I've got one. It's a Citroen DS5, different category of course. I'm very happy with it, had it 6 years now and its been faultless (and I was very wary of buying a Citroen in that respect).
Here is the thing about it. The marketing gumph claimed that I would be able to select 'electric" mode and it would go up to 40kms on electric alone. This was such a massive lie that Citroen really should have ended up in court. (real figure is 2kms, and less if it meets a hill!) However, the real idea is that the car works out when the electric can support the diesel engine optimally, so I just leave the car to get on with it. Then it produces an overall consumption equal to my wife's petrol Yaris, but I am slinking around in a beautiful exec saloon that loves a motorway journey. If in London it would be congestion charge exempt.
I'd get another one but it looks like the idiots at Citroen didnt market it properly, so there will not be another one. I'm looking at the forthcoming plug-in Volvo V40. Why not full electric? Because of holidays, is the answer, we take the dog with us on holidays to coast and mountain 6-9hours away. if I lived in UK I might not have that issue.
I am worried about the batteries, both how long they last, and what the hell happens to them when they are gone. But I think plug-in hybrid is currently the best overall choice for reliability and the environment.
I'm still curious as to the problems regarding second hand hybrid/electric cars - they all seem fine when new but if you can't afford one do the used models present problems?
Every car has the potential for problems once it's been owned by someone other than you. That's what you weigh up, so tons of research on forums about the used models because in my humble and worthless opinion Hybrids don't present value from new unless you are a taxi driver or plan on keeping it forever.
Whilst the Prius seems to be today's mondeo for cabbies I don't like the look of it for a start, I completely appreciate the economy of it and they are ok functionally I think they look horrible and because of a few Prius fundamentalists annoying me about them I don't like the Prius
Honda and Lexus both have produced a much more acceptable looking hybrid that's more affordable and every car manufacturer is now making hybrids but a Mercedes or Audi hybrid which is what I would be lured by are still pretty prohibitively priced brand new so I'll keep my eye on them and how they age
But if you just want to save some fuel go for a 6 year old prius
BMW 3i range could be a good choice. 100 miles fully electric and a small engine that can cut in to charge your battery and therefore take the anxiety out of it all.
Subsidized fast charger available. In extreme weathers you can get the car timed to warm up or cool off so you can just step in and go - saving battery power for just the driving; but what a luxury on those cold mornings! You can also set from your phone on the way home if just commuting.
Thinking of getting one for my wife. 2016 with low miles for about £16k
Probably worth explaining for @kimbo that there are currently 2 types of hybrid. The plug in is more advanced and do seem to have a bit of range when fully charged. The "ordinary" hybrid like mine, recharges the battery from energy derived from the brakes or when the car is coasting, a bit like the old dynamo -charged lights on bikes when I was a kid. The plug-ins do that too, but get a better charge quickly if they are plugged in. My Swedish mate now has a plug-in Volvo V60 but he admits he is often too lazy to plug it in.
One benefit you may get with a hybrid, such as mine, is selectable 4 wheel drive. The diesel powers the front wheels, the electric the rear. In automatic the electric just cuts in when it calculates optimal efficiency in doing so. But you can select permanent, which is useful out here because you might encounter snowy roads. That was another reason I bought this one.
Another thing to consider is tax. For sure the govt. will continue to find ways to push people towards this choice. I got sod all from the Czechs because they are a bit backward but finally next year I should be exempted from road tax. I can only see this sort of "nudge" politics increasing.
I currently drive a plug in petrol hybrid and have had no issues at all with it. I never plug it in though (company car so it's really just a tax dodge on the benefit in kind tax) so don't get the economy associated with all electric driving but there's always enough reserved battery power regenerated from braking and coasting to provide sufficient boost when needed. Consequently the claimed mpg is a work of pure fiction. I think it's quoted at something like 80mpg but in reality I get in the 20s. I'm due a new car soon and currently struggling on what to have (a first world problem for sure) but likely it will be another petrol plugin hybrid.
If I was buying as a private purchase then I would probably go for pure petrol, unless I was buying new and planning on changing every 3 years or so. I certainly wouldn't buy a used plug in hybrid purely based on the cost of replacing the batteries!
I currently drive a plug in petrol hybrid and have had no issues at all with it. I never plug it in though (company car so it's really just a tax dodge on the benefit in kind tax) so don't get the economy associated with all electric driving but there's always enough reserved battery power regenerated from braking and coasting to provide sufficient boost when needed. Consequently the claimed mpg is a work of pure fiction. I think it's quoted at something like 80mpg but in reality I get in the 20s. I'm due a new car soon and currently struggling on what to have (a first world problem for sure) but likely it will be another petrol plugin hybrid.
