VAG PHEV

[Lee540]

Looking at VAG range of 1.4 PHEV cars.

Don't appear to have any standout reviews. Does anyone here own one of the following?

- Octavia vRS iV
- Golf GTE
- A3 TFSI-e
- Formentor eHybrid

Any recommendations? All of these are fairly affordable company car leases to get out of my current diesel. Unfortunately my current distance from the office and amount of driving puts me out of range for a full EV.

Thanks,

Lee

[S1bs]

Don't own any of the those cars, but looked at several as about to change my company car (330E BMW)

Something to bear in mind is that the Audi and the Golf have small, shallow boots - the Octavia is bigger.

According to several reviews, the Octavia works better as the bog standard IV version. The extra power of the vRS version apparently makes in very jittery to drive but haven't tested that for myself yet.

Here's a link to a review in Autocar:

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/skoda/octavia...

Hope this helps.

[JD]

I’m two weeks in on to a cupra leon estate (245ps)

Seems pretty good so far, 30 miles all electric seems perfectly achievable, and 60+ mpg on longer runs.

[ZesPak]

Octavia for me, but haven't seen the new Seat stuff up close.

Out of interest, what is your commute if current EV's wouldn't cut it?

[Lee540]

ZesPak said:

Octavia for me, but haven't seen the new Seat stuff up close.

Out of interest, what is your commute if current EV's wouldn't cut it?

Once or twice a week, to my office 250 miles door-to-door, sometimes to a site instead but always minimum of 200 in one direction.

I would love to go full EV and take maximum benefit from BiK. I'm in a 6 year old diesel at the moment, I love the car but am tempted for a change.

[Top Banana]

Like JD above, I also have just taken delivery of a Cupra Leon 245ps hybrid (replacement for a previous VW Arteon TDi - main reason was to get BIK tax down as its a company car)


image sharing

really happy so far - local journeys on e-mode with a range of approx 30 miles, on longer trips its giving around 55-60mpg average with its hybrid mode. my trip one a week to the office is a 220 mile round trip so i just charge it once i arrive at office and battery is full for journey back. Only gripe so far is the fuel tank is small so more trips to filling station than with a diesel. currently just charging at home with supplied granny charger and full charge takes around 5 hours.

Boot space is reduced compared to non-hybrid as battery pack raises floor by around 75mm, but still decent space.

decent poke in Cupra mode as well and fairly entertaining handling on the twisties...

Edited by Top Banana on Wednesday 4th August 11:48

[ZesPak]

Lee540 said:

Once or twice a week, to my office 250 miles door-to-door, sometimes to a site instead but always minimum of 200 in one direction.

I would love to go full EV and take maximum benefit from BiK. I'm in a 6 year old diesel at the moment, I love the car but am tempted for a change.

That's pretty epic mileage.
If you can charge at home and the office (min 11kW) and fit it budget wise I'd definitely test drive a Model 3 Long Range as well.
High mileage usually makes it easier to justify due to petrol savings, and the driver aids really help a long commute.

The counterintuitive thing is, PHEV's make more sense with short commutes, where you can do your day-to-day on battery and then when doing a longer stint (or vacation) the ICE kicks in. On long commutes, the benefits (other than BIK of course) start fading.

PS: That Leon looks ace, always been a fan of the Leon.

[Lee540]

ZesPak said:

Lee540 said:

Once or twice a week, to my office 250 miles door-to-door, sometimes to a site instead but always minimum of 200 in one direction.

I would love to go full EV and take maximum benefit from BiK. I'm in a 6 year old diesel at the moment, I love the car but am tempted for a change.

That's pretty epic mileage.
If you can charge at home and the office (min 11kW) and fit it budget wise I'd definitely test drive a Model 3 Long Range as well.
High mileage usually makes it easier to justify due to petrol savings, and the driver aids really help a long commute.

The counterintuitive thing is, PHEV's make more sense with short commutes, where you can do your day-to-day on battery and then when doing a longer stint (or vacation) the ICE kicks in. On long commutes, the benefits (other than BIK of course) start fading.

PS: That Leon looks ace, always been a fan of the Leon.

Yes, it is tricky for me. Most of the week, going to supermarket, out on the weekends etc. I could do it just on electric. Slight concern with some of the places I visit/live are very rural. Charging would be difficult, not sure I could handle the range anxiety of a full EV unless I was living closer to a city.

[doyouwantonions]

Have a Golf GTE Advance for a month now and really like it. My daily usage is about 12 miles and I get 2 days running for a 3 1/2hour charge at home.

As its my only car, I need to cover all eventualities and this car does that. A 550 mile round trip with just a charge before I set off gave 78 mpg and most of that was motorway. Interestingly, the car did 24% of the trip under battery power.

