Plug-in hybrids get plugged in more than you might think

插电式混合动力汽车的充电频率比你想象的要高

Plug-in hybrid powertrains were developed to be the best of both worlds: a combustion engine and fuel tank that can handle those longer journeys exactly the same as a non-hybrid car, with an electric motor and a battery large enough for most or all of someone’s daily driving range. But only if you plug it in. 插电式混合动力（PHEV）动力系统的设计初衷是兼顾两者的优势：既有内燃机和油箱来应对长途旅行，就像普通燃油车一样；又配备了电动机和足够大的电池，能满足大多数人甚至全部的日常通勤需求。但前提是，你得给它充电。

And it is often taken as a statement of fact that plug-in hybrid owners don’t plug in their plug-in hybrids. Instead, they were seduced into buying a car with far too big a battery, no doubt as a result of generous incentives, the theory goes. And if those drivers aren’t going to plug in and therefore enjoy at least some entirely electric driving, they should have bought a parallel hybrid instead, which often delivers better efficiency than a PHEV with an empty battery, at a significantly lower price. 人们常说，插电混动车主根本不给车充电，这似乎已成定论。有一种观点认为，这些车主是被慷慨的购车补贴所诱惑，才买了一辆电池过大的车。如果这些司机不充电，无法享受纯电驾驶的乐趣，那他们本该购买普通的油电混动车（HEV），因为在电池耗尽的情况下，HEV 的效率往往比 PHEV 更高，且价格也便宜得多。

But what if that take is wrong? As it turns out, there’s some more evidence that PHEV drivers do in fact plug in their plug-ins, and the latest data point is from one of the most prolific PHEV pushers: Toyota. In the past, Toyota has declined to provide numbers when asked by journalists about the frequency of PHEV plugging. But a pair of researchers at Toyota Research Institute North America have now crunched some data, and, after looking at anonymized data from more than 6,000 RAV4 Prime and Lexus NX 450h+ (between model years 2021–2024), the results are encouraging. 但如果这种观点是错的呢？事实证明，越来越多的证据表明，PHEV 车主确实会给车充电。最新的数据来自 PHEV 的主要推手之一：丰田。过去，当记者询问 PHEV 的充电频率时，丰田总是拒绝提供数据。但现在，丰田北美研究所的两名研究人员对 6000 多辆 RAV4 Prime 和雷克萨斯 NX 450h+（2021-2024 款）的匿名数据进行了分析，结果令人振奋。

RAV4 Prime drivers plug their cars in on seven out of 10 driving days, with Lexus NX owners plugging in more frequently, between eight and nine times out of 10 driving days. They say that only 9 percent of Toyota PHEV drivers and 4 percent of Lexus PHEV drivers “rarely” plug in. RAV4 Prime 的车主在 10 个用车日中有 7 天会充电，而雷克萨斯 NX 车主的充电频率更高，在 10 个用车日中有 8 到 9 天会充电。研究显示，仅有 9% 的丰田 PHEV 车主和 4% 的雷克萨斯 PHEV 车主“很少”充电。

Anyone else? In fact, Toyota’s findings match up quite well with the other automakers that have made their PHEV customers’ charging habits public. According to the Autopian, more than half of BMW PHEV owners charge “at least 2-4 times a week,” and Kia said that 93 percent of its PHEV owners charge, mostly at home. Hyundai reported even higher charger usage—99 percent of Tucson PHEV drivers charge their cars, it said, with half charging once or more per day. 还有其他厂商的数据吗？事实上，丰田的调查结果与其他公开 PHEV 客户充电习惯的汽车制造商非常吻合。据《The Autopian》报道，超过一半的宝马 PHEV 车主“每周至少充电 2-4 次”；起亚表示，其 93% 的 PHEV 车主会充电，且大多是在家中完成。现代汽车报告的充电率甚至更高——99% 的途胜 PHEV 车主会给车充电，其中一半人每天充电一次或以上。

Which is not to say that the skeptics’ complaints are ungrounded. The four OEMs above are a start, yet many more have sold or do sell PHEVs but don’t provide any information on whether they’re actually being plugged in. To those companies, we say it’s time to show some numbers, please. 这并不是说怀疑论者的抱怨毫无根据。上述四家车企只是一个开始，还有许多车企也在销售 PHEV，但并未提供任何关于车辆是否被实际充电的信息。对于这些公司，我们想说：是时候公布一些数据了。