Hybrid Cars

[I P Knightley]

Time has come to replace the F*nn7 Magnet. London's about to introduce an "Ultra Low Emission Zone" which has got me thinking about going for a hybrid car.

 

Are there any KBers with experience of owning one of these beasts of the road and any recommendations for one which isn't a Prius (I don't want passers by thinking I'm an Uber driver)? It's a family car having to transport three growing lads in the back quite often, along with a boot load of kit.

 

And it's got to be maroon.

[Sexton Hardcastle]

Got a golf GTE and love it. Make the most of the free chargers (when they aren’t blocked by idiots who drive the enterprise rentals) as the council will be charging for use soon enough. Be interesting to see how that affects uptake as one positive is free charging when out and about. 

 

GTE still has over 200 hp so can fly in gte mode. I average about 70 mpg per week doing a 70 odd mile daily trip from out of town and some time on the bypass.

 

space in the boot is not much given the battery location but I’d certainly check one out. Colleague has a nice bmw which is more spacious but not as good on the running costs/battery.

[Pans Jambo]

I had a PHEV Mitsubishi Outlander about 3 years ago. 

Shite. 

About 25 miles on the battery only. 

When the battery ran out you can charge it slightly as you drive but that wasnt great either. 

When you are not using the battery you are using fuel to carry around a huge lump of a battery cell and the car itself is around 2.5 tonnes so your mpg is shit on petrol. 

I got rid. 

IT IS NOT ENVIRONMENTALLY GREENER!

Quite the opposite (although it is cheap on tax as a company car). 

 

Really fancy the Golf GTE but they stopped making them sadly. 

[Suffolk Jambo]

I've had a Toyota Auris Touring Sports for almost 2 years now and live in deepest darkest Suffolk, so handy for the occassional trip to London without worrying about any of the ridiculous charges. Basically the same as the Prius, without the odd looks and its an estate so plenty of room in the boot. It's self charging, so no need to worry about hooking it up at home or finding a spot to charge, although I've never managed to get near the claimed 70mpg, my average being around 55mpg is not bad considering its got a 1.8 petrol engine.

 

It's not maroon, but close enough? http://usedcars.toyota.co.uk/en/used-toyota/Toyota/Auris/Hybrid-18-VVT-i-HSD-Excel-Touring-Sports-jjbvkuv

[robroy1874]

Had a Toyoa Auris for three years and economy was brilliant - around 55-65-mpg. Have now got a Toyota CH-R - also brilliant.

[Taffin]

I'm quite surprised by the mpg people are getting. I get 50mpg on a normal week commuting and 60mpg + on a motorway drive back up to Scotland.

 

I've got a 4 year old 2 litre TDI What am I missing? Seems many of the hybrids are less fuel efficient than that? 

[Harry Potter]

Need to bring down the cost of one before i consider one , but deffo the way forward.

One question i will ask, how do they fair on snow ?.

[graygo]

1 hour ago, Harry Potter said:

Need to bring down the cost of one before i consider one , but deffo the way forward.

One question i will ask, how do they fair on snow ?.

 

Shite.  It's petrol or battery only I'm afraid.

 

Edit: Or diesel.

Edited January 21, 2019 by graygo

[Harry Potter]

21 minutes ago, graygo said:

 

Shite.  It's petrol or battery only I'm afraid.

 

Edit: Or diesel.

Cheers bud , i know a friend of mine had trouble getting his hybrid out the driveway on 

a small scattering of snow.

[graygo]

2 minutes ago, Harry Potter said:

Cheers bud , i know a friend of mine had trouble getting his hybrid out the driveway on 

a small scattering of snow.

 

Ach, my wee joke was wasted on you.   

[Harry Potter]

1 hour ago, graygo said:

 

Ach, my wee joke was wasted on you.   

lol, bud.

[Ribble]

Sod getting a crappy hybrid when a newer Euro 6 Diesel will be classed the same for London's Ultra low emission zone

 

https://www.greencarguide.co.uk/features/buy-diesel-petrol-hybrid-or-electric-car/ is a decent guide to what type of engine suits the best

[IronJambo]

1 hour ago, Ribble said:

Sod getting a crappy hybrid when a newer Euro 6 Diesel will be classed the same for London's Ultra low emission zone

 

https://www.greencarguide.co.uk/features/buy-diesel-petrol-hybrid-or-electric-car/ is a decent guide to what type of engine suits the best

Residuals on diesels are fecked due to demonisation though and unless your using decent mileage the DPF is going to be an issue.

Edited January 21, 2019 by IronJambo

[Sexton Hardcastle]

7 hours ago, Harry Potter said:

Need to bring down the cost of one before i consider one , but deffo the way forward.

One question i will ask, how do they fair on snow ?.

I found the GTE very good on the snow. Being automatic it just slowly eased itself out of deeper stuff and only wheel spun if you floored it. 

 

Battery capacity does drop in the colder weather. Difference between now and the summer about an extra 5-8 miles per full charge.

