Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) represent an electric vehicle (EV) which is appropriate for short-distance driving and a gasoline vehicle which is suitable for long-distance driving.
The statement was made by Toyota Motor Europe (TME), the regional headquarters of Toyota in Europe, which also said that the therefore PHEV will be the “next hybrid vehicle” or an electric vehicle that comes after the hybrid vehicle.
There are two types of PHEVs, an EV-based PHEV and an HEV (hybrid electric vehicle)-based one, and that TME will focus on the latter. This is because it is easier to downsize the battery of HEV-based PHEV than that of EV-based PHEV, which does not use an engine, enabling to develop an optimum PHEV.
Besides, the results of an experiment in France, showed that PHEVs are suitable for normal driving. In the experiment, fuel economy and running distance of TME’s PHEVs were measured. It was carried out from November 2007 to June 2008 jointly with French electric power firm Electricite de France (EDF).
The results indicated that the fuel consumption of PHEVs is approximately 60% less than that of gasoline vehicles when the travel distance is about 25km. In the experiment, 80% of daily trips were less than 25km.
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