With gas costing more than $4 a gallon on average across the United States and car shoppers seeking the most fuel-efficient modelspossible, plug-in hybrids have become a popular choice for people who aren't ready to go fully electric.
In the first half of 2026, 22% of shoppers said they would consider a hybrid vehicle, which was up from 20% in 2025, according to Kelley Blue Book. By comparison, only 10% of car shoppers said they would consider buying a fully-electric model during the first half of 2026, according to the group.
In 2025, 13.9 million non-plug-in hybrid vehicles and 1.7 million plug-in hybrid vehicles were registered on U.S roads, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuel Data Center. By comparison, the agency
said there were 5.6 million fully electric cars and over 240 million gasoline-powered cars registered nationwide last year.
"While durability and safety remain the most influential purchase considerations across all shoppers, affordability and fuel economy have become increasingly important over the past five years," Kelley Blue Book said.
But plug-in hybrids usually have smaller batteries than fully electric cars. They are designed to allow the car to be operated on electric power for stretches of time that can last about 40 to 50 miles, according to Edmunds. Most plug-in hybrids drive like a fully electric car until the battery gets low, then switch to gas power until the battery is recharged.
That raises a practical question: How much do you really gain by plugging in? I drove the Mazda CX-90 plug-in hybrid for a week to find out.
What is like to charge a plug-in hybrid?
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs as they are sometimes called, have the same charging ports as fully electric cars. You can charge them at home with charging equipment or at the same public charging stations you use with a fully electric vehicle.
Plug-in hybrids have been touted as an option for people who want to experience electric driving but are not ready to commit to driving a fully electric car.
The catch is that plug-in hybrids work best when charged regularly, like a full EV. Some drivers may not know that and operate their plug-in hybrid like a regular hybrid car, which also switches between gas and electric power but doesn't have a charging option.
I took the Mazda CX-50 to a Jolt public charging station to see how long it would take to charge and how much it would boost the vehicle's mileage. It took me two hours to fully charge the battery in one session. With the battery fully charged, the vehicle said I had 310 miles of range overall, and only 27 miles of that range were on the battery.
The vehicle said it averages 25.6 mpg on gas and 5 miles per kilowatt-hour on electricity. It cost me $4 to charge the CX-90 hybrid, but my charging session took two hours and 6 minutes.
That made me question whether I would have been better off visiting a nearby gas station instead, even with the current high pump prices.
What happens if you don't charge your plug-in hybrid car?
When I first got the CX-90 plug-in hybrid, the vehicle said it had 360 miles of range on a full tank of gas and 5 miles of electric driving with the battery at 3%.
With a max driving range of 30 miles, it's not practical to avoid gas stations entirely with a plug-in hybrid. For that experience, you need a fully electric vehicle.
A plug-in hybrid driver could choose to run their car entirely on gas, and they probably wouldn't notice much difference in mileage. But plug-in hybrids are usually more expensive than gas cars, so that driver would be forgoing the added electric mileage they paid extra for.
A driver who wants fuel efficiency but doesn't want to worry about charging at all should consider a regular, or mild, hybrid car. Some hybrid cars can get over 500 miles per gallon on a single tank.
Most regular hybrids draw power from regenerative braking, according to Edmunds.
Do most people charge their plug-in hybrids?
There's been a long debate about whether most plug-in hybrid owners even bother charging their cars since most of their mileage comes from gas. The question has grown with recent spikes in fuel and energy prices.
Toyota sought to prove that at least some plug-in hybrid drivers do charge regularly with a study that found drivers of its RAV4 connect to chargers on seven out of every 10 days of driving, and Lexus NX 450h hybrid drivers charge eight to nine times in a 10-day period.
The study found that only 9% of Toyota drivers and 4% of Lexus drivers said they rarely plug in.
"The ability for drivers to choose what can power their car makes a whole lot of sense these days," Toyota said. "The average cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity at home is 18 cents nationally making it cheaper to go 40 miles on plug power than the gas pump."
Why experts say you should consider charging your plug-in hybrid car
Edmunds said that "charging daily is the ideal and most efficient way to use a plug-in hybrid."
"If your PHEV is charged daily and driven within the electric range limit, trips to the gas station can be rare," the website said.
Additionally, Edmunds said plug-in hybrids generally have smaller batteries than fully electric cars; they are often easier to charge.
"Fortunately, since a plug-in hybrid battery is a lot smaller than an electric vehicle's battery pack, you can use the charging cord that comes with the vehicle and plug it into a regular 120-volt outlet (the same type that powers and charges most home electronics)," the website said.
"This is referred to as Level 1 charging," Edmunds continued. "You can also opt for a quicker-charging Level 2 home charger that uses a 240-volt outlet, but you'll have to pay for a charging station and, in some cases, for the installation of the 240-volt outlet."
Keith Laing is an automotive reporter on the National Trending Desk at USA TODAY. Contact Keith at klaing@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is charging a plug-in hybrid worth it? I tested a Mazda to find out
