Cheap EV + ICE vs 1 hybrid

[Gcc1]

Advice much appreciated - currently running a 2010 BMW 330 Touring (moded ever so slightly) as a daily and a Porsche Cayman as toy. Have 3 spaniels which need to be taken to muddy walks everyday about 7-8 miles away. That job used to be done w a Vellfire but the CVT went.. Anyway dogs hate Beamer as it’s too loud, too bumpy and it’s not the most economical car especially given its age, and not really big enough. Also go down to Dorset almost every other week which is about 300 miles round trip, usually on Friday evening. So thinking of retiring the Beamer and get a cheap perhaps Mk 1 EV like Nissan Leaf as a local runaround (max budget £5k) then buy a bigger car for Dorset next or up the budget to get a hybrid which is comfortable on a long journey to do both jobs. Any advice on whether getting an early Leaf is a good idea or what hybrid to get? Do public charging point allow 3-pin charging required by older Leaf? I live in a G/F flat so if pushed can run a cable overnight out. Cheers

[Whataguy]

The Toyota hybrids are good cars, I’ve owned 3 now and travel 25k miles a year - Yaris, Auris and Corolla. I’ve also driven Yaris Cross, Prius+ and CHR as loan/hire cars.

There’s a big choice in models available secondhand at various budgets.

If you use main dealer servicing the battery packs are guaranteed for 15 years/150k miles now I believe. But even if they eventually fail outside of warranty it’s only £2k for a new one that will last just as long.

[PetrolHeadInRecovery]

A few thoughts:

• Whataguy just mentioned Toyota hybrids. I spent about a decade with a last-generation Toyota Verso, and if we'd opted for a Prius+ (instead of diesel Verso), we might still be driving it.
• It might be a good idea to check with the ABRP how much extra time the 300 mile round trip takes with the different EV options. We routinely do 600-mile/day trips, so 300 miles doesn't sound impossible.
• The local trips (~16 miles per day) would require less than 5kWh/day (even in extreme cold) -> less than 3 hours per day with a 1.8kW three-pin charger.

If having to stop a bit more often and - possibly - marginally longer is acceptable, the payoff should be quite a big improvement in the quality of life when behind the wheel of the "non-fun" car. I have no first-hand experience with Leaf, but I imagine you'd be tempted to (or wish you could) take it for the longer trip after swapping between a cheap hybrid and the Leaf a few times.

Re. stopping longer: we had the habit of doing what we thought were 15-minute stops (fill up, pay, move the car, grab a coffee, go to the loo and take a quick look around the shops). In practice, they usually ended up being 30-45 minute stops. Driving with an EV that takes ~16 minutes to charge from 20% to 80% has shortened the stops considerably; "might as well get going again since we need to move the car".

It still can't compete with the sub-3 minute fill-up you can do if you pay with a credit card directly at the pump, so if this is a non-negotiable part of the motoring experience the hybrid makes sense. Prius+ to take care of short and long trips? Otherwise, I'd recommend one of the faster-charging EV as the only "sensible" car (800V Koreans my preference, but need to mention Teslas and Taycans).

PS. The video Gmaz posted on the battery life thread - Tesla with 430,000 miles on the original battery - was quite interesting. Something expensive might break sooner or later; but the Supercharging is free, and future depreciation should be minimal.

[ashenfie]

We all know that batteries are not an issue. Most car suspension fail in the UK because of the bad roads, thats not going to change any time soon.