[moz]

On 18/01/2019 at 13:40, Pans Jambo said:

I had a PHEV Mitsubishi Outlander about 3 years ago. 

Shite. 

About 25 miles on the battery only. 

When the battery ran out you can charge it slightly as you drive but that wasnt great either. 

When you are not using the battery you are using fuel to carry around a huge lump of a battery cell and the car itself is around 2.5 tonnes so your mpg is shit on petrol. 

I got rid. 

IT IS NOT ENVIRONMENTALLY GREENER!

Quite the opposite (although it is cheap on tax as a company car). 

 

Really fancy the Golf GTE but they stopped making them sadly. 

This...^

 

I am on my second Hybrid, the first being the Outlander PHEV.....if you are driving 20 miles to work and get a charge to get 20 miles back home where you get a charge...then great...but I was doing runs to Manchester etc and getting as low as 28MPG....terrible car and the drive was shocking - was like the suspension was made of wood

 

I am now in a BMW 330e Hybrid...great handling car but again, you need to charge every 25 miles or so to make it work but its cheap on company car tax

 

If you do get a Hybrid I got a home charging station installed and got a grant to cover the cost...I paid out about £600 to get it installed then claimed it all back

I also got a card for the charging stations at £20 a year and you have to buy the charging cable for these stations, around £180 for that as well

[I P Knightley]

On 18/01/2019 at 13:40, Pans Jambo said:

I had a PHEV Mitsubishi Outlander about 3 years ago. 

Shite. 

About 25 miles on the battery only. 

When the battery ran out you can charge it slightly as you drive but that wasnt great either. 

When you are not using the battery you are using fuel to carry around a huge lump of a battery cell and the car itself is around 2.5 tonnes so your mpg is shit on petrol. 

I got rid. 

IT IS NOT ENVIRONMENTALLY GREENER!

Quite the opposite (although it is cheap on tax as a company car). 

 

Really fancy the Golf GTE but they stopped making them sadly. 

I wouldn't be looking for a muckle big off-road thing and having looked at the mpg figures for some of these cars, they're definitely coming in quite a bit higher than their petrol equivalents. (I won't be buying diesel again - as someone has said, diesel is in the firing line from the eco-greenies.)

 

I went past a VW dealer yesterday and could have sworn that the banner on the side was pushing an e- or hybrid golf. I'll go and look closer.

22 minutes ago, moz said:

This...^

 

I am on my second Hybrid, the first being the Outlander PHEV.....if you are driving 20 miles to work and get a charge to get 20 miles back home where you get a charge...then great...but I was doing runs to Manchester etc and getting as low as 28MPG....terrible car and the drive was shocking - was like the suspension was made of wood

 

I am now in a BMW 330e Hybrid...great handling car but again, you need to charge every 25 miles or so to make it work but its cheap on company car tax

 

If you do get a Hybrid I got a home charging station installed and got a grant to cover the cost...I paid out about £600 to get it installed then claimed it all back

I also got a card for the charging stations at £20 a year and you have to buy the charging cable for these stations, around £180 for that as well

I need to look into this further. I assumed that "hybrid" meant you had a petrol engine that augments the battery; I wasn't thinking about having to plug the thing in.

[SUTOL]

2 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

 this further. I assumed that "hybrid" meant you had a petrol engine that augments the battery; I wasn't thinking about having to plug the thing in.

 

The engine does charge the battery, but that costs in fuel. If you are only doing short trips then if the battery is charged by plugging in, then you wont use any petrol. 

 

I'm waiting off a few years till all electric cars have better range and the charging network is increased. As I'm not fully convinced with hybrids. Certainly in their current form. 

[Pans Jambo]

2 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

I wouldn't be looking for a muckle big off-road thing and having looked at the mpg figures for some of these cars, they're definitely coming in quite a bit higher than their petrol equivalents. (I won't be buying diesel again - as someone has said, diesel is in the firing line from the eco-greenies.)

 

I went past a VW dealer yesterday and could have sworn that the banner on the side was pushing an e- or hybrid golf. I'll go and look closer.

I need to look into this further. I assumed that "hybrid" meant you had a petrol engine that augments the battery; I wasn't thinking about having to plug the thing in.

Yeah the e-Golf is being pushed quite hard but thats electric only I believe. OK if youre not driving very long distances its probably an excellent car. 

[Harry Potter]

44 minutes ago, SUTOL said:

 

The engine does charge the battery, but that costs in fuel. If you are only doing short trips then if the battery is charged by plugging in, then you wont use any petrol. 

 

I'm waiting off a few years till all electric cars have better range and the charging network is increased. As I'm not fully convinced with hybrids. Certainly in their current form. 

When i worked in the shell garage an American tourist came in and asked me, where do i plug this in, answer not in here buddie,

asked him if the rental company had given him places where he could charge it up, no he says, this was battery only, better with the hybrid , 

at least you have petrol to back up.

[Craig_]

Going to run my 3.0 turbo diesel into the ground, and hopefully in 3-4 years electric cars will be a viable option.

