Plug-in hybrids are supposed to be the perfect bridge between today and tomorrow, combining cheap, green, electric commuting with gasoline-powered long-range touring. Audi's first plug-in hybrid has been announced, but it looks like a swing and a miss, since its all-electric range won't cover the average daily commute.
The Q5 55 TFSI e Quattro (a poetically named beast if ever there was one) is a family-sized SUV with a two-liter, four-cylinder turbo gasoline engine making 252 hp (185 kW) and 370 Nm (272.9 lb-ft) of torque through a seven-speed S Tronic transmission. This is supplemented with a 140-hp (105-kW) electric powertrain that adds an additional 350 Nm (258 lb-ft) of torque to the all-wheel-drive powertrain.
Its lithium battery pack, which sits under the floor of the luggage compartment, stores 14.1 kWh of energy, enough for an all-electric range over 26 mi (40 km), on the tough WLTP test cycle. Which is nice, but the average American commute is around 32 mi (51 km), meaning that for many this car will need to burn gas around town on daily duties.
So it's not what we'd call a dream plug-in hybrid, and Audi's not alone in skimping on battery range for these machines. We'd like to see electric range get up around the 40-45 mi (64-72 km) range on these PHEVs, and completely eliminate gas stops for the majority of motorists until you get right out on the highway for a long trip. On the other hand, if you take it out of all-electric mode and let the electric and gasoline motors work together, you get an impressive overall efficiency figure of 98-112 US mpg (2.4-2.1 L/100km).
The Q5 55 TFSI e Quattro will offer a full hybrid mode, a gasoline-only "battery hold" mode that attempts to maintain the battery's charge level, and full electric mode. The latter won't wake up the gasoline engine at all, until you push past a perceptible pressure point on the accelerator pedal. Thus, you've got the car's full power available whenever you might need to call on it.
Charging from a wall socket will take around six hours, which isn't a problem if you leave it plugged in overnight. Faster charging is available, but likely won't be necessary for most drivers given that you can just run the thing on gasoline and recoup energy at rates up to 25 kW while coasting and 80 kW under regenerative braking, which handles all deceleration duties less than 0.2 g before the disc brakes chime in for additional stopping power.
Elsewhere, it looks plenty nice, with its LED headlights, sporty seats, 18-inch turbine-design wheels, and app-controlled pre-heating and cooling systems that let you set the climate before you walk out the door.
At €60,450 (around US$67,400) it can be pre-ordered now, with cars landing in showrooms in Q3 this year.
Source: Audi
The thing is we can sit on the sidelines polluting every mile waiting for the model Y, or bridge the gap for a few years with something like this. All the while more options will be available instead of just one.
And don't forget that this Audi has probably a ~$6k US Federal tax rebate and possibly a state tax rebate if you live in a progressive state. I got $11k in tax rebates on my Outlander in addition to $4k in dealer/factory discounts. When is the last time you got $15K off a new car MSRP? Why would you not do that?!
We are told that electric propulsion is much simpler and less costly than internal combustion engines, so if electric cars cost more, this must be due to the cost of the batteries. Thus, when the batteries wear out and the range gets too short, the point will come when scrapping the vehicle will be more economical than replacing the batteries. But as long as electricity generation and scrapyards are outside the cities, electric cars will continue to be 'green'.
a) they keep you locked in to the fossil fuel industry.
b) they keep you locked in to the high maintenance costs of ICEs, even if you barely use the ICE, you still have to service it.
c) If you drive this as mostly an EV, then you are dragging around a complete ICE drive system for no good reason most of the time.
d) if you plan to drive mostly on batteries, then you have paid for an ICE drive system that you will barely use.
e) If you drive a PHEV mostly on batteries, you are cycling those batteries deeply all the time. For example, a BEV with a 500km range driven 100,000km may cycle it's batts 200-400 times. For a PHEV you are cycling them at least 2000 times, which is pretty much end of life.
In summary, PHEVs make no sense at all, just buy a BEV and be done with fossil fuels and high maintenance costs.
I'll consider PHEVs sane or semi-worthy when they come with 500-mile battery range =and= onboard small engine with generator for emergencies.