For Hybrid Drivers, a Gas Pump Allergy? - NYTimes.com
Playing into this may be “range anxiety,” or the worry that they will run out of battery power before they get to the office or the mall — which is in many cases unfounded, Mr. Read said.
“If you have a home charging station, you don’t really need to rely too much on commercial infrastructure,” he said. “Home charging meets a lot of our needs.”
The surprising finding, however, was that drivers of the Volt, a hybrid that runs on electricity or conventional fuel, suffer from “gas anxiety,” or a fear of having to visit a filling station. Volt drivers even end up charging more often than drivers of the Leaf, which runs only on electric battery power.
According to the findings, a typical Leaf driver plugs in one to 1.1 times a day, whereas the average Volt driver plugs in about 1.5 times a day.
Volt drivers also plug in when away from home 21 percent of the time, as opposed to Leaf drivers, who charge away from home only 11 percent of the time.
“We never anticipated that a 40-mile-electric-range plug-in hybrid would charge more than a 100 percent electric car,” Mr. Read said. “You have that gas engine that you’re paying an extra premium for for a reason.”