Autobayng News Team
Electric cars are great.
They’re extremely quiet, much more refined than the vast majority of gas-powered cars, and are getting easier to recharge, courtesy of the myriad of DC fast chargers popping up everywhere. Gone are the days when a Nissan Leaf owner would have to meticulously plan a 200-mile trip—usually with some third-party website—just to make sure they got to their destination with a little juice left in the battery.
But if there’s one thing I learned after doing this job for over a decade, it’s that EVs are not for everybody–at least not yet. That’s why hybrid cars had such a moment in 2025, and why 2026 will be even bigger.
2026 Toyota RAV4 PHEV
Photo by: Toyota
The Near-Term Solution To The Affordability Problem
By and large, an EV that can do it all is still more expensive than a comparable combustion car. And charging is still not ideal for a lot of people. Apartment dwellers have little choice but to use DC fast chargers, which are, by and large, more expensive than charging at home during off-peak hours. Sometimes, it’s even more expensive than filling up with gas.
This leaves just one solid option for many car shoppers who are skeptical about EVs or have already run all the numbers and come up short when considering switching to an electric car: hybrids or plug-in hybrids. 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid Photo by: Patrick George
They still burn gas and create CO2 emissions, so they’re not as environmentally friendly or as smooth to drive as a full-on EV. But they’re cleaner than conventional gas cars, they can save their owners money in the long run, and they’re the perfect gateway drug to EVs. Their main selling points are simple: improved fuel efficiency compared to non-hybrid cars and lower prices than comparable EVs.
The new Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf start from less than $30,000, and they’re decent cars, but they’re hard to recommend to someone who has a maximum budget of $25,000 for a new car that needs to be reliable and easy on the wallet as time goes on. But the Toyota Corolla Hybrid, which starts from $25,000, is hard to argue with. Honda Next-Generation Hybrids And EVs Photo by: Honda
Many Americans already know this, and automakers are banking on people’s reluctance to shift to an all-electric garage. In the first quarter of this year, about 22% of light-duty vehicles sold in the United States were hybrids or plug-in hybrids, up from about 18% in the first quarter of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). People may not be flocking to EVs, but they are opting for battery-powered options over fully gas-driven cars. Hybrid Vehicle Sales: via EIA Photo by: US Energy Information Administration
Conventional hybrids are much more popular than PHEVs in the U.S., though it’s not the same in other parts of the world. In the third quarter, sales of conventional hybrids–which have a gas engine, a small electric motor and a small high-voltage battery—increased 20% in the U.S. over the same period last year, according to analytics firm PwC.
Meanwhile, sales of PHEVs—which have a larger battery and a more powerful electric motor—in Q3 increased just 3%. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as car companies are rushing to fill in the potential gap left by EVs. Volvo XC70 PHEV 2025 Photo by: Volvo
The data is even more impressive in Europe. Hybrids are the most popular type of new vehicle in that market now, accounting for 35% of the market. Together with PHEVs, they have eclipsed the sales of solely gas- or diesel-engine vehicles. And in China, despite its significant EV leadership, hybrid sales are picking up as buyers outside of cities face some of the same charging challenges as anyone else.
The Great Hybrid Rush Is Coming Soon
Some automakers had ambitious goals of becoming all-electric brands by 2030, 2035 or later. After facing the harsh reality of the market, many have retreated by postponing or canceling new EVs. They’re now looking for ways to entice buyers with more hybrid and plug-in hybrid options, many of which will be built locally in the U.S.
2026 Nissan Rogue Plug-In Hybrid
Photo by: Nissan
That’s good news, for now. Buying a hybrid can significantly lower a household’s gas bills compared to an old gas car, with most new hybrids breaking even with their conventional counterparts after about three years, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s nifty hybrid savings calculator.
It’s not lost upon me that hybrids are a little more expensive than good-old fuel burners, and that plug-in hybrids can save the owners some serious cash if they have a cheap, easy place to charge overnight and hate stopping for recharges on road trips. However, they have their place on the market right now, as more of the car-making and charging industries come to grips with what consumers want and come up with ways to bring down costs further. 2025 Mazda CX-90 PHEV Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
Porsche, Kia, Hyundai, Volvo, Nissan, Honda and others have serious plans to invest a lot of money in new electrified powertrains that are easy to shove inside existing car platforms. Toyota has been doing it extremely well for more than a decade, and it’s not about to stop anytime soon, as it wants to sell as many hybrids, plug-in hybrids and EVs as it can. In the meantime, Toyota had a banner year of U.S. sales based on the strength of its hybrid lineup, and now many other automakers are trying to follow its lead.
And that’s fine, because these are all businesses that need to make money to keep the lights on. If it also means car buyers can save some money on gas in the long run, it’s plain perfect. I remember the first time I drove a Toyota Prius; it was an eye-opening experience to drive on electricity at low speeds in the city, and I couldn’t help but try to keep that fuel consumption as low as possible. That same experience might convince other gas-powered die-hards to eventually ditch the dino fuel for something more silent. Mercedes CLA (2025) Photo by: Mercedes-Benz
So expect 2026 to be full of hybrid and plug-in hybrid-related news, and I’m all for it. But I want to be clear about one thing, though. These two types of powertrains are good now, but they’re a stopgap solution until the world figures out that there are better ways to move from point A to point B. That solution might be an EV, public transportation, an e-bike, or something else—but I’m getting ahead of myself here.
Technology is advancing extremely quickly, and it won’t be long before $25,000 or even cheaper EVs will be around to get more people behind the wheel of a gas-free car. Solid-state batteries that will enable longer driving ranges are also expected to become widely available by the end of the decade, and some companies have had success in creating even more efficient combustion engines.
Until that happens, though, the solution for many is hiding in plain sight. More Hybrid News We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Insideevs.com? – The InsideEVs team
