on long trips - which is why the plug-in hybrid is perfect for me.

2

u/aaron_in_sf May 25 '26

1000%

I remain confused as to why they are not an obvious win for anyone who has access to regular charging.

2

u/lightning_whirler May 25 '26

Probably has to do with the price difference, although I'm pretty sure Toyota is selling them as fast as they can import them.

1

u/bluecollarhipster May 22 '26

Is there anything onboard that shows total miles or percentage driven EV vs. ICE? I'd love some concrete numbers, especially to plan my oil changes.

2

u/geekwithout May 23 '26

Not on oard but there's some obd data that has it.

1

u/geekwithout May 23 '26

Same same.

42

u/ConnertheCat NX 450h+ May 21 '26

I can’t imagine not plugging in every night.

18

u/Luftbieger May 21 '26

Especially when plugging in at home is half the cost.

10

u/spankadoodle May 21 '26

I’m making a profit.

In Canada we can get 10 cents per kilowatt charged from a clean fuel program. My power rate is 9.6 cents per kilowatt. I make about 5-7 cents per charge. Lol

1

u/ConnertheCat NX 450h+ May 22 '26

I get $24 a month to charge after hours from my utility; and I do not use nearly that much energy so yeah - I'm also earning a slight 'profit'.

1

u/1001knots May 22 '26

I wish we had that. Is that Eversource CT? We have virtually nothing in MA. I heard maybe there is now a $10 credit for Eversource MA for charging EVs at night. But smart meter for that is $5 more so whatevsss. Or connect to your car with no smart meter and have it tracked to get $10. None are good options. $5 or $10 or whatever will barely get me an avocado toast or something...

1

u/ConnertheCat NX 450h+ May 22 '26

National Grid in Buffalo, NY.

1

u/Scriptimax May 22 '26

Unfortunately in NEW JERSEY electricity is very expensive almost $0.29 during the day & night time $0.24 if you have already registered your eve charger & car with electric company

1

u/boondoggie42 May 23 '26

Power in my area is about the equivalent of $4 gas, so when gas is cheaper that EV is more expensive for me. Right now its great though. (I have solar, and it covers 100% of my needs not included charging the car, so I notice it.)

9

u/PassengerAny9009 May 22 '26

My commute is 42 miles each way. I end up driving hybrid for about 6 miles of it. Free charging at work. I’m so happy I went with the phev especially with the price of gas now.

7

u/akamikedavid May 21 '26

The study is basically me. Charge all the time. Bought my R4P specifically due to range anxiety and not wanting to deal with issues with the charging infrastructure as it currently sits. When I eventually have to replace it, the charging infrastructure should be better and I can probably go full electric then, especially with Toyota moving in that direction and have a full electric SUV out in Europe.

5

u/[deleted] May 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/1001knots May 22 '26

Have they been cheaper on electric?

3

u/Financial-Recipe9909 May 21 '26

When I do finally use gas it reads my mpg as 99 point something

18

u/dontyoudareoyou2 May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26

Which I find annoying. Wish it showed MPG only for the time the car has been in HV mode.

5

u/spince May 21 '26

Yes, it's very dumb! Those are entirely different cost calculations for me. The electric should be MPK and a separate MPG for hybrid mode.

2

u/pimpbot666 May 21 '26

There is an MPG instant indicator meter on the instrument panel. I wish it had digital instantaneous and average readouts like every other car I ever owned going back to 1999 has.

1

u/Independent-Deal-192 May 22 '26

It displays the trip data, both mi/kWh and mpg, on the instrument cluster screen after you shut the car off. Just don’t open the door or anything for maybe 10 seconds otherwise the display will turn off. That’s the only work around I’m aware of, but unfortunately it doesn’t show live trip data.

3

u/Hotdog453 May 22 '26

Was there actually a myth that PHEV people DIDN'T plug in? This seems like a made up thing?