 

A second-hand Tesla Model 3 should be perfectly affordable by then.

[I P Knightley]

1 hour ago, SUTOL said:

 

The engine does charge the battery, but that costs in fuel. If you are only doing short trips then if the battery is charged by plugging in, then you wont use any petrol. 

 

I'm waiting off a few years till all electric cars have better range and the charging network is increased. As I'm not fully convinced with hybrids. Certainly in their current form. 

But not all hybrids have an option to recharge on a plug, am I right?

 

I was looking at the Ford Mundaneo (not quite a dark enough maroon but it would do) and there's no mention of plugging in.

 

I'd normally agree with you on waiting for the tech to develop further but I'm sort of being rushed into ditching the FM (a 2010 diesel) with the upcoming London ULEZ. I'm OK this year as it's only affecting the central congestion charge zone, which I've only been in a half a dozen times in the last couple of years at the weekends and, even then, I could use the wife's wee TwinAir Fiat. But when ULEZ extends to the North Circular Road, I'm fecked.

[Erik]

50 minutes ago, Craig_ said:

Going to run my 3.0 turbo diesel into the ground, and hopefully in 3-4 years electric cars will be a viable option.

 

A second-hand Tesla Model 3 should be perfectly affordable by then.

 

I love the idea of a Tesla.

 

I'm not so sure I love the idea of an aging / second hand / out of warranty one though. To me it seems like a bit of an unknown as to how well these cars will age...... but with all that clever tech on board, the prospect of having to get one fixe d/ repaired would put the fear of god in to me.

 

I could of course be proven to be way wide of the mark and folk might find them to be super reliable and not have any issues. Time will tell I guess.

[SUTOL]

52 minutes ago, I P Knightley said:

But not all hybrids have an option to recharge on a plug, am I right?

 

I was looking at the Ford Mundaneo (not quite a dark enough maroon but it would do) and there's no mention of plugging in.

 

I'd normally agree with you on waiting for the tech to develop further but I'm sort of being rushed into ditching the FM (a 2010 diesel) with the upcoming London ULEZ. I'm OK this year as it's only affecting the central congestion charge zone, which I've only been in a half a dozen times in the last couple of years at the weekends and, even then, I could use the wife's wee TwinAir Fiat. But when ULEZ extends to the North Circular Road, I'm fecked.

 

Yes, you are correct. The Mondeo (at least) doesn't need to be plugged in to charge the battery. It just uses 2ltr petrol to do that. 

 

The technology and implementation of it is continually developing and evolving, so what is the 'standard' today will change tomorrow. As will the ranges of batteries and efficiency of the engines and charging systems. 

 

 

 

[Der Kaiser]

I don't have one.

 

Hope this helps.

[Craig_]

1 hour ago, Erik said:

 

I love the idea of a Tesla.

 

I'm not so sure I love the idea of an aging / second hand / out of warranty one though. To me it seems like a bit of an unknown as to how well these cars will age...... but with all that clever tech on board, the prospect of having to get one fixe d/ repaired would put the fear of god in to me.

 

I could of course be proven to be way wide of the mark and folk might find them to be super reliable and not have any issues. Time will tell I guess.

 

There's Teslas out there already with several hundred thousand miles on the clock with minimal battery deterioration. 12% deterioration after 300,000 miles in the example on this link - https://insideevs.com/highest-mileage-tesla-now-has-over-420000-miles/

[I P Knightley]

22 minutes ago, Der Kaiser said:

I don't have one.

 

Hope this helps.

This helps my census immensely. Thanks.

[IronJambo]

6 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

 

 

I went past a VW dealer yesterday and could have sworn that the banner on the side was pushing an e- or hybrid golf. I'll go and look closer.

I need to look into this further. I assumed that "hybrid" meant you had a petrol engine that augments the battery; I wasn't thinking about having to plug the thing in.

The E golf is fully electric. It's far too small for your needs if you're driving around with 3 lads and a boot full. The battery is going to be taking up a substantial part of an already small boot.  The battery on a hybrid has a big enough impact on bootspace. 

[jamie1874]

I have a BMW 225XE. Mainly got that as company car tax is very low at the minute but changes in 2021.

 

I don’t do a huge amount of mileage, city driving or house to airport (10 miles) as work away most weeks. Therefore having it charged and only getting 25 miles electric is not too bad (well never get 25, prob 18).

 

But with the changes in car tax coming soon, the pressure is on a lot of car suppliers to increase the electric mileage to over 100 to keep tax low. BMW etc need to achieve this as so many sales will be in company fleets. 

 

I like them, very quiet to drive, pre set to heat up / cool down car from your phone as long as you have charge.

 

Only down side, if you do decent mileage then expect a lot of trips to petrol stations as tank only holds around 250 miles 

[Jambo dans les Pyrenees]

Have a Lexus ct hybrid.

 

self charging.  Between 55-70mpg dependent on type of journey. No tax or congestion charges.  Nice drive, holding it’s value well.  I got it 2 years ago and only dropped £500 in value in that time.