The burning question, would a hybrid be better for me?

[ShiWarrior]

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/car-running-costs-calculator

does not work for me, i put in say "Ford" and nothing comes up, cant select a model
tried chrome and I.E.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/car-running-costs-calculator

does not work for me, i put in say "Ford" and nothing comes up, cant select a model
tried chrome and I.E.

Wierd i just tried it (and put ford) and after about 5 secs I had the list of all current fords

Any pop up blockers or anything?

 

[ShiWarrior]

nothing
except on I.E. i pressed "accept"

 

[jpaul]

yes the website is crummy ... sometimes just doesn't refresh with car list etc.. thought it had come up before -
maybe if you have an account with them it behaves better, have never found anything better though.

A sport tracker app on a phone to record speed/distance

 

[Bug One]

Just going back to the source of this discussion - for 7000 miles a year, the differences between these cars fuel economy is going to be minimal. As you've already said, you're getting way below average mpg on your current car because the majority of your driving is cold / stop start stuff. So, comparing a car with a theoretical mpg of 55 in ideal conditions, with your real world 30 mpg will be misleading.

So, I guess it really comes down to - do you just want to buy a new car? In which case - considering you don't do all that much mileage - just get a car you like and be damned with the economy differences.

If you really want to save money, try out a hybrid, and don't need 4 seats - how about a Mk1 Honda Insight. I say save money, because you'll be able to double your fuel economy even on your journey AND the car will likely hold it's value indefinitely. Most cars you've been quoted before this will cost you more in depreciation than fuel.

 

[Bug One]

PS. This was mine. If I hadn't needed another seat, I'd have kept it.

 

[ShiWarrior]

Just going back to the source of this discussion - for 7000 miles a year, the differences between these cars fuel economy is going to be minimal. As you've already said, you're getting way below average mpg on your current car because the majority of your driving is cold / stop start stuff. So, comparing a car with a theoretical mpg of 55 in ideal conditions, with your real world 30 mpg will be misleading.

So, I guess it really comes down to - do you just want to buy a new car? In which case - considering you don't do all that much mileage - just get a car you like and be damned with the economy differences.

If you really want to save money, try out a hybrid, and don't need 4 seats - how about a Mk1 Honda Insight. I say save money, because you'll be able to double your fuel economy even on your journey AND the car will likely hold it's value indefinitely. Most cars you've been quoted before this will cost you more in depreciation than fuel.

wait , back up a sec

my commute, is not start/stop traffic, its empty at 5:30am, when i leave at 3pm traffic is minimal, takes me 5 mins longer

 

[ShiWarrior]

PS. This was mine. If I hadn't needed another seat, I'd have kept it.

love the solar panels in the back window that made me lol

 

[MagicBoy]

whats his commute like though ? (compared to mine)
mine is too short to get any decent MPG out of the car, hence why its under 30 mpg, my older Clio Sport (2L) was averaging 30-35 mpg and the Focus is worse on fuel

if people are getting circa 40 mpg out of the Leon, there is no point in me getting one, as id be down to around 30 mpg in it, so defeats the object

Focus driver is doing ~6 miles, most of that on rush hour smart motorway, with about a mile of town driving at the other end.
Leon driver is doing ~8 miles. The same 6 as above, plus another couple of miles on urban A-roads.

 

[ShiWarrior]

yes the website is crummy ... sometimes just doesn't refresh with car list etc.. thought it had come up before -
maybe if you have an account with them it behaves better, have never found anything better though.

A sport tracker app on a phone to record speed/distance

found an app, that tracks real-time mileage , automatic start under conditions you set, for example, when the car moves, or when connected to your BT hands free device etc

its called "mileage tracker,vehicle log & fuel economy app" (by autolog.app)

might have to try it

 

[Bug One]

love the solar panels in the back window that made me lol

After that first test, i stripped all the panels out of the housings and connected them all together.

It was only a small pack and ran at ~170v, so by using multiple panels in series it meant I didn't have to use an inverter.

This was a fair few years back. You can get so much better flexible panels really cheaply now.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Just going back to the source of this discussion - for 7000 miles a year, the differences between these cars fuel economy is going to be minimal. As you've already said, you're getting way below average mpg on your current car because the majority of your driving is cold / stop start stuff. So, comparing a car with a theoretical mpg of 55 in ideal conditions, with your real world 30 mpg will be misleading.

So, I guess it really comes down to - do you just want to buy a new car? In which case - considering you don't do all that much mileage - just get a car you like and be damned with the economy differences.

If you really want to save money, try out a hybrid, and don't need 4 seats - how about a Mk1 Honda Insight. I say save money, because you'll be able to double your fuel economy even on your journey AND the car will likely hold it's value indefinitely. Most cars you've been quoted before this will cost you more in depreciation than fuel.

It's not theoretical the ct200h does 55mpg in the real world.

The prius theoretical is like 83mpg and its based on the same car. And prius owners report getting 65mpg and higher.

Please do your research before making false claims.

 

[Orionaut]

Yes, I admit it, I haven't read through whole thread. