Choosing Company Car (Hybrid) and Long Commute

Snuggles

My husband has a company car, currently a diesel Passat. His daily commute is about 110 miles round trip (5 days a week in non pandemic times) and he pays for his fuel. Most of his personal driving is also longer motorway type journeys, as it tends to be me that does any little local trips in my petrol car.

His car is due to be renewed and he needs to choose a new one but the company policy is now that this has to be either a plug in hybrid or a self charging hybrid. If he chooses a plug in, we will have to pay to get a charging point installed at home, but there are none available at his work. He will be able to charge up at home, but after driving 55 miles to work he won't be able to re-charge before driving home again. I can't help thinking this won't be good economically in terms of fuel/electricity costs and he would be better off with a self charging hybrid, but he has his eye on a Mercedes C300e plug in hybrid.

We just can't work out what the best option would be given the miles and type of driving he does (longer journeys) and the lack of a charging point at his work. We don't have to factor in any costs of upkeep, or worry about battery life etc, as he won't pay for that.

Am I right in thinking a self charging hybrid is likely to be more economical in terms of fuel costs in this scenario?

AdrianC

Seems strange for the employer to be pushing staff towards plug-in hybrids, then not offering charging points...

You don't NEED a "charging point" at home - a plug-in hybrid will recharge quite happily overnight from a 13A socket. The C300e is only a 13.5kWh battery, so at 3kW from a 13A socket, it'll take 4.5hrs to fully charge.

The only difference between a "self-charging" hybrid and a plug-in is that you CAN'T plug the "self-charge" in, and it won't travel anywhere near as far or as quickly on electricity, because it has a much smaller battery and lower-power motor. So he'd be using petrol the vast majority of the time when in a plug-in he'd be on electricity.

UncleZen

Plug in hybrids are very thirsty on fuel once the traction battery is flat and the ice is used. This is because they are heavy because they have to lug around the battery. So, don't make sense in this scenario. You would also have to have a charging point installed at home. A regular self charging hybrid in your scenario would give similar fuel consumption  to your diesel passant. But be quite and more refined. 

Grumpy_chap

A hybrid is attractive for the BIK rates.
For a long daily commute, the mpg may not be any better than a normal petrol.  The reason is not much EV support when at main road speeds.
I had a 2014 Toyota Auris Hybrid until I left the company in 2015 and now use a 2007 Focus 1.6 petrol.  The actual difference in mpg achieved is around 2 mpg variance.  
The plug-in hybrid that your husband is keen on might work better - I can't say from any experience.
Is there an option to go for the Tesla 3 LR?  That is what I'd be considering in the same position.

shinytop

I had a plug in hybrid  (PHEV) for 2 years with a 4 day a week 125 mile round trip commute.  I paid for my own charger and paid for the electricity although I got my petrol paid for.  We had chargers at work but it was such a faff to book and move your car around I never bothered.  The dedicated charger at home was good because if meant no messing about with leads and plugs although if you have an outside 13A power supply that woiuld work too.  The charger also meant I could charge it up easily for a couple of hours in the evening and at weekends.  

In terms of economy, with the PHEV you're getting 20 or so very cheap (electric) miles and then it works like a normal hybrid.  Better than petrol but worse than diesel.  A bit heavier because of the battery but in my experience that makes little real world difference, especially on long runs.  On use like your OH's, the difference between a PHEV and a hybrid will be negligible; the make and model will be more important and  anyway he should get the car he most wants to spend 2 or more hours a day in.  For example if it's a choice between a Merc C300e or an Auris hybrid I know what I'd choose.  One point I would make; if it's in any way a faff/inconvenience to plug it in a PHEV, if your OH is like me he won't bother.   

Snuggles

Thanks so much for all the comments and suggestions.

I agree it's not ideal that the company are mandating hybrids but not providing charging points. They've said it's because the power supply to the whole area (a rural country estate) would need to be upgraded and it's prohibitively expensive.

Thank you for the Tesla suggestion. I don't think OH is ready to consider an all electric. As well as his daily commute he does have to travel much further afield a few times a month and I don't think he wants the hassle of worrying about charging points. 

That's a good point about any faff/inconvenience with plugging in - my OH definitely wouldn't bother if it was inconvenient! I'm pretty sure we'd get a dedicated home charger fitted.

 I agree he needs a car he's happy to be in given his lengthy commute. I've actually just discovered that the Merc C300 comes in a diesel PHEV variant as well as a petrol (I hadn't realise diesel hybrids existed). I'm thinking that might be a good option, it looks as though the BIK rate is the same for both.

