What is an EREV and why do we need them?

Getting Americans to adopt Electric Vehicles (EVs) is a critical component to reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions. And the public is interested, with 18% (Source: AAA) of drivers saying they’d like to have an EV as their next car. But EV sales have been anemic at best, with only 1.3M (Source: Cox Automotive) sold in 2024 and less than 1% (Source: Edmunds) of cars on the road in America EVs. So why do Americans say they want an EV but aren’t buying?
Research (Source: AAA) indicates two related reasons for consumer reluctance:
Range anxiety.
Lack of a robust nationwide charging infrastructure.
They’re not wrong. While 90% of daily driving can be handled by most current EVs on the market in the US, it’s those days when you need to drive farther that are a problem. It’s inconvenient at best to stop for 45 minutes to charge enroute during a longer drive. And that’s if you can find a working charging station along your route. Building out a reliable nationwide charging network will take enormous investment and years to achieve - and in some rural and low-traffic areas, public fast charging may never make economic sense.

The good news is that there already exists a market-ready solution to this problem – Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREVs). EREVs are EVs with a small Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) under the hood, the purpose of which is to run a generator to power the electric motors when the car’s battery runs low. This eliminates both range anxiety and dependence on a nationwide charging network. An EREV with a 150-mile battery range will cover most daily needs, with a small 4-cylinder ICE generator and 6-gallon tank providing the electricity to drive an additional 250 miles. If you need to drive further, no problem. Simply fill up at one of America’s 100,000 existing gas stations, as you always have. For EREV owners, America’s gas stations are the nationwide charging network.
EREVs do fit within the broader plug-in-hybrid category. But there's an important distinction: All EREVs are PHEVs; not all PHEVs are EREVs. Conventional PHEVs typically have shorter electric range and rely more regularly on their gasoline engines. EREVs are designed around substantial electric range and an electric-first driving experience.