It has been five years since the extended-range Chevrolet Volt was launched. Dozens of plug-ins have been produced since then and entered the United States market. This year, another dozen of these are further expected. Plug-in hybrid cars are a good solution to petroleum dependence, emission of greenhouse gases and range anxiety. These cars have a unique powertrain architecture and run partly on electric power. When the battery is exhausted, a combustion engine comes into play. Morphing of the car to a standard gas-burner is normally in the hybrid mode.

Chrysler’s Pacifica Hybrid

Chrysler has introduced the very first hybrid minivan in the country. This is also a plug-in version of the hybrid minivan, a first of its kind. This car can comfortably accommodate seven passengers and has a range of 30 miles. Its battery is 16 kwh. Based on the size of battery, this plug-in hybrid car by Chrysler will be eligible for up to $7,500 of federal government tax credit. The car’s selling price has not yet been announced.

BMW’s 330e

The 330e is the first plug-in hybrid sedan by BMW and is built upon the legacy that began by the automaker’s ActiveHybrid3 about ten years ago. The expectations of this series with respect to sporting are guaranteed. This car has a battery of 7.6 kwh and an estimated range of 22 miles. The starting price of this car is $44,695 and the car has been approximated to enter the market in June.

BMW’s 740e

This car has a similarity with BMW’s X5 with respect to its powertain of a 2-liter capacity and an eight-speed transmission. The combination of electric motors gives a total of 321 horsepower system output. This car is expected to reach dealers by October this year.

Mercedes-Benz’s E350e

This car was introduced in Detroit last month as one of the remodelled E-class lineup. Its plug-in hybrid version is a bit fetching in terms of its style, which has been adopted based on the S-Class. Its EV range is estimated at 19 miles while the total horsepower produced from the electric motor and gas engine is 286. The torque is approximately 406 pounds-feet. According to Mercedes, the car’s acceleration ranges from 0 to 62 mph within 6.2 seconds. The starting price has not yet been announced. Though the car has not yet been listed in the automaker’s consumer website, it has been estimated to hit the market by May.

In addition to the mentioned cars, others expected to enter the market this year include Volvo’s S90 PHEV, Volkswagen’s Golf GTE, Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV, Kia’s Optima Plug-in, and Audi’s A3 e-tron.