When we seek to move to a more environmentally friendly car, we will find ourselves faced with the decision of whether a plug-in hybrid or a non-plug-in hybrid is better. Of course, we are not forgetting 100% electric cars, but perhaps, for many, the attempt to make the former very well-developed vehicles calls them more. Still, the decision is sometimes not so easy to make since both present the same technological framework. So which of the two suits us better?
HEV or plug-in hybrid, a matter of need
From the outset, we have to confess that what will make one better than the other will be the driver’s needs. This is something that will tip the balance on one side. Therefore, it is not only a question of whether the plug-in hybrid has greater benefits or characteristics than the conventional one, but also what we may be looking for ourselves.
In this way, what we see is that both are more than valid options and we are very complete if what we are looking for is to move taking care of the environment. However, the reality is that, a priori, in this aspect the plug-in, especially for its more developed final technology through more advanced electrified systems.
The great advantage of hybrid cars is the DGT sticker that shine on your front windshield: the ECO. An environmental badge that allows them to circulate through the center of those cities with restrictions and that allows them to benefit from advantages such as reduced rates in regulated parking areas or tax exemptions, among others.
As they are
In principle, plug-in hybrids are an alternative that is usually the one that meets the needs of those who used to buy diesel, because they allow long journeys without recharging problems and save a lot in the day to day. Or what is the same: the more kilometers, the more we will save with PHEVs.
But for this to be the case, those kilometers must be done in a very specific way. It is not the same to do 25,000 km per year traveling long routes of 600 km on weekends than to do 25,000 km per year at a rate of 60 km per day. In any case, it is essential to understand what each of them are like.
- Hybrids (HEV). They are those that have a gasoline or diesel engine and another electric. Both work together to optimize the performance of the vehicle: the first gives way to the second (or vice versa) depending on what is needed at all times and, in addition, the batteries are recharged thanks to inertia, braking or self thermal mechanics.
- Plug-in hybrids (PHEV). They have the same system that the HEV equips to which they add an external socket to recharge the batteries by connecting it to the electrical network. Thanks to this, they have autonomies of greater range (up to 50-60 km, approximately).
As such, the main difference between one and the other is that the conventional hybrid car uses smaller batteries than the plug-in, which are practically always combined with the combustion engine to improve its efficiency. For example, in the city they always start on electric and little by little, as time goes by, the hybrid systems are improving their efficiency: in the city, they can circulate in electric mode between 50 and 75% of the time.
Which is more recommendable
Once both are understood, it is important to also understand that, at the price level, the PHEV have a somewhat higher price than the former, also because they carry a deeper technology in terms of batteries, as we have seen. In this sense, both the one that can be the one that is 100% EV and the plug-in hybrid, can circulate in electric mode, a process during which none of them will emit gases and particles pollutants or noise from mechanics.
Here we have to consider that, although both carry environmental badges (DGT labels), not all do it equally. Here, respectively, one can carry either ECO or Zero emissions. Anyway, only the pluggable ones with electrical autonomy of more than 40 kilometers They will be able to access the second one that the pure electric ones do use. As we already know, this difference is vital when it comes to accessing restricted circulation areas or neighborhoods with limited parking.
However, the big difference here is that the PHEVs win the game by not wasting a gram of fuel and without polluting at all. You could say that this plug-in hybrid is an ideal mix between using an electric car and a traditional one. As we say, there is no clearer option than another, but rather it is based on what the driver may need: if they are looking to travel between 40 and 60 kilometers a day in the city, and some occasional long trip, that they have a charging point in your home where you can plug it in, the PHEV is the one for you.
On the contrary, if you choose to access cheaper vehicles, with greater efficiency and effectiveness in the city and the use that we give them in urban environments, then the conventional HEV will be more than valid for all this than what can be a plug-in hybrid. That is because it is a car that uses energy and, as we will be constantly braking, we will not run out of battery at any time.