If I was buying as a private purchase then I would probably go for pure petrol, unless I was buying new and planning on changing every 3 years or so. I certainly wouldn't buy a used plug in hybrid purely based on the cost of replacing the batteries!
I’ve got a Hyundai ioniq and it’s my favourite car of all time. I can only afford it because of a friend’s work scheme I was allowed to join. If I could afford to buy it outright I absolutely would. Gets amazing mileage and is really bloody quick!
I currently drive a plug in petrol hybrid and have had no issues at all with it. I never plug it in though (company car so it's really just a tax dodge on the benefit in kind tax) so don't get the economy associated with all electric driving but there's always enough reserved battery power regenerated from braking and coasting to provide sufficient boost when needed. Consequently the claimed mpg is a work of pure fiction. I think it's quoted at something like 80mpg but in reality I get in the 20s. I'm due a new car soon and currently struggling on what to have (a first world problem for sure) but likely it will be another petrol plugin hybrid.
If I was buying as a private purchase then I would probably go for pure petrol, unless I was buying new and planning on changing every 3 years or so. I certainly wouldn't buy a used plug in hybrid purely based on the cost of replacing the batteries!
What is the cost and lifespan?
Most manufacturers extend the warranty on the batteries to five years and the lifecycle, dependent on use of course, is anywhere between 5 and 10 years - probably around 7 is typical. The issue in buying used it that as it approaches 4 or 5 years old the risk of having to replace soon is higher, hence a cliff edge fall in value at that point.
I drive an X5 and the cost to replace the batteries is around £6k.
Thinking of changing my car. Have a 9 year old polo which has done 35,000 miles.
As I am going to work at Friends of the Earth next month and as I care about the planet thinking of a hybrid. Thoughts, advice please?
If your car suits your needs, why change it? I have a 17 year old Focus which suits my needs perfectly for the low mileage I do (and as you've only done 35k in 9 years you're a low mileage driver too). The manufacture of new cars uses masses of energy
If you're going to work by public transport or by walking/cycling, surely that's more important for "brownie points" at work?
The Green Lobby will shaft you one way or the other whatever you get.
A few years back diesel was the environmentally friendly way to go so we were told so nearly everybody did, despite the private benefit 3% surcharge on company cars.
Diesel drivers now make Jimmy Savile look like Mother Teresa in the eyes of the media and the vehicles appear to be worth nowt.
Brexit has been inevitably blamed for problems and potential job losses in the motor industry but the truth of the matter is that it is down to the death of diesel thanks to EU emissions laws. A large chunk of the demand has been removed at a stroke so of course they won't be making so many cars!
Meanwhile us punters are forced to pay over the odds for cars which is sold as 'the privilege' of helping develop indifferent poor performing technologies with the temporary carrot of little or no road fund licence.
Have no fear once the diesels are finally off the road you hybrid/electric drivers will get slaughtered because 'a study' will suddenly find how unenvironmentally (is there such a word if not there should be) friendly they are.
If you want to be environmentally friendly, then don't buy another car - the energy and materials used to manufacture a car are far more damaging than the pollution caused by most small cars.
I'm looking to change my car soon so reading this thread intently.
My current car is a Jaguar XE. I've had it 3 years & it's done 40k mileage. Car before was an XF. I usually buy "nearly new" (less than a year old) on PCP and change before the balloon payment is due...(I know, I know.....)
Last 2 cars have been diesels....before that petrol. So my conundrum is do I either.....
1) Kill the planet 2) kill the population 3) sit at a service station for 45 mins whilst it recharges.
The Green Lobby will shaft you one way or the other whatever you get.
A few years back diesel was the environmentally friendly way to go so we were told so nearly everybody did, despite the private benefit 3% surcharge on company cars.
Diesel drivers now make Jimmy Savile look like Mother Teresa in the eyes of the media and the vehicles appear to be worth nowt.
Brexit has been inevitably blamed for problems and potential job losses in the motor industry but the truth of the matter is that it is down to the death of diesel thanks to EU emissions laws. A large chunk of the demand has been removed at a stroke so of course they won't be making so many cars!
Meanwhile us punters are forced to pay over the odds for cars which is sold as 'the privilege' of helping develop indifferent poor performing technologies with the temporary carrot of little or no road fund licence.
Have no fear once the diesels are finally off the road you hybrid/electric drivers will get slaughtered because 'a study' will suddenly find how unenvironmentally (is there such a word if not there should be) friendly they are.
It's all a scam.
Hello Len. You seem to have gone full Breitbart today. As far as I can tell, you are confusing the "Green lobby" - whoever that is -with the automotive lobby.
