My darling wife (Her Highness) has been offered a company lease on a new car, that has to be a hybrid or fully electric. She literally is at the knowledge point of...a car has 5 wheels...6 if you count the spare...does this have a spare?! (She chose her last car because of the colour) She's asked for my opinion, and I don't move in these circles at all... preferring petrol, turbos and soul in my vehicles, and have never even remotely considered buying a new vehicle. Could anyone constructively suggest models that could be a good fit? I kinda have already said fully electric is out as we live properly out in the sticks (there is no charger network here at all). I also can't see a house charger being installed on our dilapidated property. The use would be ~2 hour airport drives (~200miles each way, twice a month). Long holiday summer and winter travel, 4 adults ~7hour trips each way, 30 minutes commute to work most days of the week. Full size is out as my wife would bash all the corners. The allocated budget seems ok ~45k but we are not particularly interested in something flash, more a good fit. I get that on other threads there is a lot of talk about the con of EVs and Hybrids (and to a certain extent I agree), but this is stipulated by her employer. Ideas and suggestions warmly received.
No idea but have you looked @ Toyotas ? . Also if company lease they may have restrictions on brands they offer , the new Alfa Hybrids looks nice, but my works lease scheme doesn’t offer them. I have heard anecdotally that Hyundai (full EV) can be problematic, maybe only certain models? New Renault 5 (full EV) is supposedly canny esp in Alpine form
Does she have the choice of a mild-hybrid or a plug-in hybrid? From what you are saying regarding your location then a mild-hybrid would be your choice as this type scavenges electric power to supplement your engine power. Most of the manufacturers offer a mild-hybrid version of their best sellers.
Thanks for the input Chris, does this mean a mild hybrid doesn't plug in at all? ...just uses fuel to charge a battery that then runs an electric motor? (Crazy as that sounds!)
No plug-in. They use regenerative braking to scavenge electric. Plenty of YouTube videos out there about the different hybrid technologies. Mhev versus Phev.
I have had PHEVs for the past 10 years. The best one was a Mitsubishi Outlander. 4 wheel drive with 30 miles of electric range. I was waiting for Mitsubishi to launch their latest version when they announced they were pulling out of Europe. I ended up buying a Kia Niro 3 Phev. It was OK but had a proper auto-box as opposed to the CVT of the Mitsubishi. I bought it new in Nov 2020 and filled it with Petrol same day. I next put some petrol in it in April 2021. That car got written off in Nov 2023. I now run a Ford Kuga Phev with CVT. I live in rural Northumberland and the option to run on petrol is great when going up/down the A1. The majority of the time the car runs on electric and I have a charging point at home but there are charging points available locally if you want to pay the high price for them. In the UK it is cheaper to charge at home (5% tax versus 20% VAT).
Recently sold my Sportage MHEV. (Mild hybrid..) Worked ok, though I do think it a bit daft, as there are loads of extra parts to go wrong …added weight and no improvement in economy over the none hybrid due to the extra weight! Basically a regen system, charging a 48 volt battery. This is then used to assist the diesel/or petrol engine. Bought a pure diesel, sounds like this is not an option for you. Electric? Nope, limited range and charging point issues. Plug in hybrid..see above. Petrol hybrid? Toyota imo. Plenty choices in their range. No charging to worry about. They have been making them for years and others copy.
