So you're checking out hybrid cars, and now you keep seeing two names everywhere, strong hybrid and PHEV. The salesperson might throw both words at you without saying what's different, which doesn't help much. Both save petrol and both cost more than a regular car, so it's easy to mix them up. Let's sort out PHEV vs strong hybrid in plain words, and by the end you'll know which one matches the way you drive.
What is a strong hybrid?
A strong hybrid, sometimes called a full hybrid, has a petrol engine and an electric motor that work as a team, and you never plug it in. The battery is small and it fills up on its own while you drive, mostly when you brake or slow down.
It can move on the motor alone for a little while, like when you're creeping along in traffic or parking, but not for any real distance. The rest of the time the engine and the motor split the work, and the car figures out who does what. You'll notice it most in the mileage, since the motor takes some pressure off the engine in stop and go traffic, and that's why city drivers like these cars so much.
What is a PHEV?
A PHEV is a plug-in hybrid, so it has the same engine and motor setup, but the battery is a lot bigger and you charge it from a socket. With that battery it can go somewhere around 30 to 80 kilometres on electricity alone, depending on the car. Once the battery is empty, the petrol engine takes over and the car runs like a normal hybrid.
How the two are different
When you look at plug-in hybrid vs strong hybrid next to each other, a few things change how each one feels to live with. Here are the main hybrid car differences:
- The battery is small in a strong hybrid and much bigger in a PHEV
- A strong hybrid charges itself, but a PHEV needs a plug to give you the full benefit
- On electric power a strong hybrid helps for only a short bit, while a PHEV can handle your whole daily drive
- A PHEV costs quite a bit more
- The big battery makes a PHEV heavier
- On long trips a strong hybrid can come out slightly ahead once the PHEV battery runs out
What you get with a PHEV
The best of the PHEV benefits is the cheap running. If you charge at home, going to work and coming back can cost far less than the same trip on petrol, and the ride is quiet with nothing coming out of the exhaust.
Then you've also got a kind of freedom, which is nice. In the city you drive it like an electric car, and on a highway trip you don't need to plan around chargers, since the engine is right there. A lot of PHEVs feel quick as well, because the motor gives strong pull from the moment you press the pedal.
Still, all of this works only if you plug it in regularly. If you don't, you've paid more for a battery that mostly just sits there.
Where a strong hybrid does better
The nice thing about a strong hybrid is how little you have to think about it. You put petrol, you drive, and that's pretty much it, with no cable and no charging plan and no change in your routine. It's cheaper than a PHEV too, and lighter, and if you live in a flat where getting a charger fixed is a headache, it saves you from all that.
Then there's the highway part. If most of your days are long drives on the highway, a strong hybrid usually works out better, because a PHEV is hauling a big battery that's just dead weight once the charge is gone. The strong hybrid keeps saving a little fuel all the way through.
An example to make it clear
Let's say you drive around 40 kilometres a day and you can plug in at night. A PHEV that gives you 60 kilometres on battery could cover that whole day without using any petrol, and you'd only burn fuel on a weekend trip. A strong hybrid would still use petrol every day, just not very much of it.
But say you can't charge at home, or you're doing 150 kilometres a day on the highway. Then a PHEV would be running on petrol most of the time anyway, and you'd have paid extra for a battery that's doing very little for you.
What's available in India
If we talk about Hybrid Cars in India, you'll see strong hybrids a lot more than anything else. Toyota, Maruti Suzuki and Honda have all sold them, in a few different body types, and people like them because the mileage is good and nothing about daily life changes. PHEVs are a different story, since they're still rare here and mostly come from luxury brands, which means the price is a lot higher.
Chargers are showing up in the big cities, though not everywhere yet. So if a PHEV is on your list, sort out charging at home before anything else. And before you finalise any car, Compare Cars side by side on price, mileage, features and running cost, because the one that looks cheaper on paper can turn out to cost more after a few years.
So which one is for you?
A PHEV works well if you've got a charging point at home or at work, your drives are mostly short, and you only go long distance now and then. You'll get the most out of it when the battery gets used almost every day.
A strong hybrid is the better pick when charging is hard for you, or when you spend lots of time on highways, or when you simply want something that saves fuel without extra effort. It's easier on the budget as well, and that matters to a lot of families.
To sum it up
Nobody can say one of these is better for everyone, because it all depends on how and where you drive. If you'll plug in regularly, a PHEV saves you more, and if you won't, a strong hybrid gives you easy savings with no plugging at all. So think about where the car will sleep at night and how far you drive in a day, and the answer usually gets pretty clear.
