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The size of the vehicle adds a lot of weight to the vehicle. The weight equivillant of 2 fairly large men. IMHO , that extra weight does not drown out the benefit by any stretch of imagination. But you are right, It will work better when newer lightweight batteries are championed.
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This is a good point, and this is also why normal hybrids have fairly small battery packs-- since all the power comes from the engine, drivers on flat land get no benefit from extra capacity as they'd have no opportunity to recharge it. For someone who commutes over a long mountain pass though, the weight woudl be worth it as that extra capacity could actually be used on the climb and recharged on the descent. In the case of a plugin, the extra capacity would be filled from the wall for both the flatlander and the mountain driver. Even when depleted though, the plug-in pack could actually aid the mountain driver by providing extra regen braking capacity.
Also, the extra weight of those batteries in a plug-in hybrid could be offset by using a slightly smaller capacity fuel tank (less materials), and reccomending that people only store about 2 gallons of fuel unless actaully planning to go on a longer trip. Range would only decrease for people who never charge, or for interstate road trips with multiple fill-ups. Even two gallons would go a long way for someone with short commute who charges regularly.
Finally, not only would the electric power provide some range for short trips, strategic use of the stored power over a long period of time could actually ensure the engine only needs to run in its absolute most efficient RPM ranges for long trips, since the stored power could allow very aggressive "assist" to maintain a very even ICE load. There would only need to be a driver-controlled switch to tell the computer whether to use the stored power in "short drive" mode (sustained all-electric driving, engine-on only if peak power needed or pack runs out) or "long drive" mode (engine-on continually with highly aggressive electric assist).
A final benefit could be achieved by using an automatic sliding grill-cover that would only open as much as needed to cool the radiator. This would cut down on aerodynamic drag when little or no engine cooling is needed, which would be often on a plug-in hybrid that runs the engine sparingly.