GTE mode spices things up a bit but to be honest I don't use it that often but on a 70 mile trip down the A272 last week I averaged 52mpg using it.

As an only car it does all things I need in one package, it may not suit everyone but I am looking at long term ownership of around 6000 miles per year, I didn't want diesel as I just don't cover the miles to make them efficient and service costs re injectors, DPF etc don't appeal.

I could have had a GTI but I have a bike for the odd "silly" moment

[annodomini2]

@~25k miles/yr you're iro saving £200-400/m depending on actual achieved fuel consumption and charging source & patterns etc.

Then there's ~£60/m BIK saving for a higher rate payer.

Main bit you need to watch is mileage claim back, (depending on your setup) which is 4p/mile.

[blank]

JD said:

I’m two weeks in on to a cupra leon estate (245ps)

Seems pretty good so far, 30 miles all electric seems perfectly achievable, and 60+ mpg on longer runs.

What kind of driving is it to get 30 miles on electric?

I have one on order and I'm hoping to do my 20 mile round trip on electric but it's mostly 60 and 70 mph roads.

[georgeyboy12345]

I have a 2016 Audi A3 etron, which is similar. The newer models have larger 13 kWh batteries than the 8.8 kWh battery in mine, but otherwise pretty similar. Not sure how much sense it will make with those miles you are doing, I have just got back from 4 days in North Wales with no charging facilities available for the duration, by that point the mpg was only about 45 or so. Normally my use is start-stop city commuting where I get around 200 mpg with decent charge on the battery. Still might make sense as a tax dodge though. In terms of driving, it's pretty quick off the line with decent poke in a straight line on the motorway, not blisteringly fast, but pretty fun. You can feel the weight when pushing on country lanes, etc though. It's definitely more an eco car that goes well than a hot hatch.

[JD]

blank said:

JD said:

I’m two weeks in on to a cupra leon estate (245ps)

Seems pretty good so far, 30 miles all electric seems perfectly achievable, and 60+ mpg on longer runs.

What kind of driving is it to get 30 miles on electric?

I have one on order and I'm hoping to do my 20 mile round trip on electric but it's mostly 60 and 70 mph roads.

I commute to the gym, which is 9 miles away, with 90% of it in a dual carriageway. With cruise set at 76 I will get home with sometimes 20% remaining if I try to use as much battery as possible on the last 2 miles of country roads.

[blank]

JD said:

blank said:

JD said:

I’m two weeks in on to a cupra leon estate (245ps)

Seems pretty good so far, 30 miles all electric seems perfectly achievable, and 60+ mpg on longer runs.

What kind of driving is it to get 30 miles on electric?

I have one on order and I'm hoping to do my 20 mile round trip on electric but it's mostly 60 and 70 mph roads.

I commute to the gym, which is 9 miles away, with 90% of it in a dual carriageway. With cruise set at 76 I will get home with sometimes 20% remaining if I try to use as much battery as possible on the last 2 miles of country roads.

That sounds promising! Presumably it's in EV mode?

Do you have to be gentle on the accelerator to stop the engine kicking in or will it keep in full EV mode?

[JD]

blank said:

That sounds promising! Presumably it's in EV mode?

Do you have to be gentle on the accelerator to stop the engine kicking in or will it keep in full EV mode?

It defaults to ev yes, and only if you click the switch at the end of the pedal travel will the engine kick in.

[blank]

JD said:

blank said:

That sounds promising! Presumably it's in EV mode?

Do you have to be gentle on the accelerator to stop the engine kicking in or will it keep in full EV mode?

It defaults to ev yes, and only if you click the switch at the end of the pedal travel will the engine kick in.

Thanks, sounds like it might work well for my use then!

[Unwize]

I am also considering a VAG hybrid as a practical car. Do any owners know how many kwh are needed to charge the battery from 0 to 100% SoC?

I know the gross capacity is approx 13kwh and usable is 10kwh. I assume there will be some losses while charging.

[kambites]

You typically see about 85% efficiency show-charging an EV (can't see why a plug-in hybrid would be any different) so you're looking at about 11.5kwh to fully charge. Maybe 12kwh if it's particularly inefficient.

[JD]

blank said:

Thanks, sounds like it might work well for my use then!

Also to add, I think you might get a little more out of it if you precondition from the plug. I don't bother as the battery is full of cheap electricity and I don't use it all up on my main journies.

But if winter comes around, using full price electricity from the plug will still be cheaper than dipping into the petrol tank.

[Unwize]

kambites said:

You typically see about 85% efficiency show-charging an EV (can't see why a plug-in hybrid would be any different) so you're looking at about 11.5kwh to fully charge. Maybe 12kwh if it's particularly inefficient.

Thanks for reply. Bit surprised 15% is lost (heat?) when charging at only 3-3.6kw.