Although I've also just discovered that most Mercs are rear wheel drive (never knew that!), which worries me a bit in terms of safety in poor conditions, but then I'm always worrying about something!

AdrianC

Snuggles said:

I agree it's not ideal that the company are mandating hybrids but not providing charging points. They've said it's because the power supply to the whole area (a rural country estate) would need to be upgraded and it's prohibitively expensive.

That's entirely likely. Many rural areas do have grid supplies that are fairly close to the bone.

Although I've also just discovered that most Mercs are rear wheel drive (never knew that!), which worries me a bit in terms of safety in poor conditions, but then I'm always worrying about something!

By poor conditions, you mean winter? All down to tyres. High-performance summer tyres are lousy in the cold, especially snow and ice. Other tyres (all-seasons, winters) are available widely these days, which may be better suited. If you're living somewhere with particularly harsh winters, then this will probably be very well known locally...

Which wheels are driven, front/rear/all, is a question of getting you moving in poor conditions. All four wheels are used on all cars for changing direction or stopping...

mobileron

Why dont he ask the company for a car allowance instead,then he has his own choice. Is this possible.

jjdc

Self charging hybrids probably won't achieve anywhere near the quoted figures, even on a motorway. Our NX has averaged around 27mpg over last 3 years, and its not exactly a car you can go quick in.

Plenty of electric cars can now do a 110 mile round trip even in winter. Also BIK until april is 0%, rising to 1% next year and 2% year after which is lower than a plugin as Govt is hoping to get plenty of 2nd hand electric cars over the next 2-3 years available for private buyers. I can't see a situation where a plug in hybrid would be cheaper to run than a pure electric car over 2/3 years, even after paying £395 for a 7kw home charger 

DrEskimo

Snuggles said:

Thanks so much for all the comments and suggestions.

I agree it's not ideal that the company are mandating hybrids but not providing charging points. They've said it's because the power supply to the whole area (a rural country estate) would need to be upgraded and it's prohibitively expensive.

Thank you for the Tesla suggestion. I don't think OH is ready to consider an all electric. As well as his daily commute he does have to travel much further afield a few times a month and I don't think he wants the hassle of worrying about charging points. 

That's a good point about any faff/inconvenience with plugging in - my OH definitely wouldn't bother if it was inconvenient! I'm pretty sure we'd get a dedicated home charger fitted.

 I agree he needs a car he's happy to be in given his lengthy commute. I've actually just discovered that the Merc C300 comes in a diesel PHEV variant as well as a petrol (I hadn't realise diesel hybrids existed). I'm thinking that might be a good option, it looks as though the BIK rate is the same for both.

Although I've also just discovered that most Mercs are rear wheel drive (never knew that!), which worries me a bit in terms of safety in poor conditions, but then I'm always worrying about something!

Tesla's about the only EV where there is little worry about public charging. My father-in-law regularly drives 250+ miles with little issue.

Set the route on the website below and chose a Tesla Model 3 long range to see the charging needed:

Abetterrouteplanner.com

The savings in fuel will be huge....

Snuggles

AdrianC said:

Snuggles said:

I agree it's not ideal that the company are mandating hybrids but not providing charging points. They've said it's because the power supply to the whole area (a rural country estate) would need to be upgraded and it's prohibitively expensive.

That's entirely likely. Many rural areas do have grid supplies that are fairly close to the bone.

Although I've also just discovered that most Mercs are rear wheel drive (never knew that!), which worries me a bit in terms of safety in poor conditions, but then I'm always worrying about something!

By poor conditions, you mean winter? All down to tyres. High-performance summer tyres are lousy in the cold, especially snow and ice. Other tyres (all-seasons, winters) are available widely these days, which may be better suited. If you're living somewhere with particularly harsh winters, then this will probably be very well known locally...

Which wheels are driven, front/rear/all, is a question of getting you moving in poor conditions. All four wheels are used on all cars for changing direction or stopping...

Thank you, yes I meant ice/snow/wet roads etc. Ah ok, I wasn't sure how much difference tyres would make on a rear wheel drive. I don't know much about them other than the fact that I often see BMW drivers struggling in wintry conditions as I whizz past them in my little VW Up!

I wouldn't say winter is particularly harsh where we live (Northern England) but there is a long narrow, winding and hilly estate drive which OH has to negotiate to get to his work. He's not worried about RWD at all, it was just me wondering if it's something he should consider when choosing a car.