Would you like to suggest how people who are in normal family units and in full employment, with modest income, manage their transport needs while leaving behind a planet their children and grandchildren can inhabit?
I'm looking to change my car soon so reading this thread intently.
My current car is a Jaguar XE. I've had it 3 years & it's done 40k mileage. Car before was an XF. I usually buy "nearly new" (less than a year old) on PCP and change before the balloon payment is due...(I know, I know.....)
Last 2 cars have been diesels....before that petrol. So my conundrum is do I either.....
1) Kill the planet 2) kill the population 3) sit at a service station for 45 mins whilst it recharges.
I think all three are valid options.
Whatever you decide, just remember not to leave it in Charlton Park and you'll be fine.
I've got one. It's a Citroen DS5, different category of course. I'm very happy with it, had it 6 years now and its been faultless (and I was very wary of buying a Citroen in that respect).
Here is the thing about it. The marketing gumph claimed that I would be able to select 'electric" mode and it would go up to 40kms on electric alone. This was such a massive lie that Citroen really should have ended up in court. (real figure is 2kms, and less if it meets a hill!) However, the real idea is that the car works out when the electric can support the diesel engine optimally, so I just leave the car to get on with it. Then it produces an overall consumption equal to my wife's petrol Yaris, but I am slinking around in a beautiful exec saloon that loves a motorway journey. If in London it would be congestion charge exempt.
I'd get another one but it looks like the idiots at Citroen didnt market it properly, so there will not be another one. I'm looking at the forthcoming plug-in Volvo V40. Why not full electric? Because of holidays, is the answer, we take the dog with us on holidays to coast and mountain 6-9hours away. if I lived in UK I might not have that issue.
I am worried about the batteries, both how long they last, and what the hell happens to them when they are gone. But I think plug-in hybrid is currently the best overall choice for reliability and the environment.
I've got one too in pearl white, although diesel model. Beautiful car, styling way ahead of its time, I get many compliments, so does the car!
I've got one. It's a Citroen DS5, different category of course. I'm very happy with it, had it 6 years now and its been faultless (and I was very wary of buying a Citroen in that respect).
Here is the thing about it. The marketing gumph claimed that I would be able to select 'electric" mode and it would go up to 40kms on electric alone. This was such a massive lie that Citroen really should have ended up in court. (real figure is 2kms, and less if it meets a hill!) However, the real idea is that the car works out when the electric can support the diesel engine optimally, so I just leave the car to get on with it. Then it produces an overall consumption equal to my wife's petrol Yaris, but I am slinking around in a beautiful exec saloon that loves a motorway journey. If in London it would be congestion charge exempt.
I'd get another one but it looks like the idiots at Citroen didnt market it properly, so there will not be another one. I'm looking at the forthcoming plug-in Volvo V40. Why not full electric? Because of holidays, is the answer, we take the dog with us on holidays to coast and mountain 6-9hours away. if I lived in UK I might not have that issue.
I am worried about the batteries, both how long they last, and what the hell happens to them when they are gone. But I think plug-in hybrid is currently the best overall choice for reliability and the environment.
I've got one too in pearl white, although diesel model. Beautiful car, styling way ahead of its time, I get many compliments, so does the car!
It's really unusual to meet another owner. When I asked the dealer how many had been sold he said " I think five". - "At your dealership?" "No, in the whole country".
i don't know about you but I used to love the original DS as a kid. I never really saw the claimed resemblance, until Monday night when I walked back to it, parked on an empty street in the half-light, and suddenly looking at it from the rear, I got it.
But before we go all petrolhead on @kimbo, I remember another important consideration for her, which i dont think we mentioned. That batteries are huge, and they gotta go somewhere. In the case of my car, it really wouldn't be viable if we had two kids as well on holiday. The battery is in the back and the storage area is therefore really shallow. So the dog goes there, and we put virtually all our stuff for holiday on the back seat.
Comments
....rock up in a 4x4 diesel instead
just kidding, I admit to not knowing much about this...however I do know I'm gonna have to change my diesel sooner rather than later!
Here is the thing about it. The marketing gumph claimed that I would be able to select 'electric" mode and it would go up to 40kms on electric alone. This was such a massive lie that Citroen really should have ended up in court. (real figure is 2kms, and less if it meets a hill!) However, the real idea is that the car works out when the electric can support the diesel engine optimally, so I just leave the car to get on with it. Then it produces an overall consumption equal to my wife's petrol Yaris, but I am slinking around in a beautiful exec saloon that loves a motorway journey. If in London it would be congestion charge exempt.
