Yep, hybrids make a lot of sense, a lot more than BEVs. If the goal is to reduce CO2 and other pollutants, car companies should stop making EVs, and put the limited battery capacity to hybrids.
For every one F-150 Lightning (98-131 kWh), Ford could make 65-87 hybrid trucks.
Let’s take the midpoint, 76. If 75 F-150 drivers kept their 5.0 V8s, and one switched to a Lightning, this would save 790 gallons of gas a year total, assuming 15,000 miles and 19 mpg (EPA combined estimate for the 5.0).
On the other hand, if they all switched to hybrids, the total gallons saved would be over 22,000.
Toyota’s CEO and Stellantis’s previous CEO have made the same point: if we want to reduce emissions, we need more hybrids, not electric vehicles. PHEVs are better than BEVs, but regular hybrids and even mild hybrids make a bigger impact per kWh of battery than both BEVs and PHEVs. So long as battery production is a limiting factor, this is a crucial point that keeps getting missed.
Which is why it’s particular stupid that the bigger the battery, the bigger the tax incentive. I’d rather my tax dollars not be used to subsidize any vehicles, but if they must, those dollars would go a lot further encouraging many people to drive hybrid vehicles with relatively small batteries than a few people to drive EVs with massive batteries.
Anyway, I didn’t mean to make this thread into an anti-EV rant, but I would like to see a hybrid Ram. Especially after my wife got a hybrid Hyundai Tucson, I’ve been impressed how they improve both mileage and performance at a reasonable cost.