timhebb
Well-known member
The NY Times "Green" blog today published results of an ECOtality study showing that hybrid drivers charge up even more frequently than Leaf or other pure EV drivers do, trying to maximize their battery-only driving and minimize their consumption of gasoline.
It may be counter-intuitive, but it isn't surprising to me. In talking to Volt drivers, I've noticed that they are very conscious of their battery-only range and are often eager to note how long it's been since they visited a gas station. But this is the first "hard" evidence analyzing their behavior, and if extrapolated, it suggests that hybrid vehicles will serve as the transition to pure EVs that many of us have suspected they will be.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/for-hybrid-drivers-a-gas-pump-allergy/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The author suggests that hybrid drivers experience "gas anxiety" - the fear of having to purchase gasoline for their vehicles - in place of the "range anxiety" often attributed to EV drivers.
The surprising finding, however, was that drivers of the Volt, a hybrid that runs on electricity or conventional fuel, suffer from "gas anxiety," or a fear of having to visit a filling station. Volt drivers even end up charging more often than drivers of the Leaf, which runs only on electric battery power.
According to the findings, a typical Leaf driver plugs in one to 1.1 times a day, whereas the average Volt driver plugs in about 1.5 times a day.
Volt drivers also plug in when away from home 21 percent of the time, as opposed to Leaf drivers, who charge away from home only 11 percent of the time.
...
Whether the motivation is economic, environmental or something else is not yet clear, but hybrid drivers are trying to maximize their use of electricity, perhaps in part because ECOtality had not yet begun collecting access fees for charging away from home when most of the data, covering use through the second quarter of this year, was gathered.
If this behavior is typical and can be projected into the future, then mass adoption of pure EVs will be merely delayed, not denied. As more and more hybrid drivers realize they don't need a gasoline engine for the vast majority of their commuting and other driving, many will trade in their hybrids for the real thing. As another EV blog writer analogized, hybrids will be like "training wheels" for the EV lifestyle. This ECOtality study provides strong evidence for that assertion.
It may be counter-intuitive, but it isn't surprising to me. In talking to Volt drivers, I've noticed that they are very conscious of their battery-only range and are often eager to note how long it's been since they visited a gas station. But this is the first "hard" evidence analyzing their behavior, and if extrapolated, it suggests that hybrid vehicles will serve as the transition to pure EVs that many of us have suspected they will be.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/for-hybrid-drivers-a-gas-pump-allergy/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The author suggests that hybrid drivers experience "gas anxiety" - the fear of having to purchase gasoline for their vehicles - in place of the "range anxiety" often attributed to EV drivers.
The surprising finding, however, was that drivers of the Volt, a hybrid that runs on electricity or conventional fuel, suffer from "gas anxiety," or a fear of having to visit a filling station. Volt drivers even end up charging more often than drivers of the Leaf, which runs only on electric battery power.
According to the findings, a typical Leaf driver plugs in one to 1.1 times a day, whereas the average Volt driver plugs in about 1.5 times a day.
Volt drivers also plug in when away from home 21 percent of the time, as opposed to Leaf drivers, who charge away from home only 11 percent of the time.
...
Whether the motivation is economic, environmental or something else is not yet clear, but hybrid drivers are trying to maximize their use of electricity, perhaps in part because ECOtality had not yet begun collecting access fees for charging away from home when most of the data, covering use through the second quarter of this year, was gathered.
If this behavior is typical and can be projected into the future, then mass adoption of pure EVs will be merely delayed, not denied. As more and more hybrid drivers realize they don't need a gasoline engine for the vast majority of their commuting and other driving, many will trade in their hybrids for the real thing. As another EV blog writer analogized, hybrids will be like "training wheels" for the EV lifestyle. This ECOtality study provides strong evidence for that assertion.
