Electric Vehicles EVs

I fail to understand PHEVs except as a range anxiety sticking plaster.

Non plug-in PHEVs (HEVs?) do my head in a bit, but even those are more efficient than the ICE only, despite the extra complexity of carrying a battery and electric motor in the place of the gearbox.

Whether that complexity is worth it compared to the additional MPG is up to the consumer. For me, it looks marginal (we get 55mpg on our ICE, mum gets 70 on her non plug in HEV).

But used 'correctly' some of the emissions that would happen 'around town' get emitted 'elsewhere' where, perhaps in theory, they could be less harmful.

Company car tax fiddle. Pay less, but never plug it in, like you say.

I fail to understand PHEVs except as a range anxiety sticking plaster.

Well in our case considering 5 year old 2nd hand cars- most affordable EV's from 5+ years ago don't have a practical range (less than 150 miles), even if their batteries are still in good condition which is a gamble.

We have one. Charge it for like £2.50 over night from a standard socket then do ~30 miles barely touching the petrol engine or leave it in hybrid and have better efficiency. It means the majority of journeys are covered by the electric and we only ever have to put petrol in it if we're doing long journeys and then we're not limited by where and how available charging points are.