Self charging hybrids

Could you tell us a bit about how much you’re looking to spend, what size car you need, what sort of mileage you do (particularly your daily commute) etc?

Have you considered a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that will act as a hybrid most of the time but if you happen to get a chance to plug it in (work charging, on-street chargers etc) you get more electric mileage.

On your last query it’s probably worth weighing up what the world is going to look like for a diesel car in a few years time. They are already now loaded with a NOx tax at purchase time, this could well be expanded into road tax. They’re also top of the hit list for being banned in various cities at the moment. Risky enough time to buy a diesel I think.

Are you willing to head to the UK?

'Cause if you are, this 2017 Optima PHEV Estate would be all the car you'd ever need.

Remainder of the 7 year warranty.
Think the electrics/battery has an 8 year warranty (not sure).
Established dealer.
VRT is less than €1200.

Black_Knight wrote: »

Drop the self charging bit. They're just a hybrid.

Really hard to blame the OP for the "Self Charging" nomenclature, as this is how Toyota were advertising them - and subsequently fell foul of the Advertising Standards Authority. I think they were also sneaky in saying how the cars spend "up to 50% of time on electric mode". ie: they're saying time, as opposed to distance which is an important caveat, since it's covering distance at speed where the most savings would otherwise be made. Sitting in commuter traffic, which most people do, doesn't use as much fuel.

Toyota only started to say "self charging" to jump on the EV bandwagon, despite most of their offerings being just normal hybrids.

OP, for the most part, a Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) will have a larger battery than a standard (non-plug) Hybrid, and is designed to drive short to medium commutes on battery only. Normally, you'll be paying that bit extra for a larger battery and charging hardware, second hand maybe not so much of a premium.

The thing is, you'd want to have quite a specific driving style to get the most out of a PHEV, in order to justify the extra cost and complexity of plugging in over a regular petrol.

ie: you charge at night, your commute should closely match the Electric-only range to extract maximum benefit from this, but you regularly go on longer or unexpected trips which justifies the internal combustion engine.

As Black Knight goes on to say, your commute, which is medium to long, would tend to suit an EV, but unfortunately you can't easily charge one.

In city/mixed driving, a Hybrid version of a particular model will be more efficient than the equivalent petrol, but on the open road, you're then carrying around a battery that is of little use at speed.

Hard to know really, as your case falls through the cracks in terms of EV charging, a commute that's just a little too long for a PHEV maximum benefit, and plenty of open road eating into traditional hybrid savings.

The saving grave of PHEV however, is the low VRT makes them more attractive to import than ICE cars, so you may not pay any extra if you were to do import.

If you could charge at work, I'd suggest a Mercedes C350e. Looks great, premium interior, PHEV when you can, loads of power, and you can see how you like the smooth city drving and how often you could charge in the real world (out shopping, work, etc).

Black_Knight wrote: »

Your driving seems to suit an EV (commute too long for a plug in to be of full benefit). If your housing situation is going to change in a few years time, would you consider buying something cheaper in the interim?

With the on street chargers going to be charged for sooner rather than later, there is little point buying a Plug in hybrid unless you can plug in at home. You would be paying for two fuels.