Plug In Hybrid Cars - Experiences?

[Lord Tyrion]

Went in to my local skoda dealer this afternoon. They get a demonstrator on Tuesday, no charging point until Wednesday ?. I started to ask some questions but the salesman quickly said he knew nothing, if I had searched on the internet then I might know more. Not a proud admission I would have thought.

I decided to go on the skoda website to ask some questions via live chat. First up, how long between service intervals? Not a tricky one. They didn't know ?.

How can they not know such basic information? Not filling me full of confidence so far.

 

[Hobbit]

How long do you intend to keep it LT? One of my concerns with the hybrid is battery life. If, for example, its changed at 4 years at what cost? Its thousands, and as its a 'consumable part,' like tyres or the 12v battery there's only a limited warranty to it.

 

[drdel]

How long do you intend to keep it LT? One of my concerns with the hybrid is battery life. If, for example, its changed at 4 years at what cost? Its thousands, and as its a 'consumable part,' like tyres or the 12v battery there's only a limited warranty to it.

Some main (power) batteries are leased.

Ours has an 8 year main battery warranty to be above 80% capacity, actual design life matches that of common vehicles at 150,000 km. There has a decreasing manufacturer contribution after 5 years (I think).
Rapid charging systems shortens the battery life - e.g Tesla is careful they have on-board data recording that monitors the number of 'fast' or 'super' charges (good idea to get dealer to check it if buying secondhand). Usually it is not the whole battery that has a fault but just one or two or the cells which can be changed. The cost of a complete main battery is falling.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

How long do you intend to keep it LT? One of my concerns with the hybrid is battery life. If, for example, its changed at 4 years at what cost? Its thousands, and as its a 'consumable part,' like tyres or the 12v battery there's only a limited warranty to it.

3 years. It will be a lease car so I will have it fully under warranty during that time. After that, it is someone else's problem ?.

I didn't know that about the 4yr change. I'll check that the battery is covered for 3yrs, haven't even thought it wouldn't be covered.

 

[Tashyboy]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51366123#share-tools

This for me is a big game changer. In 15 years time you will not be able to buy a diesel, Petrol, or hybrid. So why buy any At the moment. I am now of the ilk I will run the cars I have into the ground. And cross that bridge when I get to it. Hopefully electric batteries will have come on leaps and bounds by then.

 

[bobmac]

How long do you intend to keep it LT? One of my concerns with the hybrid is battery life. If, for example, its changed at 4 years at what cost? Its thousands, and as its a 'consumable part,' like tyres or the 12v battery there's only a limited warranty to it.

'' Most manufacturers have a five to eight year warranty on their battery. However, the current prediction is that an EV battery will last from 10 – 20 years before they need to be replaced. ''

https://www.edfenergy.com/electric-cars/batteries

 

[Lord Tyrion]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51366123#share-tools

This for me is a big game changer. In 15 years time you will not be able to buy a diesel, Petrol, or hybrid. So why buy any At the moment. I am now of the ilk I will run the cars I have into the ground. And cross that bridge when I get to it. Hopefully electric batteries will have come on leaps and bounds by then.

15 yrs is a long way away. I think a lot more people will follow your approach, not change their car and run the current ones into the ground. If I was buying now I would still buy what suits and if that is diesel then that is what I would get. Don't forget, they are not banning the use of them just buying new after that date. If you bought new now would it have a resale price in 15yrs anyway?

I am fascinated by how the govt can back this up. What plan do they have to increase charging availability, how do people with on road parking, living in flats etc charge? Are they just crossing their fingers hoping the mfrs can extend the range? Are there enough rare metals to produce the batteries or there a plan b in how to make them? Equally, do we just have to accept that our lives will change? No more holidays from the NE down to Cornwall or Devon, far fewer tourists from the south up to Scotland? Our way of moving around the country is going to have to change if this is to come in. Good job the rail network is up to it .

Incidentally, I missed the press release cancelling the 3rd runway at Heathrow. Anyone seen that or does plane pollution not count?

One further point, a huge blow to the car industry, one that is already struggling. This is a very damaging release imo, a naive one.

 

[Leftie]

Well. We've got the Boris bikes, the Lime electric bike sharing trial. The way to go is obviously fully electric Boris or Lime cars. The ultimate car share scheme. Nobody will need their own car.

 

[bobmac]

The Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars have been around for over 100 years, about 90 years longer than commercially available electric vehicles (EVs)
It will take EVs a while yet until they are fully accepted by society and many will start with the hybrid.


Pure EV Range
Using the Nissan Leaf as an example
Released in 2010 range 80-100 miles
The new cars will do officially 239miles but in real life around 200 miles
So in 8 years, the range has doubled.
Governments around the world are investing heavily in battery technology so there's no reason to believe that improvement won't continue.

Charging.
Just like the olden days when there wasn't a petrol station on every corner, charging stations aren't there yet but they are popping up everywhere.
Your place of work, supermarkets, carparks, golf clubs, cinemas, restaurants, gyms, in fact anywhere you can park.

Some say ''what happens if I get to a charger and its broken or being used?''



Or ''what happens if I run out or juice''

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/rac-develops-the-uks-first-lightweight-ev-charger/



Obviously, there are some people who need the extra range an ICE car can provide so understandably they will stick with petrol or diesel for the meantime.

But the facts are oil and gas WILL run out, maybe not in our lifetime but soon enough so what's the alternative?
Electric or hydrogen and that's about it.

Until then, these will continue to pollute the air your children breathe.