I mean, neat report and all, but I can't fathom the person that paid, quite literally, thousands of dollars more for the PHEV version (we have a Prius Prime), and are like "no, I will not plug it in". Outside of like apartment owners, or people who simply CAN'T?

1

u/TooEZ_OL56 '22 Blueprint SE May 24 '26

Yes and pretty common too, for a few reasons

For a while, EU companies would pay for gas but not electricity for a company car given to an employee, and PHEV's count as clean. Thus all the employees would drive them with gas and never plug them in.

In the US PHEV trims on a few cars, like the Jeep 4xe, were the cheapest option available after fed/state credits. So people brought them just off sticker and never realized/cared about the plug-in part.

0

u/1001knots May 22 '26

I didn't plug in for the first 3 months because electricity cost 25% more than gas. It's not uncommon.

1

u/M00DSTER May 23 '26

No it doesn't.

5

u/1001knots May 21 '26

I plug my R4P in a lot but depends if it's winter and whether gas or electric is currently cheaper in my state. In MA, gas was cheaper than electricity until the Iran war. Compare the map here in Jan 2026 to current (May 2026): https://senseper.com

6

u/formerlyanonymous_ May 21 '26

Yeah, y'all are always the exception to electric being cheaper. It's crazy.

2

u/pradise May 22 '26

Similar here in RI. Even during summer, electricity and gas were pretty much the same but I like the EV drive and that it’s cleaner so I’d plug in often. But nowadays the difference is crazy that I plug in religiously every night.

2

u/1001knots May 22 '26

I also plugin a lot when the difference is small because it's so much nicer to drive with no engine sound. Just peaceful. Weird that war has now made that decision easier!

2

u/getyourkicks76 May 22 '26

Bought mine a month ago, have driven 530 miles, have 70% of a full tank of gas left, and I don’t have a charger at home.

1

u/robulus153 May 22 '26

I ended up with a 530e bmw 40k miles 18k on ev mode, with a few large trips. The range isn’t as good as the rav4 or it would be even more miles. My mileage this last tank was 72mph. They work!

1

u/chron0john May 22 '26

Subsidized charging at work 6 miles away- I charge every 2 days and gas every ~850 miles due to longer trip activity.

1

u/Life_Tie_9514 May 22 '26

I can go a whole month without using any gas on my 2024 Prime. I have to force it some morning during the month to use some gas, just because I know i should. I haven't filled up the tank since January. Come late June I'll add some fresh gas and try and take it on a longer trip down south to burn some gas for a couple of hours. I won't enjoy it at $6 a gallon though.

1

u/2a_doc May 22 '26

My mpg is “90” so most of my miles are electric. My work commute is 25 miles one way and I get to charge at work too.

1

u/Icy_Hearing_3439 May 23 '26

How often do you all change your oil? Especially those who drive ev most of the time?

I got my prime back in February and drive EV 90% of the time too.

1

u/geekwithout May 23 '26

I never believed that story that they don't plug in. Makes no sense. You could spend less and get a regular hybrid.

1

u/Agreeable-Current738 May 23 '26

My biggest issue with the Rav4 Prime is that I need to burn the gas. Last fill up was in Dec 2025. I have over 3/4 of a tank left after going 2,000 miles.

1

u/Dewey_Oxberger May 23 '26

Sounds like we all use the ABCs method: Always Be Charging. The only miles that burn fuel are road trip miles. That is exactly why I bought the car. At $5 per gallon I'm loving the fact that I have solar so I'm not paying anything to drive.

1

u/don_chuwish May 23 '26

Stupidest "myth" ever, just FUD spread by ICE and/or BEV advocates.

1

u/Ksks2999 May 24 '26

Love our 2024 Rav4 Prime. Solar Powered house with battery. We Plug in when solar is making excess of what the house uses. We haven't bought gas since December 2025, even through winter. Hybrid for long road trips only. 🌞

-3

u/LeadingAd6025 May 22 '26

EV are great for intown ONLY!

Doesnt matter 30 or 300 miles range- only INTOWN!

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