I'd get another one but it looks like the idiots at Citroen didnt market it properly, so there will not be another one. I'm looking at the forthcoming plug-in Volvo V40. Why not full electric? Because of holidays, is the answer, we take the dog with us on holidays to coast and mountain 6-9hours away. if I lived in UK I might not have that issue.
I am worried about the batteries, both how long they last, and what the hell happens to them when they are gone. But I think plug-in hybrid is currently the best overall choice for reliability and the environment.
Whilst the Prius seems to be today's mondeo for cabbies I don't like the look of it for a start, I completely appreciate the economy of it and they are ok functionally I think they look horrible and because of a few Prius fundamentalists annoying me about them I don't like the Prius
Honda and Lexus both have produced a much more acceptable looking hybrid that's more affordable and every car manufacturer is now making hybrids but a Mercedes or Audi hybrid which is what I would be lured by are still pretty prohibitively priced brand new so I'll keep my eye on them and how they age
But if you just want to save some fuel go for a 6 year old prius
Subsidized fast charger available. In extreme weathers you can get the car timed to warm up or cool off so you can just step in and go - saving battery power for just the driving; but what a luxury on those cold mornings! You can also set from your phone on the way home if just commuting.
Thinking of getting one for my wife. 2016 with low miles for about £16k
One benefit you may get with a hybrid, such as mine, is selectable 4 wheel drive. The diesel powers the front wheels, the electric the rear. In automatic the electric just cuts in when it calculates optimal efficiency in doing so. But you can select permanent, which is useful out here because you might encounter snowy roads. That was another reason I bought this one.
Another thing to consider is tax. For sure the govt. will continue to find ways to push people towards this choice. I got sod all from the Czechs because they are a bit backward but finally next year I should be exempted from road tax. I can only see this sort of "nudge" politics increasing.
I currently drive a plug in petrol hybrid and have had no issues at all with it. I never plug it in though (company car so it's really just a tax dodge on the benefit in kind tax) so don't get the economy associated with all electric driving but there's always enough reserved battery power regenerated from braking and coasting to provide sufficient boost when needed. Consequently the claimed mpg is a work of pure fiction. I think it's quoted at something like 80mpg but in reality I get in the 20s. I'm due a new car soon and currently struggling on what to have (a first world problem for sure) but likely it will be another petrol plugin hybrid.
If I was buying as a private purchase then I would probably go for pure petrol, unless I was buying new and planning on changing every 3 years or so. I certainly wouldn't buy a used plug in hybrid purely based on the cost of replacing the batteries!
Most manufacturers extend the warranty on the batteries to five years and the lifecycle, dependent on use of course, is anywhere between 5 and 10 years - probably around 7 is typical. The issue in buying used it that as it approaches 4 or 5 years old the risk of having to replace soon is higher, hence a cliff edge fall in value at that point.
I drive an X5 and the cost to replace the batteries is around £6k.
If you're going to work by public transport or by walking/cycling, surely that's more important for "brownie points" at work?
A few years back diesel was the environmentally friendly way to go so we were told so nearly everybody did, despite the private benefit 3% surcharge on company cars.
Diesel drivers now make Jimmy Savile look like Mother Teresa in the eyes of the media and the vehicles appear to be worth nowt.
Brexit has been inevitably blamed for problems and potential job losses in the motor industry but the truth of the matter is that it is down to the death of diesel thanks to EU emissions laws. A large chunk of the demand has been removed at a stroke so of course they won't be making so many cars!
Meanwhile us punters are forced to pay over the odds for cars which is sold as 'the privilege' of helping develop indifferent poor performing technologies with the temporary carrot of little or no road fund licence.
Have no fear once the diesels are finally off the road you hybrid/electric drivers will get slaughtered because 'a study' will suddenly find how unenvironmentally (is there such a word if not there should be) friendly they are.
It's all a scam.
My current car is a Jaguar XE. I've had it 3 years & it's done 40k mileage. Car before was an XF. I usually buy "nearly new" (less than a year old) on PCP and change before the balloon payment is due...(I know, I know.....)
Last 2 cars have been diesels....before that petrol. So my conundrum is do I either.....
1) Kill the planet
2) kill the population
3) sit at a service station for 45 mins whilst it recharges.
Would you like to suggest how people who are in normal family units and in full employment, with modest income, manage their transport needs while leaving behind a planet their children and grandchildren can inhabit?
I think all three are valid options.
Whatever you decide, just remember not to leave it in Charlton Park and you'll be fine.
i don't know about you but I used to love the original DS as a kid. I never really saw the claimed resemblance, until Monday night when I walked back to it, parked on an empty street in the half-light, and suddenly looking at it from the rear, I got it.
You can keep yer beemers and Jags...