Truth Be Told #1
I read this thread and will comment on a few things that have been said that I think are misleading about the cost to purchase and own a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle). I am a retired NASA propulsion and robotics engineer and have purchased 21 autos in my life, ten of them new, three of them supercharged, and the most recent in 2018, a new PHEV. And I did almost all of the repair and maintenance on them myself. I ordered my first Ford in April this year, an Escape Titanium PHEV that is in production right now. Judge my credibility as you will. I do not work or advocate for anyone or any company. I just need to stretch my limited retirement income as far as I can like most everyone else.
In this post I will talk about price and the big misconception of PHEV initial cost. In the next post I will talk about maintenance, reliability and fuel costs for these vehicles. Here are a few misleading quotes from this thread on the Ford Escape PHEV:
“At 40k this is a tough sell”
Nope. They are selling like crazy. I could not and cannot find one on the lot within 500 miles. There’s that and the fact that there was a $1000 incentive offered by Ford and no MSRP markup to special order one. All plug-ins, but especially PHEVs are in super high demand now because most Americans buy according to their pocketbooks and PHEVs will be generally cheaper to buy, fuel, and maintain. Partly because they are better than gas only vehicles, partly due to the price of gas lately, and partly due to government incentives. Not to mention that the tree-huggers love them.
“Umm, it's $50,000 out the door. There is no way I know of to get that vehicle for $40K.”
Nope. Here is the way I’m getting mine for way less than $40K. And anyone could have got this deal. It’s sticker MSRP price. I have its VIN and sticker in hand. My 2022 Ford Escape Titanium trim PHEV should be delivered next month.
$42,120 MSRP, which includes destination and delivery
+$4,000 +TTL and all fees (approximate in Texas)
-$2500 State grant incentive
-$6,843 Fed Tax Credit
$36,777 Final Net Price I will have paid for the car
“Yea-try to find one at the "Base Price".”
I tried and succeeded. Buying off the lot is obsolete or very expensive. Anyone can do what I did. When I first tried to special order, a dealer told me they were not taking orders. They were just lazy and they will eventually go out of business with that attitude. I contacted other nearby dealers by telephone and email. When one said sure, I sent them the build that I got using the build-a-ford web site and they said come on in and sign the papers. I ask them if they would send in my Tx state grant reservation, and they said sure. I went in the next day and ordered the vehicle and they sent the reservation paper to Austin. That was about April 14, 2022. I was surprised to find out that they did not need to collect any money from me up front and even more surprised to find out from them that Ford was offering a $1000 incentive to submit a special order. I got a verification of my $2,500 grant reservation from the state in a few days. And I have received status updates on my vehicle build from Ford since then. On Aug 25, it was scheduled for production on Oct 10 and assigned a VIN. On Sept 6, its production date was moved up to Sept 26. And last week on about Sept 23, I noticed that its status was showing as “In Production.” I expect it will show as “Built” shortly.
“The base model Ford Escape goes for $28K and the nice gas powered version goes for $32K. Twenty thousand dollars buys a lot of gas.”
“You'd probably have to drive that car over 200k just to break even”
Nope. The base Ford Escape gas model is the S trim. It has a 181 hp 3 cylinder 1.5L turbocharged engine that likely is noisy and peaky with acceleration lag. Here is what it goes for. If you don’t believe me, do the research yourself.:
$28680 MSRP, which includes destination and delivery (from Fords web site)
+$2,719 +TTL and all fees (approximate in Texas)
-$0 no State grant incentive
-$0 no Fed Tax Credit
$31,399 Final Net Price
If do the same math for the “nice gas powered version” that would be the SEL trim, again only available with the 181 hp 3 cylinder 1.5L turbocharged engine.
$32,390 MSRP, which includes destination and delivery (from Fords web site)
+$3,071 +TTL and all fees (approximate in Texas)
-$0 no State grant incentive
-$0 no Fed Tax Credit
$35,461 Final Net Price
Compare those as close to apples to apples as possible with the cheapest Escape PHEV SE trim. It has a 166 HP 4 cylinder 2.5L Atkinson engine combined in the 4th generation HF45 eCVT transaxle with two motor/generators to give a smooth shift free 221 HP (more on this remarkable power train later). It is equipped much better than the gas S trim, a little better than the gas SE trim and not quite as good as the gas SEL trim.
$36,950 MSRP, which includes destination and delivery (from Fords web site)
+$3,503 +TTL and all fees (approximate in Texas)
-$2,500 State grant incentive
-$6,843 Fed Tax Credit
$31,110 Final Net Price
So obviously the bottom trim PHEV is better equipped than the bottom two gas trim Escapes, but its net cost is less than any of the gas trim Escape models. There is no payback time.
If I purchased the Escape SE trim PHEV instead of the Escape SE trim gas model, I would save $1,756.
According to calculators at the EPA fueleconomy.gov web site, that $1756 will fuel the Escape SE PHEV for about 29,267 miles. This assumes 55% of the miles are in stop and go traffic, cost of regular gas is $3.65/gal and cost of electricity is $0.13/kW-hr. In our experience with our Chrysler Pacifica PHEV over the past 4 years, this is pretty accurate.
When I step back and ask the question: Why would I buy a slower, noisier, more expensive gas powered car with a range of 444 miles that costs $1800/year to fuel instead of the same car that is a quicker, quieter and smoother PHEV for $1756 less, with a range of 520 miles that costs $900/year to fuel. Not to mention that the transmission is simpler, more robust and ultimately more reliable.
The answer for me is simple. I wouldn’t.
So perhaps instead of falsely thinking that you will have to spend $20k more on a PHEV than a gas car, you should be wondering where you are going to get the extra $1756 to buy the Escape SE gas model instead of the quieter, more powerful, and smoother Escape SE PHEV model. And you can also wonder where you are going to get the extra $6000 to buy the additional gas it takes to fuel the gas model in the next 6.7 years (100,000 miles).
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