Do I need to use the petrol engine in a hybrid?
Discussion
Hi,
Is it okay to buy a hybrid 3 series BMW and just never use the petrol engine part of it, but only drive on the electric part of the car?
I just wondered because we love our 3 series petrol estate, but would like to move to the hybrid electric version so as not to be burning fossil fuels any more.
We have solar panels that we could use to charge the car, and we never actually need to use the petrol engine because we never drive further than the electric engine would take us.
I'm just wondering whether the petrol engine would cease up in some bad way, if we just never used it, or really rarely used it.
Thanks!
Jennifer
Is it okay to buy a hybrid 3 series BMW and just never use the petrol engine part of it, but only drive on the electric part of the car?
I just wondered because we love our 3 series petrol estate, but would like to move to the hybrid electric version so as not to be burning fossil fuels any more.
We have solar panels that we could use to charge the car, and we never actually need to use the petrol engine because we never drive further than the electric engine would take us.
I'm just wondering whether the petrol engine would cease up in some bad way, if we just never used it, or really rarely used it.
Thanks!
Jennifer
Also would it be okay to ask if it is normal for this car to make a shrill whining noise from the front wheels when driving? We test drove the saloon version about 8 years ago and it had this shrill noise, and we never looked into why that was, because we then bought the petrol version. I see many more electric cars around now and some make the shrill noise and some don't, so I wondered if it might be fixiable, if we did by the hybrid version. Thanks!
That's really good to know, thanks.
We don't go very far really. The furthest we drive is 30 miles, though that is when we go on holiday. There would be nowhere to charge when we got there, so I suppose in that case we'd need to use the petrol engine to get back. I hadn't thought of that.
We don't go very far really. The furthest we drive is 30 miles, though that is when we go on holiday. There would be nowhere to charge when we got there, so I suppose in that case we'd need to use the petrol engine to get back. I hadn't thought of that.
Most of our journeys are short local ones, but just a bit too far to walk or cycle.
It's stuff like driving to my parents' village which is 5 miles away over very deserted roads that I wouldn't like to cycle on alone, and my son couldn't cycle at all. That's a 40mph journey.
We also drive to scouts which is only two miles each way, but it's after dark. That's mostly 25 mph, in the city.
We drive to the swimming pool which is about three miles away, mostly 30mph.
When we do drive longer distances, it's always on holiday, and then the estate car boot is really full, so a smaller car doesn't make sense for us.
My husband commutes to work by bike and my son walks to school, so we're not driving every day. The shopping comes as a supermarket delivery so we don't need to drive there. My husband cycles to the shops if we need something in between.
It's stuff like driving to my parents' village which is 5 miles away over very deserted roads that I wouldn't like to cycle on alone, and my son couldn't cycle at all. That's a 40mph journey.
We also drive to scouts which is only two miles each way, but it's after dark. That's mostly 25 mph, in the city.
We drive to the swimming pool which is about three miles away, mostly 30mph.
When we do drive longer distances, it's always on holiday, and then the estate car boot is really full, so a smaller car doesn't make sense for us.
My husband commutes to work by bike and my son walks to school, so we're not driving every day. The shopping comes as a supermarket delivery so we don't need to drive there. My husband cycles to the shops if we need something in between.
I'm also thinking about it because we just got solar panels fitted and they are working really well.
We're making so much energy that we're off-grid for electricity from 8am to 4pm even in January, and even when I am using the oven, hob and kettle at lunchtime.
We've got a 10kWh battery, but by the time summer comes it's going to fill up really quickly. The panels can also heat the water in the water cylinder, but I think in summer we are going to max that out too.
I wondered if it would make sense to start running our car on solar energy, as we could do almost all our journeys on our own solar energy in summer.
We only earn 5p per kWh if we sell energy back to the grid, and it costs us 35p per kWh to buy energy from the grid, so it makes a great deal of sense to use it all ourselves.
I really want to stop using fossil fuels entirely, if I possibly can.
We're on a renewable gas and electricity tarrif for the house, but now we're going to have truckloads of solar energy, we could possibly cut out our use to petrol too. Maybe anyway?
We're making so much energy that we're off-grid for electricity from 8am to 4pm even in January, and even when I am using the oven, hob and kettle at lunchtime.
We've got a 10kWh battery, but by the time summer comes it's going to fill up really quickly. The panels can also heat the water in the water cylinder, but I think in summer we are going to max that out too.
I wondered if it would make sense to start running our car on solar energy, as we could do almost all our journeys on our own solar energy in summer.
We only earn 5p per kWh if we sell energy back to the grid, and it costs us 35p per kWh to buy energy from the grid, so it makes a great deal of sense to use it all ourselves.
I really want to stop using fossil fuels entirely, if I possibly can.
We're on a renewable gas and electricity tarrif for the house, but now we're going to have truckloads of solar energy, we could possibly cut out our use to petrol too. Maybe anyway?
jsp56 said:
That's really good to know, thanks.
We don't go very far really. The furthest we drive is 30 miles, though that is when we go on holiday. There would be nowhere to charge when we got there, so I suppose in that case we'd need to use the petrol engine to get back. I hadn't thought of that.
