The plug-in hybrid is theoretically an ideal powertrain, combining the smoothness and efficiency of an electric vehicle with the easy long-range capability of an internal-combustion car. After more than four years and 30,000 miles of owning one—a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid—I can tell you that a plug-in-hybrid vehicle (PHEV) can live up to those expectations, with a few caveats.
Not all drivers are a good fit for a PHEV, and not all PHEVs fully realize the promise of dual-mode propulsion, but in the right circumstances a plug-in hybrid can deliver on its best-of-both-worlds promises.
Where I live, most of our daily driving is within a 10-mile radius, so the Pacifica's modest range (anywhere from maybe 15 miles to 35 miles, depending mainly on ambient temperature) is nonetheless sufficient for most daily driving. We often dispatch our weekday travels on electrons alone, awakening the 3.6-liter V-6 only for weekend road trips. The Pacifica's two electric motors combine for 198 horsepower, so you can keep up with traffic without tagging in the gas engine, though a deep prod of the accelerator will prompt the V-6 to join the party. There's no way to lock the Pacifica in electric mode, but there's also no real need to do so. Keep pace with the rest of traffic and the van will stay on electric power until the 16.0-kWh battery is drained.
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A recent peek at the PacHy's trip computer showed that we'd used the gas engine for only 3607 of the past 9352 miles, averaging nearly 60 mpg (indicated) in the process—and that's for a machine that's reasonably quick and packs a mammoth 140.5 cubic feet of cargo volume. So, all ice cream and rainbows, right? No, not totally.
Every PHEV incurs penalties in some way, mainly in terms of weight—it's hard to stay trim when you're cramming two distinct powertrains into one wrapper. (See: the 2025 BMW M5 and its 5390-pound curb weight.) For the Pacifica, that extra pork means that it can't tow anything, nor is it available with all-wheel drive, unlike its conventionally powered counterparts. At interstate speeds, the Pacifica PHEV can get worse fuel economy than the standard V-6-powered van. PHEVs are by nature complex, and while my car and my sister-in-law's identical one have been almost entirely problem-free, our 2018 long-term car needed its battery replaced, among other foibles, and PHEVs on average have more reliability issues than their simpler internal-combustion-engine counterparts. Speaking of the Pacifica battery, it's mounted under the floor ahead of the second-row seats, occupying real estate that's normally available for storage or folding the seats down into the floor. But when I need the Pacifica to transform into a cargo van, I simply remove the second-row seats and leave them at home. The benefits far outweigh the tradeoffs.
And Yes, There's More!
Plug-in hybrids are generally far more expensive than their non-plug-in brethren, a gap than can take hundreds of thousands of miles to repay in fueling-cost savings. But some of them are eligible for federal tax credits. The Pacifica is the current champ in that respect, eligible for the full $7500 credit, which covers the majority of its current $9250 upcharge, but various other PHEVs qualify for $3750. The Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe, Lincoln Corsair Touring, Ford Escape PHEV, and Audi Q5 55 TFSI e Quattro all earn that half-credit.
And there's another bonus for certain vehicles: major performance upgrades. Hey, there's a reason that the Porsche 918 Spyder was a plug-in hybrid. When internal-combustion horsepower is augmented with electric grunt, even an unassuming family car can start flaunting some surprising stats. Volvo's Recharge models, for instance, combine a 313-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder with two electric motors to arrive at a total of 455 horsepower and 523 pound-feet of torque. In our testing, the XC60 T8 Recharge eAWD Ultimate Dark hit 60 mph in 4.3 seconds (the Polestar Engineered version did it in 4.2 seconds). And, if there were an IKEA a quarter-mile away, it could get there in 12.7 seconds. It is always hilarious to pull up next to a performance car at a red light and, when it turns green, casually jump two car lengths ahead in your four-cylinder Volvo—which, in more relaxed driving, is EPA rated for 36 miles of electric range, too.
Early PHEVs (and, hey, my Pacifica) tended to use a less-powerful internal-combustion engine that, when paired with the electric propulsion, netted roughly the same performance as a traditionally powered counterpart in a given lineup. Some more recent models, like the Volvos, abandoned that approach and are strictly additive where horsepower is concerned. Land Rover's first-generation PHEVs used a four-cylinder engine, while the new ones like the Range Rover Electric Hybrid use a six-cylinder. And the 375-hp Wrangler 4xe is the quickest model in the lineup aside from the V-8-powered Rubicon 392.
One Final Plug
If you occasionally require the no-brainer convenience of gas but do most of your everyday driving in your local area, a plug-in hybrid might be perfect. If you rack up big daily mileage, take lots of long road trips, or have no way to charge at home, then a traditional hybrid or internal-combustion vehicle probably makes more sense. (After all, the EV efficiency benefits only accrue if you can regularly use EV mode.) But in general, PHEVs are making an increasingly strong case for themselves as car companies improve on the electric side of the equation while leaving their gas engines intact.
Many of us are prone to embrace absolutes, especially where cars are concerned—"I'll never own an electric anything and I have a tattoo of a Hellcat engine!" or "Internal combustion is 1800s technology and the custom license plate on my Lucid says Pass Gas!" But PHEVs dwell in the land of nuance, bridging the gap between old world and new. And right now that's not a bad place to be.
Ezra Dyer is a Car and Driver senior editor and columnist. He's now based in North Carolina but still remembers how to turn right. He owns a 2009 GEM e4 and once drove 206 mph. Those facts are mutually exclusive.
