Self Charging Hybrid MPG question

lmv80

Hi everyone, 

I’ve done a search on the forums and decided to post. I hope someone can help. 

I’m thinking of changing my my petrol car (Seat Leon estate FR 2.0, Petrol) to a self charging hybrid, possibly a Toyota with a smaller engine size. I cannot get a plug in, as I have no drive and park on the road. 

I mostly use my car for general stuff and commuting to work, about half is on a dual carriageway. 

I’m wondering if this is the right move, or just as economical to get a petrol hatchback. I’m spending about £130-£150 on fuel alone, per month. According to my dash, my car is averaging 42MPG. 

The biggest thing that I’m wondering is about the MPG on a self charging hybrid and I hope someone can help, I may be getting the wrong end of the stick or might just be stupid. Hah! 

Let’s say, the car is advertised at 40MPG, is that number for the miles it would do on average, regardless of petrol / electric, because it’s charging the battery, or is this only for the miles that the car does when the petrol is engaged (so in effect the electric miles are not counted within that)? 

Could anyone shed some light on this?  As I said, i’m probably being stupid. 

Additionally, the car would need to be financed on PCP. if I did change I’d get a dealership used car, 2019/2020 model - is there any other hidden costs or problems I haven’t thought of? I did see that the batteries do depreciate, which is expected. But I only plan on having the car for the three year contract and I’ll change. 

DrEskimo

It will be a complete false economy.

Any money you do save will be lost on interest charges and depreciation over the cost of the newer car.

What is the current situation with the Seat? Is it also on PCP and due to end soon? Is there any other reason you are looking at changing other than potentially lower running costs?

BOWFER

'self-charging' hybrids, waste of time unless all you're doing is avoiding a congestion charge, the real-life MPG figures I've seen are barely any better than the ICE versions.
Plug-in slightly better, although the charging rates can be pathetically slow and it can take hours to charge their low range.
But at least with a plug-in it's feasible many could commute on electric only for days/weeks on end.

lmv80

DrEskimo said:

It will be a complete false economy.

Any money you do save will be lost on interest charges and depreciation over the cost of the newer car.

What is the current situation with the Seat? Is it also on PCP and due to end soon? Is there any other reason you are looking at changing other than potentially lower running costs?

The PCP ends in October. It’s purely financially driven if I’m honest. A year ago, in lockdown I realised how much I was spending when working from home. I’m getting sick of spending so much money on petrol a month. Maybe a smaller petrol car will be more viable. 

UncleZen

BOWFER said:

'self-charging' hybrids, waste of time unless all you're doing is avoiding a congestion charge, the real-life MPG figures I've seen are barely any better than the ICE versions.
Plug-in slightly better, although the charging rates can be pathetically slow and it can take hours to charge their low range.
But at least with a plug-in it's feasible many could commute on electric only for days/weeks on end.

Corrolla/Auris 1.8 hybrid 1.8 easily gets 55mpg on urban runing. Fact.

BOWFER

If you're getting 42mpg out of the FR, you're evidently an efficient driver and should easily get a good bit more in a smaller engined car.
You should consider the possibility of an electric though, £150 a month saving is halfway towards a good one and many EV owners manage fine charging away from their homes.
Hell, I've got a drive and a charger and still used public charging 90% of the time.
Half an hour every other day staring at twitter on my phone while on a rapid charger at a P+R near my work would do me for days. 

lmv80

BOWFER said:

If you're getting 42mpg out of the FR, you're evidently an efficient driver and should easily get a good bit more in a smaller engined car.
You should consider the possibility of an electric though, £150 a month saving is halfway towards a good one and many EV owners manage fine charging away from their homes.
Hell, I've got a drive and a charger and still used public charging 90% of the time.
Half an hour every other day staring at twitter on my phone while on a rapid charger at a P+R near my work would do me for days. 

I do drive efficiently, as my car moans at me if I don’t (constant dash reminders!). The trouble is, where I live there is a lack of charging points near my house and where I work, I did a search. There are six in a 10 mile radius. Two at a garage, two at a supermarket and two in a restaurant car park.  I’d love a plug in - but the potential of a charging point being used when I arrive or it being out of order gives me enormous anxiety. Haha! 

maxmycardagain

https://www.spritmonitor.de/en/

[Deleted User]

DrEskimo said:

It will be a complete false economy.

Any money you do save will be lost on interest charges and depreciation over the cost of the newer car.

What is the current situation with the Seat? Is it also on PCP and due to end soon? Is there any other reason you are looking at changing other than potentially lower running costs?

Depreciation isn't a cost or a loss, you don't get a bill for it at the end. Nobody buys a normal car with the expectation of it being worth anything like what it was when you bought it. I am still awaiting the demand for payment for the depreciation of my car, bought new 6 years ago, maybe you can tell me when the money will be taken? Lot of dealers are doing 0% PCP also

AdrianC

lmv80 said:

Let’s say, the car is advertised at 40MPG, is that number for the miles it would do on average, regardless of petrol / electric, because it’s charging the battery, or is this only for the miles that the car does when the petrol is engaged (so in effect the electric miles are not counted within that)? 

It's the mileage the car produced on the standardised test cycle.


Non-plugin hybrids have very minimal performance and range on battery.

born_again

Nire HEV 53 MPG over 3000 miles. Not bad for a 1.6 petrol, also lugging a EV motor.
I know Niro PHEV driver who is at 200 mpg... But only runs in EV mode as his trips are sub 30 miles. And only fuel used is to charge 12V battery or run heater when cold.

>>>Let’s say, the car is advertised at 40MPG, is that number for the miles it would do on average, regardless of petrol / electric, because it’s charging the battery, or is this only for the miles that the car does when the petrol is engaged (so in effect the electric miles are not counted within that)? <<<

MPG includes the miles under EV power, hence why the MPG is better.
But you will never get many miles pure EV out of a Self Charging Hybrid. As mine does a max of 3 miles before Hybrid battery is discharged & then need tos be recharged. Either by taking some engine power, or using regen if going downhill or braking.

MPG as ever is dependent on your driving style & the landscape where you live.