Sure a battery may reduce payload, but it’s not all or nothing. 

Frequently traveler at SFO here.

Kaiser M725 for the win (missing the 230 OHC Tornado). How do we get one?

The upcoming regs/incentives call for 50 mile electric range that kick in for the 2026 model year. You can get a lot of work done on most days with 50 miles of range. And then for the long distance days, fuel up with gas. Easy.

Yes, a plug-in hybrid Tacoma “Prime” would be sweet. Would love that instant torque from a big electric motor and not burning a drop of gas most days.

That’s great. We drive a 2022 Highlander Hybrid and while the mpg is great (and the AWD is surprisingly capable off-road), it’s miserable to drive around town. It stumbles, lunges, and hiccups worse than many carbureted cars from the Malaise Era I drove in the 80s.

You’re right. The Pacifica - especially the PHEV version - is awesome.

Exactly. We have been waiting for a large off-road capable three-row PHEV for years, basically the Grand Cherokee L or similar. Still waiting

We got a Toyota Highlander Hybrid in the meantime. It gets great mileage (30-34 mpg) and with an aggressive set of tires, does fairly well off-road given its roots. That being…

EV pricing. To no surprise, only a small amount of the market can afford a $80K+ car, no matter how awesome it is.

PHEVs should be a thing. And related news largely missed (because it’s nerdy and policy-heavy), but CARB updated its rules back in August 2022 to incentivize more PHEVs, starting with model year 2026, as long as they are strong PHEVs.

You gotta hand it to Hyundai/Kia - they are planning their work and working their plan. In other words, they share their strategy for cleaner vehicles (BEVs, plug-in hybrids, hybrids, etc.), and then are actually designing awesome ones and building them/making them available at scale.

So much PHEV. That sweet instant torque would be awesome off-road and a 40 mile range would cover most days’ driving.

This. Also better side visibility in a two door with the B pillar further back.

This. Well-said.

This.

Hello Toyota.

Dad wearing glasses hear. Too much reflection and reflections of reflections.

We were going to get one of these for work to demo. Work is in Palo Alto and a number of us live in San Francisco or the East Bay. Then Shell closed a bunch of its hydrogen fueling stations, including the new one on Mission in San Francisco.

This is screaming for a plug-in hybrid option, like Jeep is going to offer on the big Wagoneer. Big miss.

What I care about is outward visibility. This looks to have it in spades.