Carmakers Have a New Idea to Boost EV Range: Add a Gas Engine — WSJ
By Christopher Otts
The auto industry has a new solution to Americans' fear that electric vehicles will run out of juice: a gasoline engine.
Hyundai, Ford Motor and Jeep parent Stellantis are among the first U.S.-market automakers planning to roll out a new kind of plug-in vehicle called an extended-range EV. It is a fully electric car with the security blanket of a gas-powered generator to charge the battery, if needed-ensuring you won't end up stranded as long as a gas station is nearby.
"It is simply a good answer," said Micky Bly, head of propulsion systems at Stellantis, which aims to kick off the "EREV" trend in the U.S. later this year or early next with its Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV. A second range-extended vehicle, a pickup truck called the Ram 1500 REV, will follow it. The truck couples a large EV battery with a gas V-6 to recharge it, promising up to 690 miles of driving-more than twice the typical EV in the U.S.
In late August, Korean giant Hyundai announced that its next Santa Fe SUV will offer an EREV version in 2027. Hyundai has said it would provide about 600 miles of driving. Its luxury brand Genesis will offer a similar vehicle. And after canceling its money-losing electric F-150 Lightning truck last December, Ford says it will resurrect that truck as an EREV.
Whether customers will embrace a new and complicated middle-ground technology is a separate question. EV newcomers often struggle with the complexities of charging, and previous attempts to marry plug-in and gas vehicles haven't found much commercial success in the U.S.
"Now we're throwing in another layer of complexity and oddity," said Ivan Drury, director of insights at car-shopping site Edmunds. "There's going to be a major level of education required."
Nick Phucas, a mechanical engineer in Virginia, recently swapped a Rivian EV truck for a Ram gas pickup. Phucas said the EREV concept is intriguing, but wonders whether the truck's performance will be compromised when relying on the gas generator. Other unknowns remain, he said.
"If I get to the end of my (EV) range and I refill with gas, what will my range be?" he said.
The new approach comes as the industry is navigating a painful retrenchment from seeking a mostly electric market by the 2030s, with billions of dollars in stranded investments as customers failed to make the switch at levels once projected.
EV sales remain depressed since the Trump administration removed a $7,500 incentive last year and rolled back regulations driving a more electric market.
Two primary concerns have kept Americans from buying EVs en masse: the higher cost of battery-powered cars, and concerns over range-specifically, the availability of charging. In theory, EREVs solve the range and charging problem, while offering other advantages for bigger vehicles like three-row SUVs. Those require large batteries that can struggle with long recharge times. The setup is popular in China's high-tech auto market, where even Ford and General Motors offer EREV vehicles not sold in the U.S.
Most plug-in hybrids on the road today are essentially gasoline vehicles with a battery shoehorned in to provide a small amount of all-electric range. EREVs flip the concept. They are designed first as electric vehicles, and the engine solely acts as a generator for the battery, with no mechanical connection to the wheels.
The setup saves some battery costs compared with full EVs and eliminates the need for gas-car parts like a transmission. EREVs also drive like EVs, including instant acceleration even when the battery is drawing from the generator.
Still, consumer behavior has proved tough to change. Plug-in hybrids have had a lackluster reception in the U.S. so far, never accounting for more than a percent or two of the new-car market. Some owners only bought the cars for perks such as access to high-occupancy-vehicle lanes on the highway in California, said Ed Kim, president of industry research firm AutoPacific. Others seldom plugged them in.
"A consumer isn't going to buy what they don't understand, and that I think has been the central issue behind plug-in hybrids' relative lack of adoption here in North America," Kim said.
Engineers say EREVs should deliver a better experience than current plug-in hybrids. Most of those don't offer much electric range before reverting to the gas engine. The Subaru Crosstrek plug-in-discontinued after 2023-got a paltry 17 all-electric miles. The plug-in Jeep Wrangler, discontinued after 2025, got about 20 miles.
The first mass-market EREV in the U.S. did a little better. That was General Motors' groundbreaking Chevrolet Volt, built from 2011 to 2019, which could achieve about 50 miles of battery-only driving.
This new crop of EREVs will have more than 100 miles of all-electric range, meaning most drivers should rarely have to put gas in them, said Sam Abuelsamid, an engineer and industry analyst at Detroit research firm Telemetry.
Crucially, EREVs can use gas to tow heavy loads without running out of range. Towing is a key reason that larger electric trucks such as the F-150 Lightning and the Chevrolet Silverado EV failed to sell in large numbers.
With the gas generator, "You're not really sacrificing anything in terms of how far you can tow, how long you can tow," Abuelsamid said.
Bly, Stellantis' propulsion chief, said that while the industry spent years racing toward full EVs to meet government regulations, EREVs may represent a middle-ground solution customers are happier with. At the same time, they will likely cost more than comparable gas vehicles and possibly more than full EVs, analysts and engineers say.
"Customers won't reject them, but will they pay you extra for it? That remains to be seen," said consultant Dan Nicholson, a former General Motors vice president.
Write to Christopher Otts at [email protected]