Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) are a good bridge car for drivers reluctant to go fully electric — but they also make a lot of sense for the broader industry, given problems like a lack of charging infrastructure and battery scarcity, Joann Muller writes.

Why it matters: Lawmakers' efforts to get Americans to replace their gas-powered cars with EVs are about to run into two stubborn realities: Most consumers aren't ready to go electric, nor is the battery supply chain prepared to meet a surge in demand.

Driving the news: The Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden signed into law earlier this month, purported to expand EV tax credits (though supply chain requirements mean fewer cars now qualify).

• Plus, a new California mandate would ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. Other states are expected to follow.

Yes, but: Expanding EVs' market share will be challenging if the industry can't produce enough batteries.

• Automakers are investing billions in new battery manufacturing while rushing to close deals with mining companies to lock in supplies of lithium, nickel and other critical metals.
• Many manufacturers anticipate a battery bottleneck in the latter half of this decade as EV demand takes off.

Plug-ins, which run on electric power for around 20-40 miles before switching to a gas engine, use much smaller batteries than full EVs.

• They still usually have enough electric driving range for most people's daily commute or errands, as long as their owners plug them in overnight.

The catch: Most PHEV owners don't plug in their cars, so they end up using gas anyway and missing the benefits of the partially electric life.

• For this reason, a recent study from the International Council on Clean Transportation found that real-world PHEV fuel consumption in Europe was 2.5 to 5 times higher than laboratory testing.

Of note: Many forecasters, including Boston Consulting Group, predict EVs will take off in the coming years, while PHEVs will stay flat or fade away.

The other side: Convincing people that plug-in hybrids are the best solution right now is "not the simplest argument to make," concedes Toyota's chief scientist Gill Pratt — especially when the government is pushing fully electric cars.

• Yet most EV owners are "dragging around expensive bricks" because they don't need 300 miles of battery capacity weighing down their car, he says.

Go deeper: "In an era of battery scarcity, we could have two 150-mile EVs for the battery capacity in every 300-mile EV," writes automotive journalist Edward Niedermeyer in a New York Times column.

• "Using the same 300-mile EV battery, you could have six plug-in hybrids with 50 miles of electric range for daily driving and a gasoline engine for those rarer road trips, or many, many more e-bikes," he writes.

The bottom line: If you want to make an immediate impact on carbon emissions, plug-in hybrids aren't a bad choice.

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Satellite companies say they're on the precipice of blanketing the planet with mobile phone service, Axios' Hope King, Margaret Harding McGill and Miriam Kramer report.

Why it matters: Such efforts could eliminate dead zones and provide more reliable coverage to millions.

Driving the news: Elon Musk and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert recently announced plans to deliver service through SpaceX's Starlink by the end of next year in the U.S.

• Only text and certain messaging capabilities will be available at first, with the goal of eventually adding voice and data.

How it works: New satellites equipped with larger, more powerful antennas will pick up signals from mobile phones.

• Sievert described the vision as putting cell towers in the sky, but "a lot harder."

AST SpaceMobile and Lynk are also working on space-based mobile service.

• Amazon's Project Kuiper, meanwhile, is working with Verizon to provide rural communities with wireless coverage via thousands of satellites.
• And rumors are swirling that Apple will announce its own satellite iPhone partnership with Globalstar next week.

What they're saying: "The human race is becoming less and less tolerant of being disconnected," AT&T CEO John Stankey told Axios. "There's a market out there to keep people connected all the time."

Searches for $20-an-hour jobs on employment site Indeed have surpassed those for $15-an-hour roles, Axios' Emily Peck reports.

Why it matters: It's a sign of how inflation and a labor shortage pushed up wages faster than anyone could have imagined a decade ago, when Fight for $15 — a union-led effort advocating for a higher minimum wage — was founded.

Case in point: California fast-food workers could soon start earning up to $22 an hour after state lawmakers passed a workers' rights bill.

What's next: "We're trying to encourage the original states and cities that moved to $15 to consider a higher [wage]," Mary Kay Henry, the president of Service Employees International Union (which backs Fight for $15), told Axios earlier this year.

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An aerial view of Cerro Dominador, a concentrated solar power plant in Chile's Atacama Desert.

Details: Thousands of mirrors track the sun and reflect its rays toward a receiver atop the tower in the structure's center.

• The collected solar energy is eventually turned into steam, which then powers a turbine generating 110 megawatts of electricity for the regional grid.
• By comparison, the biggest U.S. coal-fired plants generate 3,000-3,500 megawatts.

Alex here. I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest taking three minutes out of your day to watch the new trailer for "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story."

True to Weird Al's parody style, the movie is essentially a spoof of recent rock biopics, like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Rocketman."

• It stars Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood and Rainn Wilson, and is set for release Nov. 4.