“GM is currently assessing potential future investment,” GM spokesperson George Svigos said in a statement, adding: “No final decision has been made. GM is committed to an all-EV future globally. On that pathway, we continue to study consumer preferences and powertrain options, to ensure we best respond to customer demand and comply with an uncertain, complex and increasingly stringent regulatory landscape for 2027 and beyond.”
That’s not very realistic. I’ve heard others who expressed similar thinking about PHEVs and commute range, and that’s the thinking that was being proposed by the PHEV-makers, but that’s not how people naturally are inclined to behave. People are inclined to do what they want and not feel the need to worry so much. That’s not unconscientiousness, it’s simply non-neurosis.
Committing at time of purchase to incur the extra weight and expense of PHEV in order to adopt a whole lot of ritualistic charging practices for very little benefit (which people tire of), along with the significant drop in efficiency relative to HEV for the life of the vehicle… PHEV just isn’t rational. Paying more to get a less good vehicle is what it is. Paying more to get a compromised hassle. Fortunately, with PHEVs, the option always remains to drive as if you had bought a HEV in the first place, albeit with the significantly inferior (to HEV) MPG and extra weight. See?