Off Topic Electric cars - Hybrids

My mate had an Amarok which he described as great, but parking it was like trying to park the QE2.

 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the obvious next step to petrol/diesel engines. A water burning engine, two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, boom and away you go!

 

I've driven nothing but Volvos for 30 years. (Except for a Saab that I bought when they went under, for a song).

Ticks all the boxes for me.

Build quality. Safety. Reliability. Pulling Power. Robustness. Cabin quality.

Balance that against the fact that if you get Volvo to service and maintain them, they're on the pricier side of fairly expensive and that they're rarely a sporty drive.

Currently got a V60 as a run-around, which has only failed me once in 10 years - earlier this year when one fuel injector failed. I keep threatening to replace it but the spec it's got is crazy and no one will ever offer me a decent price. I plan to just run it until it gives up. (Or I do).

And an XC70 which does all the towing and heavy moving without missing a beat.


Great cars.

 

Needs an update:

Buy Volvos.

They're less boxy than they used to be, but they're still good.



Piece of piss this writing Ad Copy malarky.

 

is that litertally 'BOOM!!!!'

 

The old saying "goes like a bomb"

 

Surprised no one has suggested...

 

Not a C5 but a Q5 for me.

 

Me and the wife both drive Toyota self charging hybrids. A full tank of petrol is about £40 and we get around 450 miles per tank urban driving. Very quiet to drive, have to be careful in car parks as people walking just don’t hear you.

 

I agree with the last point! The amount of people who just don't hear/see you when running in full electric is frightening.... Then look at you like it's your fault for driving in the road they just walked straight onto without looking

 

Mine's only valid anywhere in Scotland and as far as Carlisle.You get them up here when you turn 60

 

I think mine might not be valid in Scotland Ric, i'll have to check on that.

My original post was wrong, it's only usable in England. Bugger.

 

I've had Toyota's for years now and found them absolutely bomb-proof - traded my Y20 Yaris in for the self charging hybrid; we're finding it a really nice car, comfy, quiet and seamless change between petrol and electric drive, and as you correctly say - they sip petrol around town.

 

I had to wait till I was 66 for mine. Where is the plug? Is that an optional extra?

 

When I got mine I was 65 but I was only 3 months off 66.

 

i used to have an xr7.

 

No charge, Its free

 

I chose a Mercedes GLE hybrid a couple of months ago as a company car. I got a hybrid mainly for tax reasons as it costs me a lot less.

Even lugging around the battery I have to say it seems to be much much more fuel efficient than the Land Rover Discovery I replaced it with, mind you that had a load of kit on it to make it even less aero than your average Disco. (winch, snorkel, Safari rack etc.)

The biggest disappointment for me are the public charging stations. We live in an apartment in central Stockholm (Östermalm) so I've no opportunity to plug it in at home or have my own charging post. There are several public chargers close by which I could use. However, after the first week or so I just gave up as they are way way more expensive than just filling up with Diesel. It really surprised me what a mark up they are making on the street charging vs home electricity charges.

In terms of charging the wireless chargers are being rolled out already. SAE have developed a series of Industry Standards for wireless changing and BMW are rolling it out.

 

Hi from a Cardiff fan. Great thread with a full range of views.

Welcome back to the Championship guys. Looking forward to seeing Magennis play. He was poorly treated by Cardiff when recovering from a bad leg break. He has done so well since.

Anyway, back to the thread. After 15 years of driving Hondas (great cars, no complaints at all and on a good run in consistent driving conditions could get up to 80 mpg on my last Civic diesel), I changed sides and got a Toyota CH-R Hybrid.

Reasons - not keen on the 2019 Civic shape, lower driving position and not good for my dodgy knee; dislike the government position of encouraging diesels a few years ago to moving to higher taxes and removal of new car market for diesel and petrol in 2030; desire to move to a more environmentally friendly vehicle with a higher driving position to aid my getting in and out.

I find the exorcism of modern diesel engines very strange as their excellent mpg more slowly erodes the drain on the planet's fossil fuels and their emission rate is very low. Also, greater use of pure electric cars in the volumes expected will also result in quick draining of fossil fuels.

Anyway, I chose a self charging hybrid as I'm not yet comfortable with ranges available zndcurrent facilities for pure electric charging.

MPG wise it us not as good as my former diesel although I'm currently getting 65mpg, dropping to mid 50's in the winter. All told I'm happy with that and don't have to worry about charging points.

My daughter has a new BMW plug in hybrid. She gets about 40 miles around Poole before needing to recharge or use petrol. So, good for short, around town trips but only gets 40mpg or so on longer trips. It's a company car where the tax situation was much better than having another make hybrid or diesel.

I don't really see the overall benefit in plug in hybrids.

My CH-R is on a 3 year deal. I will probably get another in 2 years time in the hope they will have developed a pure electric model with a 300 plus mile range, even in poor conditions plus much better overall charging facilities as well as a point at home, by 2026.

I have a Wales bus pass. Can't use outside Wales and only really used pre Covid to facilitate safe drinking. Hope that situation improves in the months ahead.

Good luck for 21/22 except when you play us.