Whilst the range issue is clearly a major challenge for many of us, especially those who live out in the sticks, the PHEV alternative has to be pretty attractive for those of us who may need a car for very short trips on a daily basis - popping into town, running the kids to school, etc.
I was talking to a neighbour who has had a few Toyota Priuses (Prii?) and he said that although the first generation PHEV versions had an electric range of only 10 miles that was still plenty to get into town and back on a daily basis (5 mile round trip) and his latest Gen2 car is capable of getting to Cirencester and back (20 miles round trip) on electric only.
He charges from a 13A socket, just leaves it plugged in all the time he's at home, and reckons he gets the mileage equivalent of around 100mpg with his pattern of usage. He doesn't have solar panels though, and doesn't check how much it costs to charge the car, so the 100mpg figure is only based on how many miles he does vs how much petrol he puts in it. The huge advantage is of course no range anxiety as the petrol engine is always there if needed. The Mitsubishi Outlander also seems like an attractive option, as it has 4WD but can still give c.25miles electric range.
