The primary inherent benefit of a plug-in hybrid is not energy efficiency, it's energy independence. By switching to a plug-in hybrid, you are switching from Saudi oil to American coal or nuclear or hydropower.
In addition, you are switching from a non-point pollution source to a point source. In general, it's easier to regulate and monitor a single power plant than thousands of individual cars. You are also likely shifting pollution away from people. Cars go where people go; you can build power plants away from people.
Lastly, with hundreds of thousands of hybrid vehicles plugged in to the grid, you are creating a massive amount of reserve power generating capacity. That's not useful usually (modern power plants do the job cleaner and more efficiently), but it could come in handy in emergencies such as in the aftermath of a hurricane or earthquake, or in situations like the blackout in the Northeast a few years ago. It would also prevent problems like the market manipulation that Enron perpetrated in California.
I think plug-in hybrids are a fantastic idea, and all the technology and nearly all of the required infrastructure are already in place.
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