What do you daily drive? ICE vs. hybrid vs. PHEV vs. EV

[Anastie]

I was considering replacing our Toyota RAV4 hybrid with a full electric. My average daily journey is under 25 miles.

I test drove the Tesla model 3 Highlander and I really liked the car and it went to the top of my list. The only thing that put me off was the lack of boot space even though the boot is large, it would not have accommodated our dog and everything we need for UK holidays. I looked at the model Y which would’ve ticked the boxes, but I really don’t like the look of it!

I was persuaded by my Toyota dealer to try RAV4 plug-in hybrid version. I wasn’t expecting to like the car, but I really did. The interior was obviously identical to my previous RAV4. But to drive the plug-in version with significantly different it has 306 brake horsepower instant torque and at this time of year electric only range of 55 miles.

The car was an ex demonstrator and it worked out to be £10,000 cheaper than the Tesla model 3.

Do I have any regrets? Not really. Paying the higher road tax stings a bit! The plug-in hybrid means I have no range anxiety. This came into its own during a number of UK holidays. Where we were was quite isolated and charging the electric vehicle would’ve been problematic. Yes, I understand with planning this may have been less of a problem.

The cars performance albeit not the handling is good fun. My wife is due to change her car within two years and that will definitely be full electric

But the PHEV in our scenario use is perfect.

[cerb4.5lee]

fatboy b said:

Another supercharged and a turbo. I recently had a PHEV for a day while the supercharged one had a service. I was glad to hand it back as it was just annoying to drive. I’m sure if I had read the manual the over-braked engine with throttle off could have been toned down, but to have such a tiny electric range and carrying all that weight about is just pointless. Boat-like handling was crap.

I've noticed this a lot with the PHEV's that I've driven as well. They seem to be terrible at hiding their weight, and they just seem to wash out into understeer. They feel very unsporting to me, even in comparison to their ICE only equivalent.

I've been fortunate(or unfortunate depending on how you look at it) to drive 3 variants of the Merc A-Class(the diesel only/the petrol only/and the hybrid).

[AC43]

5k a year on one car, 2k on the other. E500 estate for distances, Fiat 500 for the city.

I've never had anything but petrol and the shortlist to replace the E Class is all petrol. My fantasy 3rd car also petrol.

Would quite happily have an electric Fiat 500. I can charge at home and it would suit the short journeys. Up till now it hasn't been worth the expense plus the 1.2 is a good learner car for my teenagers so I'll be staying all petrol for a while yet.

[georgeyboy12345]

MustangGT said:

Leon R said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

PHEV - I do ~7000 miles a year of mostly stop-start city driving with the occasional long trip thrown in. It has saved me literally thousands of pounds per year in fuel costs vs a petrol. I love it.

Your previous car must have had absolutely terrible fuel economy for a PHEV to save you thousands per year at 7000 miles pa.

Exactly, and a lot of insurance companies have higher premiums for anything with EV, not to mention the higher initial cost.

My old Audi A3 1.8T did 27 mpg around town. The etron I replaced it with does more like 150 mpg, so a saving of around £1500 a year. I was also able to switch to a cheap fixed electricity rate to charge my car, right before energy prices went crazy, fixing at 19p/kwh rather than the mad rates that everyone else was paying, meaning I saved even more money.

[grumpyscot]

Honda CRV Hybrid (Petrol). Though I don't drive much beyond a 5- mile radius of home, I do travel to the North of Scotland, and need to do a there and back in a day. There's a distinct lack of recharging points in the area I travel through and end up in (a tiny fishing village), so a hybrid is the best option for me. I get 50+ to the gallon so it works out fine.

[Gerradi]

Lexus 450h daily
TT RS Forged engine for Ballistic travelling, saying that the 450h is no slouch for its size...

[Muzzer79]

I currently have an EV and am enjoying it very much.

I am looking at something more long term, but am conscious that longer journeys may be more regular in the future (current mileage is fairly low)

I might therefore switch into a PHEV but the days of full ICE as a daily are hopefully behind me.

[Steve93]

Current daily is a 4.6 petrol auto, comfy smooth and surprisingly cheap motoring which makes the right noises when the loud pedal is pushed

Next year hoping to have my fleet of 90's/early 2000's turbo petrol cars to choose from, may even keep the Range Rover to tow whichever one is broken

[AndrewGP]

Daily driver is a Porsche 981 Boxster 2.7 with PDK. I only do 5k miles per year so the costs don’t worry me and I like sticking the roof down and listening to the flat 6 doing it’s thing. EV doesn’t make sense for me right now so I’m enjoying the experience whilst I still can.