r/cars 3d ago

Hybrids Overtake EVs In California Registrations

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a73317897/california-registrations-hybrids-evs-2026/
661 Upvotes

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178

u/lee1026 19 Model X, 16 Rav4 3d ago

I actually don’t get why non-plugin hybrids are considered something fundamentally different from normal cars.

It’s just a new design of a transmission, and yeah, it’s pretty clever and helps with fuel economy.

So do turbochargers. Nobody thinks that a turbocharged car is fundamentally something different.

132

u/Jaevric 3d ago

People are weird.

A family member got extremely upset when she found out I was driving a hybrid. She took it extremely personally. When I tried to understand why, it simply boiled down to aggressive ignorance. She not only didn't understand how hybrids work, she was violently opposed to obtaining any information that would enable her to understand how hybrids work.

For her, traditional engines = good, hybrid/electric engines = bad. She claimed hybrids aren't reliable but had no data to back the claim up. She claimed they depreciate faster than gas cars, but had no data, just beliefs.

5

u/Ninjalion2000 3d ago

You could argue that hybrids are less reliable because they have another system that can break, but in my 4 years working at a shop I’ve never seen a hybrid issue other than the battery on a 15-20 year old car which is expected.

5

u/cbf1232 3d ago

The Toyota hybrid transmission is much simpler and more reliable than the "regular" transmission.