Ran off on the plug twice

Two companies, two plug-in hybrids, two disappointments.  First came the Chevy Volt, which reminds me of the old Mercury capsules: you don’t get in, you put it on. There’s no damn room in that car. Yes, the plug-in hybrid system is genuinely impressive, especially when you can pull a paddle behind the wheel for regeneration and slow the car almost as fast as braking while getting twice the power back to the battery. But there’s no sunroof, the trunk is not particularly capacious, I don’t know how well I’d be able to fit in the back seat (if at all) and it’s inherently compromised – it feels like it’s smaller on the inside than out, as if all the space afforded by being a large-ish compact gets used in the service of the battery system.

So we drove the Ford Fusion Energi instead, and that was even more compromised. Sure, full size, and sure, there’s a sunroof, but it has two completely separate power systems and two completely separate batteries depending on whether it’s in pure-electric or hybrid mode…and based on that, the trunk space is virtually non-existent. No getting around it. So the Fusion Energi is shot.  At this point, it’s going to have to be a regular electric-first hybrid…and that means back to the Prius.

Except the Prius V – for all the space, for the cavernous backseat, for the flat floorboard that means a legit five adults can sit in it – has no sunroof that opens and has a horrific proprietary entertainment system instead of just implementing CarPlay or Android Auto. And to even get the panoramic roof with retractable shades means the highest trim level and a technology package on top of that. So that’s a special order, can’t just get something off the lot. Which puts us back to square one.

For a moment, square one meant the hybrid Jetta – which inexplicably means a seven-speed automatic transmission and better highway than city mileage, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a hybrid and makes me think it’s a mild hybrid at best, something where the gas will always be running if the car’s moving. Not particularly useful.  And I’m wary of buying any Volkswagen that has more electrical systems than the typical model, never mind a more complicated transmission than the ultimately-disappointing Rabbit.

And then comes word that the ninth-generation Chevrolet Malibu will have a hybrid option based on the electrical system in the Volt.  Not a plug-in, this will be running the gas as often as a Prius, but it does get up to 55 mph before the gas motor has to kick on and will supposedly get an aggregate 47mpg with superior city mileage. And it uses CarPlay. And it has the same regenerator paddle as the Volt. And it has a real sunroof.  

Only problem is, it won’t physically ship for a couple of months at least. But it’s all largely proven technology; it’s not like buying the first iteration of Chevrolet’s electrical system (or even its first cut at a hybrid; there was a mild-hybrid Malibu some years ago). And it’s possible I could buy it at invoice on an employer discount and continue my streak of never having to dicker over the cost of a new automobile. And it would mean not having to install some sort of charger system in the house. And I could still pull through the drive-thru at In N Out with a clear conscience while still getting to Disneyland on one tank of gas.

For now, it’s the leader in the clubhouse. Given that my family once went from 1970 to 1993 without buying any car that wasn’t a Chevy, and that there was always one in the driveway or garage for the last 46 years, it just feels right. We’ll see if that holds up once I’m sat in the driver’s seat.

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