EREVs, also known as serial PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles), have an ICE (internal combustion engine) only to power the battery or assist the e-motor. In China, the range-extender gas engine has quietly transformed from a piece of engineering into a piece of psychology: a “marketing decoration” designed to calm customers’ range anxiety, rather than move pistons. With such a massive battery, analysts began to doubt the need for an ICE on board: Do you really need a 1.5T ICE with an 80 kWh battery? The engine has become, in effect, a decorative reassurance feature – present to close the sale, not to turn the crankshaft. In China, EREVs played an important role, and for some customers, even an essential one, in the transition from ICE vehicles to all-electric.