worth switching to plug-in hybrid?

troffasky

iwb100 said:

I have considered car hire to get around it but then I can’t really get my wife’s head around buying or leasing an expensive car but not actually using it for such journeys. 

Put a spreadsheet together and see if makes MSE sense. No point trying to convince the better half if it doesn't make financial sense.

Steve182

Petriix said:

One massive advantage of getting a plug in car is that it gives you access to Octopus Go at 7.5p per kWh. That alone could save you £hundreds off your household usage before you even think about the mileage costs. 

A PHEV makes sense if you'll regularly be driving over 200 miles in a day. If it's only occasionally then an EV would be a better option. I strongly recommend taking a test drive in one before writing them off: the instant torque and smooth driving is addictive. 13,000 miles has cost me just £150.

I would say that a phev makes little sense of regularly driving over 200 miles in a day. You benefit from electric power for 10 to 20 miles then lug around a couple of hundred kg of extra weight for the rest of the journey. How can that make good sense?

Would an efficient IC engined car, or a long range full electric like a Tesla that can manage that distance on a single charge not be a better option than a phev for such journeys?

Bonniepurple

Interesting thread this, albeit highly theoretical for me for many years yet as our budget does not stretch to one form of EV, let alone the two that we would need.  FWIW I drove a hire car yesterday and it was an experience.  2018 reg, diesel (although it didn’t feel like a diesel based on our 2010 diesel!) but I was terrified of marking it in any way.  Not easy when you are in a wet, muddy car park.  My children are thankfully teenagers, but when they were as young as OP’s children any length of journey could involve leakages from all areas and the ability to find the only patch of mud/dog muck for half a mile- which is then trekked into the car.

OP, I think I read a few years ago that hybrids were the worst of both worlds because you are carrying the extra weight of the battery AND the ICE.  Even if I could afford it I wouldn’t want to get an EV because I would be terrified of the battery going.  We all know that real life fuel consumption is different to the lab produced results and I would have thought that an EV would be similar.  

Petriix

iwb100 said:

Petriix said:

iwb100 said:

Petriix said:

One massive advantage of getting a plug in car is that it gives you access to Octopus Go at 7.5p per kWh. That alone could save you £hundreds off your household usage before you even think about the mileage costs. 

A PHEV makes sense if you'll regularly be driving over 200 miles in a day. If it's only occasionally then an EV would be a better option. I strongly recommend taking a test drive in one before writing them off: the instant torque and smooth driving is addictive. 13,000 miles has cost me just £150.

How would an EV work out when two or three times a year you have to take a 330 mile trip with young kids? Genuinely curious. Are there always free charging points at the services? How long does the charging take? As more buy EVs would you not be in big queues?

I absolutely would like one but this is the thing that puts me off. The knowledge that I can make that journey comfortably on a full tank whereas I doubt many EVs would stretch especially with the family and luggage.

If it's just a handful of times per year then you just adapt. If it wasn't already the accepted paradigm it would seem crazy to create loads of pollution and spend 10x the price on fuel for every single journey just to get a benefit 3 times per year.

If you're planning a holiday on the other side of the country you can always book a night somewhere halfway and charge to full again. Otherwise you avoid peak times, travel overnight, take shorter slower routes, take an extended break to do something fun (meal, cinema, Ikea, Science Museum, zoo, whatever).

The trick is never to be simply waiting for the car to charge, just let it charge while you're busy - ideally sleeping overnight. If it's too problematic, just get the train or hire a car.

I've done a bunch of longer trips including 420 miles in one day (that required 3 x 40 minute charges) without any issues at all. I tend to avoid the motorway services and pick charging stops where there are plenty of alternatives nearby.

I don’t know how many times you’ve undertaken a journey with a 5 year old and under one year old but if it were just me I’d happily adapt.

But we have to do this journey in school holidays. It’s visiting family. The train is not an option.

I have considered car hire to get around it but then I can’t really get my wife’s head around buying or leasing an expensive car but not actually using it for such journeys. 

When you are on the M6 and your baby needs changing and feeding you aren’t messing round. You need a services and need that to have a charging point available. 

Perhaps PHEV is more suited to me. 

If your daily routine is within the limited range of a PHEV then you might be in the small minority of people who would genuinely benefit. Most people would save significantly by going full EV.

I've done plenty of journeys with small kids and I'm very happy with my choice to go fully electric. 13,000 miles for £150 has more than made up for the interest and degradation.

If you're making frequent stops you'll likely have far more opportunities to charge. It's the people who want to drive 4 hours or more without a break that struggle most. Now that most new EVs can comfortably cover 200 miles longer journeys are becoming much easier.