Yeah, maybe it's the specific vehicles I was looking at, but if a PHEV gets similar or better gas mileage than it's pure ICE counterpart along with the ability to run trips locally via electric, I'm all for it. Unfortunately the BMW X5 50e is not one of those. The RAV4 prime was always a pretty neat option in my opinion, but even there the 32 mile EPA range is mediocre at best. Something like the Prius prime with 44 miles or the BMW X5 50e (which I think is rated for 40) make a better case for them, but unless your commute is less than about 15 miles each way, there is a good chance you are not going to be able to do it on pure electric power (plus often driving those vehicles in electric only mode is super anemic).
I can get power here in Arizona now for 6 hours of the day at 4.3 cents a kilowatt hour. My "off peak" rate varies from 9.8 to 11.8 cents a kilowatt otherwise if I cannot charge purely in that 9 AM to 3 PM window (pilot plan due to the oversupply experienced by solar generation in Arizona during the day time with lack of ability to store it in batteries). With our gas lately being between about third and eighth most expensive in the US, electric is very tempting.
I completely get you about longer distance trips though. Arizona is funny since if you stay in the Phoenix metro you rarely drive more than maybe 60 to 90 miles in a day. Once you are traveling city to city in the west though, the distances get big really quickly. I think my issue is if I'm going to get a big comfortable vehicle like an X5, I want it to get the best possible gas mileage possible for distance driving when we are not just local. I'd rather have a pure EV run about to complement my "distance car."
Obviously, many of us cannot own a 3 or 4 deep fleet for personal travel though
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