Best PHEV Comparison Shows Hyundai Ioniq, Prius Prime, Volt and Honda Clarity

It has no specific winner, as, as they put it "It's hard to buy a bad car these days. But it is easy to buy the wrong car." Starting with the Ioniq, this comes from a brand which is relatively new to making green cars.

From the outset, the Ioniq was designed to compete with the Prius, but affordability is the primary attribute of this car. At under $26,000 it's by far the least expensive entry. It's got an EPA rating of 29 electric miles, but they managed 38.4 in the real world.

Also, the automatic gearbox is great if you want to get away from the CVT which most hybrids have. Downsides include a lack of seat bolstering and sound insulations.

As we mentioned during the recent Honda Clarity review, it's very expensive. But it's a Honda, so it should have excellent resale value. The 56.2 real electric range does sweeten the deal, as does the 212 available horsepower.

While the Prius Prime doesn't have the same car-like driving potential as the Clarity, it is very comfortable. With only 26.2 miles of real range, the Toyota is bad at burning zero gas but good at being a hybrid as it averaged 54.3 mpg combined.

Being made by the biggest Japanese automaker does come with some perks, but the lack of Android Auto hurts it in the review. Finally, there's the second generation of the original PHEV, the Chevy Volt.

With 53 miles of electric range, it's a good car for the all-electric commute. However, its combined rating isn't brilliant at just 43 mpg. Though equipped with Apple CarPlay, the infotainment crashed multiple times for one of the testers.