Would it even drive 30miles there on battery alone? Our X3 PHEV has only around 16miles range on the battery I think.We don't go very far really. The furthest we drive is 30 miles, though that is when we go on holiday. There would be nowhere to charge when we got there, so I suppose in that case we'd need to use the petrol engine to get back. I hadn't thought of that.
You would be better off getting a straight EV. Seems silly to lug a petrol engine around all the time to use once a year. Paying to service it as well.
Thing is, we couldn't go on holiday without the petrol engine, could we? That would be a bit of a drawback.
Our garage man is an independent and he only charges £145 for our annual service and MOT so that's not so bad really.
My son says we should buy a Tesla, because it has more range, but the massive screens give me the heebie jeebies. Also I don't think we could fit a scout tent in a Tesla.
Our garage man is an independent and he only charges £145 for our annual service and MOT so that's not so bad really.
My son says we should buy a Tesla, because it has more range, but the massive screens give me the heebie jeebies. Also I don't think we could fit a scout tent in a Tesla.
jsp56 said:
Thing is, we couldn't go on holiday without the petrol engine, could we? That would be a bit of a drawback.
Depends where you go on holiday, but with 300 mile range you can drive a good way, slot in a service station stop off to do an 20->80% charge you would cover most holiday needs. I would love to have an EV at the only real thing that puts me off is the initial cost to purchase, given that to-date most of my cars have been purchased at ten years old for a few grand.
What model/year 3 series?
Our 2016 330e is only really giving a useable range of around 10miles to a full charge (though I expect more as things warm up) .. Enough for local journeys/dropping kids off the afterschool clubs.
It can go up to 70mph+ on pure electric but is quite lethargic on electric only when you need to join an A road or roundabout with any gusto.
Our 2016 330e is only really giving a useable range of around 10miles to a full charge (though I expect more as things warm up) .. Enough for local journeys/dropping kids off the afterschool clubs.
It can go up to 70mph+ on pure electric but is quite lethargic on electric only when you need to join an A road or roundabout with any gusto.
I don’t think it would be that good for the battery to be charging and discharging so frequently if you’re going to use it on battery alone. Plus you’ll get fed up plugging it in all the time and then unplugging. Remember you’re highly unlikely to get the advertised miles to a charge, which will further reduce in winter with the cold temperatures..
Your solar electric power capability and short trips does make your situation ideal for an electric car, I think you need to try and get over your fixation for a 3 Series estate, but I have no idea of suitable replacement electric cars!
Your solar electric power capability and short trips does make your situation ideal for an electric car, I think you need to try and get over your fixation for a 3 Series estate, but I have no idea of suitable replacement electric cars!
Hi,
Thanks for all the great advice.
I agree that an electric-only car would be best, but the SUV is not really an attractive option for us.
The "fixation" with the 3 series is quite hard to get over I'm afraid. I get headaches from LED lights and after years of sitting in every car I could find, the 3 series was the only one that I could deal with.
The new upgrade on the interior introduces far more screens, so if we're going to go to an electric car I would really like to buy one of the 2019-ish 3 series before the interior upgrade comes in, since it has only a very few small screens.
Also the 3 series is really stable and doesn't rock from side to side, and I really like that in a car. I tried such a lot of cars last time we were car shopping, and the 3 series was the most stable one by some distance. From that point of view, an SUV doesn't seem like a good option because it is much taller.
Maybe we should just stick with our petrol car until it disintegrates? It's 7 years old.
Thanks,
Jen
Thanks for all the great advice.
I agree that an electric-only car would be best, but the SUV is not really an attractive option for us.
The "fixation" with the 3 series is quite hard to get over I'm afraid. I get headaches from LED lights and after years of sitting in every car I could find, the 3 series was the only one that I could deal with.
The new upgrade on the interior introduces far more screens, so if we're going to go to an electric car I would really like to buy one of the 2019-ish 3 series before the interior upgrade comes in, since it has only a very few small screens.
Also the 3 series is really stable and doesn't rock from side to side, and I really like that in a car. I tried such a lot of cars last time we were car shopping, and the 3 series was the most stable one by some distance. From that point of view, an SUV doesn't seem like a good option because it is much taller.
Maybe we should just stick with our petrol car until it disintegrates? It's 7 years old.
Thanks,
Jen
I would echo the above comment.
This is surely less money than what you're looking at, yet actually looks pretty good quality wise inside. I can spot some Audi switchgear for example.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023010529...
You have a very low use of a car so why invest too heavily. It's very unusual to live your entire life in a 30 mile radius. The amount of petrol you're using/saving is absolutely tiny so it is far more 'green' to keep your current car which most likely easily has another 10 years of life left in it.
This is surely less money than what you're looking at, yet actually looks pretty good quality wise inside. I can spot some Audi switchgear for example.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023010529...
You have a very low use of a car so why invest too heavily. It's very unusual to live your entire life in a 30 mile radius. The amount of petrol you're using/saving is absolutely tiny so it is far more 'green' to keep your current car which most likely easily has another 10 years of life left in it.
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