But as the EV cost keeps dropping, range is improving and the lack of paticulates given off by EVs hits home, I believe/hope that before long I'll be driving an electric car which is clean, cheap to run, 300 mile range, fast and fun to drive.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

So if we have just 15 years before all new cars must be electric only, how quickly do they realistically think they will take to build to necessary generation plants for the electric needed?
As usual we are trying to deal with a perceived immediate problem, rather than looking past that and going for the very long term solution.
The biggest screw up is including hybrid cars in the proposed new production ban. It’s absolutely barking.

 

[Hacker Khan]

So if we have just 15 years before all new cars must be electric only, how quickly do they realistically think they will take to build to necessary generation plants for the electric needed?
As usual we are trying to deal with a perceived immediate problem, rather than looking past that and going for the very long term solution.
The biggest screw up is including hybrid cars in the proposed new production ban. It’s absolutely barking.

Not sure we have got enough time left for very long term solutions. Plus a bit of immediacy tends to concentrate minds. Technologically I have no doubt this can be done if you get coordinated and effective assistance from policy makers who are not in thrall to the oil industry.

 

[drdel]

I like the Lexus (and one or two others) adverts that claim they sell 'hybrid' vehicles when the only source of energy is petrol - it might be 'dual' powered by electric motors and an ICE but its petrol driven. Why is it not false advertising?

I think these rushed proposals will cause problems with rural communities especially when the volume of petrol/diesel sales falls and number of fuel stations drops.

 

[bobmac]

So if we have just 15 years before all new cars must be electric only, how quickly do they realistically think they will take to build to necessary generation plants for the electric needed?
As usual we are trying to deal with a perceived immediate problem, rather than looking past that and going for the very long term solution.
The biggest screw up is including hybrid cars in the proposed new production ban. It’s absolutely barking.

Although they will stop selling new ICE cars by 2035, there will still be millions of used ICE cars available.
So there wont be a sudden switch to EVs.
This will allow more time for renewable energy to continue expanding through off shore wind farms and tidal technology.

Some say ''what happens if everyone wants to plug in at once''
They won't for the same reason not everyone goes to a petrol station at once.
Most people who can charge at home will do so during off peak times when there is very little demand on the grid.

I like the Lexus (and one or two others) adverts that claim they sell 'hybrid' vehicles when the only source of energy is petrol - it might be 'dual' powered by electric motors and an ICE but its petrol driven. Why is it not false advertising?

The regen braking puts power into the battery which then drives the car but I agree, not the best solution.

I think a lot of people will switch to hybrid plugins where you commute using battery only and occasionally use the petrol engine.
Therefor a gradual switch to full EV.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Until then, these will continue to pollute the air your children breathe.

I get you’re an evangelist for the ev car, but do you not consider that using an 18 yr old bus as an example of (probably) diesel power to be slightly disingenuous to the highly efficient and eminently cleaner modern diesels of now or is it the bus you want to see gone?
We don’t use the old milk floats as examples of ev so why the bus?
I find it somewhat ironic that we are trying to reduce CO2 after demonising an engine which is much cleaner than many hybrids for that CO2 which is so harmful for the WORLD.

OP, I test drove an Ioniq Hybrid when I was getting ready to scuttle the Barge, and whilst it drove ok with a boot that was big enough for a bag of clubs and trolley, it just didn’t quite have that”want this” factor. If you wanted a tin box to get around, then it was fine...but no more than that I felt.

 

[USER1999]

Thing is, buses could be powered by hydrogen rather than diesel. They fill up at the same place every day, unlike cars, so it would be easy to have a supply at the depot. Where my sister lives in Germany, they already have these.

 

[bobmac]

I get you’re an evangelist for the ev car, but do you not consider that using an 18 yr old bus as an example of (probably) diesel power to be slightly disingenuous to the highly efficient and eminently cleaner modern diesels of now or is it the bus you want to see gone?
We don’t use the old milk floats as examples of ev so why the bus?
I find it somewhat ironic that we are trying to reduce CO2 after demonising an engine which is much cleaner than many hybrids for that CO2 which is so harmful for the WORLD.

I don't want to see buses gone I just want them to be clean.
I'd like to see the report that says diesel is cleaner than a hybrid

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Thing is, buses could be powered by hydrogen rather than diesel. They fill up at the same place every day, unlike cars, so it would be easy to have a supply at the depot. Where my sister lives in Germany, they already have these.

I thought I had posted this on here but it must be a different forum. Hydrogen is surely a better answer than electric? The infrastructure is largely in place, no delays when refuelling is required, no major lifestyle changes necessary, no enormous financial input required to change people over.

 

[clubchamp98]

According to Boris today all hybrid cars will be banned also from 2035.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I've pretty much given up on the plug in hybrid, they are just not right for me yet. I am currently test driving a Prius, not the right one unfortunately but that's another issue. Drives okay but the tyre noise seems high. They had the tyres pumped up to 40psi so I reduced them to 36psi, the standard recommendation for that car, and that helped a bit but it still seems a little noisy. I can't work out if I am being paranoid or whether that is the case.

Anyone on here have a Prius or has been in one? Did you notice excessive tyre noise?

 

[clubchamp98]

I've pretty much given up on the plug in hybrid, they are just not right for me yet. I am currently test driving a Prius, not the right one unfortunately but that's another issue. Drives okay but the tyre noise seems high. They had the tyres pumped up to 40psi so I reduced them to 36psi, the standard recommendation for that car, and that helped a bit but it still seems a little noisy. I can't work out if I am being paranoid or whether that is the case.

Anyone on here have a Prius or has been in one? Did you notice excessive tyre noise?

Is the lack of engine noise just highlighting the tyre noise.?