Driving Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles Reports from US Drivers of Hybrid Electric Vehicles Converted to Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles

This article examines early users' experiences with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). At the time that this study was conducted, in the winter and spring of 2007, PHEVs were not yet commercialized. Still, Americans were becoming aware of PHEVs and 25 to 30 vehicles converted from hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to PHEVs were on the road. In interviews with 23 drivers of these vehicles, the present study explored their motivations for converting an HEV to PHEV operation, how they used and recharged their vehicles, and their visions for future PHEV designs. What drivers think about PHEVs, including the benefits and drawbacks that they perceive, was also investigated. Although today's PHEV drivers may not represent either present mainstream American car buyers or future buyers of PHEVs, their behavior and viewpoints offer hypotheses about what ideas might motivate other consumers and clues about how PHEVs will be used by other consumers and may shape both the PHEV technologies offered in the future and the reasons why future consumers will value PHEVs. For example, the group of PHEV pioneers evaluated in the present study is primarily interested in a greater all-electric driving range and performance; they are secondarily interested in high gasoline fuel economy, which they typically report without accounting for electricity from the grid. Which of these two ideas-all-electric driving and high miles per gallon-will motivate more consumers? The desirability of feedback to drivers on their on-road energy use and their total gasoline plus electric energy use is also highlighted.