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You've heard of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and you've likely heard of Plug-In Hybrids (PHEV) but what exactly is an Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV)? This term has popped up more and more lately, as automakers are making a bet that you're going to love this "new" kind of EV. We're about to see new EREV models from Ford, RAM, Scout, Lotus, Mazda, and more.
We use quotation marks on "new" because the term itself is newer than the tech, which isn't new at all. You may have heard of it by its other name: Series Hybrid. You may have seen a handful of these on the road since at least 2010, including the Chevy Volt, BMW i3, Fisker Karma, and short-lived Mazda MX-30 R-EV. All of these cars are now discontinued, so what gives? Why did the next big thing not take off?
Simply put, an EREV or Series Hybrid is a battery electric powertrain that uses a gasoline generator to keep the batteries charged. In that way, it works a bit like a diesel locomotive! But isn't that also just like a Plug-In Hybrid? Well, yes. All EREVs are plug-in hybrids, but not all plug-in hybrids are EREVs. There is one big differentiating factor: the gasoline engine cannot drive the wheels. In a Plug-In Hybrid, the gasoline engine can "take over" for the electric bits and directly drive the wheels. That's not the case with an EREV. EREV uses their gas engines purely as a generator that has no physical connection to the drive wheels. The engine is solely there to charge the batteries.
So why an EREV over a Plug-In Hybrid? Well for one, an EREV maintains the characteristics of an electric vehicle. In a PHEV, you're still driving around with a drivetrain designed to handle the torque levels and power of an internal combustion engine, and gas engines don't have the same crazy torque as an EV. An EREV uses electric motors connected to the drive wheels just like an BEV, and maintains all of that instant torque goodness of a fully electric vehicle. The gas engines in an EREV can also be simplified. The engine in a BMW i3 for example is a modified scooter engine. EREVs carry larger batteries than PHEVs, and typically offer more EV range than PHEVs.
So now we know how EREVs differ from PHEVs. But how are they the same? Well, they are still designed to be plugged in regularly. We've seen too many people buy PHEVs and not plug them in, because you don't "need" to... but if you don't, you're losing most of the benefits of the powertrain. The same is true of an EREV; it will drive as long as there is gas in it. But it's also meant to be charged frequently (ideally each night) like a fully electric vehicle. Otherwise you're just using a gasoline engine to lug a big, heavy, empty battery around and that's not efficient, at all.
So let's talk about some of the EREVs that have existed, and preview a few that are coming.
The BMW i3 is a wonderful little car, far ahead of its time and packed with clever engineering and emotional flourishes. This car first debuted in 2013, offering 80 miles of EV range and another ~60 on gasoline. That was a truly unique configuration at the time, and remained so for many years. We here at EV.Guide adore it, but also realize it's a car that has strong quirks that make it difficult for some people to own. For example, in North America BMW decided to limit the behavior of the range extender engine so that it only turned on once the battery had depleted down to 7%. The problem here is that the gas engine did not provide enough output to keep up with times of strong demand, like driving uphill on the highway in the winter. If you were demanding more power than the engine could provide, the car would begin to warn you that it would have to reduce performance. Ignore those warnings long enough, and the car would go into a "turtle" mode, limiting speed to 45 mph and severely limiting acceleration. This was controversial and misunderstood by some owners, but entirely manageable if you knew how the car worked and learned to anticipate it. The i3 though offers a really compelling package if you use it for its intended purpose: local urban driving.
This one is slightly controversial because there has been a lot of confusion about whether the Chevy Volt is a PHEV or EREV. Many claim it isn't, many claim it is, and the truth is it's a bit of a grey area. Why the confusion? Because the generator isn't connected to the drive wheels, but it does provide assistance through a clutch to the bits that are. That's as deep as we're going to go on that. All that matters is that the Volt is beloved by owners, offering an impressive 50 miles of EV range, one of the longest range hybrids available at the time (and even today, though other PHEVs from Toyota and Volvo have come closer).
Oh, Fisker Karma. This very pretty car debuted in 2012 and had quite a dramatic run, plagued with problems and selling in very low quanities. It used a 2.0L I4 engine and a 20kWh battery pack to deliver about 400 horsepower to the rear wheels, and about 33 miles of all electric range. The car certainly looked faster than it was, and had quite a price tag starting at $103,000. Fisker ended up going bankrupt, and the assets were purchased by a new company called Karma Automotive. Karma revamped the car and re-introduced it as the Karma Revero. The Revero now features a 28kWh battery and offers 80 miles of EV range (360 total with gas) and retails for $123,000.
