Hybrid thoughts?

Megaross

Currently driving a Hyundai i20n courtesy car, hybrids drive badly in my opinion - the power delivery is unpredictable and if you boot it often slow to respond then very suddenly waves of power appear. Lifting from the throttle often isn't an instant reaction either, takes a second or two so you often need to brake a little.

Plus with all these stupid assists it has - lane assist, collision warning, speed warning, "sailing mode" - it's like the car is shouting at you trying to drive itself.

Only gets 31mpg round town in eco mode and me doing my best to hypermile it. So not that great.

In my opinion you can't beat old reliable internal combustion.

Bigphil1474

If she works for the NHS, the NHS fleet scheme seems pretty competitive to me. I had a look at prices to see what they were, and an example Peugeot 208 came out at £160 a month for me (plus cost of charging), based on 7k miles a year over 3 years), when I worked out all the costs and savings - through salary sacrifice. The NHS fleet scheme includes all your costs except the electricity. If she is doing more mileage it will obviously cost more. 

peter3hg

Remember if using a salary sacrifice scheme in the NHS that it has a sizeable impact on your pension now that it is career average pension.
I worked out that that leasing a Cupra Born or VW ID3 for three years would reduce my annual pension in retirement by about £300 a year.

victor2

Hybrids do not save much fuel on a lot of short runs. The engine soon kicks in after starting and runs until it has warmed up and/or put charge into the main battery. They don't go far on battery power alone. Marginally more economical than a similar sized petrol car, but not a huge saving. They don't have zero road tax any longer either, so no savings there.

Like others, I'd go for an EV. Costs more, but will suit that style of driving more and will eventually save money. Whatever you choose, get one with a reversing camera built in. They are terrific, and I would find one indespensible for that kind of work.

Herzlos

Megaross said:

Plus with all these stupid assists it has - lane assist, collision warning, speed warning, "sailing mode" - it's like the car is shouting at you trying to drive itself.

Every new car (from say 2018 onwards) will be like this now - it's needed for NCAP. My ICE is a total PITA for it.

facade

Herzlos said:

Megaross said:

Plus with all these stupid assists it has - lane assist, collision warning, speed warning, "sailing mode" - it's like the car is shouting at you trying to drive itself.

Every new car (from say 2018 onwards) will be like this now - it's needed for NCAP. My ICE is a total PITA for it.

Mine too.

I'm just driving along when suddenly sirens sound, the dash lights up red and "danger! danger! collision imminent! brace for impact!" appears on the display.  All because there is a parked car a way in front and I cant drift to the other lane yet (accompanied by a shaking steering wheel if I cross a white line) because something is coming.

What it means in reality is that if the windscreen breaks it costs £1,000 to replace because the camera stuck on the inside with bostik has to be recalibrated by the dealer

And then the TPMS alerts me to cold weather by telling me all 4 tyres are flat......

Grumpy_chap

Megaross said:

Plus with all these stupid assists it has - lane assist, collision warning, speed warning, "sailing mode" - it's like the car is shouting at you trying to drive itself.

As others said, don't blame the "hybrid" for features that are available on cars irrespective of drivetrain.

I am also intrigued to know what is "sailing mode" please?  I thought LOTUS were the only people to offer that option:

Is it now more widely available?

Herzlos

facade said:

Herzlos said:

Megaross said:

Plus with all these stupid assists it has - lane assist, collision warning, speed warning, "sailing mode" - it's like the car is shouting at you trying to drive itself.

Every new car (from say 2018 onwards) will be like this now - it's needed for NCAP. My ICE is a total PITA for it.

Mine too.

I'm just driving along when suddenly sirens sound, the dash lights up red and "danger! danger! collision imminent! brace for impact!" appears on the display.  All because there is a parked car a way in front and I cant drift to the other lane yet (accompanied by a shaking steering wheel if I cross a white line) because something is coming.

I have exactly that scenario 4 times a day on the school runs, usually without any warning light for me to be distracted by. I can turn it off/down from a buried menu but it resets every time I start it.

So now I've more or less managed to tune out all warning beeps, neat eh?

MEM62

A hybrid is neither beast nor fowl.  Go full EV.  

astroL

Most points seem to have been covered.

1 - no  charger needed really for a hybrid; they use only a few kwh you can stay with the domestic charger that comes with the car.

2 - do check whether you could manage an ev, particularly with the NHS scheme, though you may well find, as I did, that it doesn't work for you.

3 - some places let you charge free (eg Tesco et al); a hybrid will take minimal time at 7kw/h.

Good luck making that choice.

Lawrence