By Gary S. Vasilash

Although the folks at Consumer Reports are finding increased interest in and performance of electric vehicles (EV), it seems as though plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are really something of a sweet spot based on its annual top-10 vehicle list.

CR’s Jake Fisher, senior director of Auto Testing, points out that there are four key elements that go into the determination of what vehicles make the list—and make it to the top of the list, which are:

• Road testing
• Active safety and crash testing
• Owner satisfaction
• Predicted reliability

While the first two are objective and the last two are subjective, know that the nonprofit consumer organization bases the last two on more than 300,000 member surveys, so there are solid metrics behind them.

The Results

So here are the top 10:

• Subcompact SUV: Subaru Crosstrek
• Compact SUV: Subaru Forester
• Small car: Mazda3
• Midsize car: Toyota Camry Hybrid
• Small pickup: Ford Maverick/Maverick Hybrid
• Midsize SUV: Toyota Highlander Hybrid
• Luxury SUV: BMW X5/X5 PHEV
• Hybrid/PHEV car: Toyota Prius/Prius Prime
• PHEV SUV: Toyota RAV4 Prime
• Electric vehicle: Tesla Model Y

The PHEV Challenge

One of the challenges vis-à-vis people going to a PHEV rather than a conventional hybrid (HEV) or a full EV is, Fisher explains, their understanding of what a PHEV is and how it would fit into their driving regime.

To simplify things, CR has modified the way it provides information about fuel economy for PHEVs by treating the all-electric range provided as a “bonus” added to the results when the vehicle is operating in its “charge-sustaining mode” (a.k.a., simply driving on its engine).

A fascinating comparison that CR made is to put like-to-like vehicles up against one another with the differences being in their propulsion system—PHEV vs. ICE, HEV and full EV—and then how much it will cost the consumer based on both the vehicle price and the cost of energy. The assumptions are that the owners will plug in their vehicles that have plugs, drive 40 miles per day, and take four 500-mile trips annually.

While it may not be a surprise that the PHEV version of the BMW 330 is more cost-effective than the gasoline-only version, there are a couple of surprises:

The Hyundai Tucson HEV saves more money than the PHEV version.

And while it seems to be accepted wisdom that owning an EV means far less cost for energy, the Kia Niro PHEV is actually better for the pocketbook than the Niro EV.