The Mazda MX-30 R-EV feels like an experiment. It uses Mazda's legendary and infamous rotary engine tech to power a rather small 30kWh battery. One of the benefits of a rotary engine is it is relatively lightweight and compact, and so it feels ideal to use the in an EREV configuration, but in the case of the MX-30 the rest of the vehicle doesn't feel fully baked yet. It offers just 168 horsepower and about 53 miles of EV range, and has a charge speed that maxes out at 36 kW. Other EREVs can outpace the MX-30 between the lights AND at the plug. The MX-30 R-EV was only available in California, and was discontinues in 2023. We're excited to see where Mazda takes their rotary tech on future EREVs.
Now's let's take a look at some EREVs currently in development.
One big use case for EREV tech are trucks. EV trucks are great, and add useful worksite capability like additional torque and the ability to power tools and even homes. But where EV trucks fall flat on their face is towing. EREVs are an answer, and RAM is betting this will be a winner. The Ramcharger uses a massive 92 kWh battery and charges it with a full-sized Pentastar V6 engine. The result is 150 miles of EV range and (690 miles combined with gasoline) and a whopping 663 horsepower. It has a tow rating of 14,000 lbs. That's even more than the RAM 1500's tow rating of 12,750. Speaking of pounds, this truck will weight a lot of them. Don't mistake electric for efficient, this Ramcharger will drink a lot of juice at over 7,500 lbs. For truck folks though, this thing will offer a unique combination of utility that makes it truly compelling.
Scout is a "new old" automaker in North America, a revival of the International Scout brand that adorned American roads and trails in the 60s, 70s and 80s. This rebirth of Scout is brought to you by Volkswagen, and will feature tech developed by Rivian. Where these models will differ from models from both of those companies is the offering of an EREV configuration. The Terra (truck) and Traveler (SUV) will feature 4 cylinder engines mounted behind the rear axle, and offering 150 miles of EV range before falling back to gasoline. Scout is calling the gas engine the "Harvester", a clever repurposing of a nameplate from the brand's past. The Terra and Traveler will be built in America and are available for pre-order now for the 2027 model year.
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Lotus has been making impressive lightweight sports cars in a re-purposed WW2 airplane hanger in the UK since the 50s. For almost that entire time, they've struggled financially while producing some of the best driving cars on planet Earth. In 2017, Lotus was acquired by China's Geely, who also owns Volvo, Polestar, and a sizable chunk of Aston Martin. The Eletre and Emeya are Lotus' first EVs, sharing solid EV tech from Geely's other brands like Polestar and Zeekr. The vehicles are mighty impressive, with gorgeous interiors, some of the fastest charging curves in the world, and staggering performance numbers (the Eletre R uses 905 hp to moves it 5800 lb mass to 60 mph in just 2.95 seconds). Here's the problem: they don't seem to be selling all that well. 102% tariffs have stalled their rollout in the USA, and Geely thinks the ticket to increasing sales in other markets are to add gasoline generators to these EV platforms. Details are still slim on the EREV versions of these cars, but we know they're coming.
At the 2022 Tokyo Auto Show, Mazda showed us the beautiful Iconic SP, a sports car that looked like it could preview the next Miata, or perhaps a revival of the legendary RX-7. Mazda has since said that they fully intend to bring a car based on this concept to market, and that it would be an EREV powered by their rotary engine tech. Details are sparse, but we're including it here because who doesn't want to look at that Mazda?
Hyundai has said that they plan to offer EREVs by the 2026 model year, debuting as a large SUV model for both the Hyundai and Genesis brands. They've teased a 560-mile combined range, but we don't know how much battery-only range that includes or what the price tag will be.
While details are very slim, Ford has announced that it plans to offer EREV versions of its trucks, SUVs and crossovers by 2027. Which models are offered first, as well as their range, technical details and price are all unknowns at this point.
So, will an EREV work for you? Well, we have to start with the key question that we ask everyone considering a plug-in vehicle: can you charge at home? EREVs are unique in that they generally offer more all-electric range than a regular plug-in hybrid before the gasoline engines kick in - but if you're driving around on gas too often you will be defeating the purpose of these vehicles.
If you're someone who isn't able to charge at home, and you're willing to charge your vehicle on public chargers regularly, than you may be better off with a fully electric vehicle as those will have bigger batteries and more EV range to work with. You'll want to carefully consider your charging plan, though, and be willing to sacrifice some convenience over gasoline.
If you're someone who just never wants to think about plugging in, you may simply want a hybrid with no plug. A hybrid with no plug will almost always be more efficient than a plug-in vehicle that never gets plugged in.
