The age of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) that can charge from a power point and fill up at the service station appears to be drawing to an end, at least in Australia.
The latest industry figures show EVs accounted for a record 9.4 per cent of new car sales in June, up from 1.7 per cent a year earlier.
A diminishing fraction of these EVs are plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), which switch to burning petrol or diesel when their battery's charge is nearly depleted.
PHEVs once dominated EV sales, but are now being rapidly displaced by fully battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
So, what killed the PHEV?
The answer to this question wades into a long-running debate that's shaping the types of cars available in Australia, and how much they cost.
The rise and fall of the plug-in hybrid
When they arrived in Australia about 10 years ago, PHEVs were marketed as a cleaner form of an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV).
They also side-stepped some of the perceived problems with BEVs, such as driving range and charging infrastructure.
- Plug-in hybrids once dominated EV sales, but have now slipped to 6 per cent of the total
- A series of studies has shown they're not as clean as previously thought
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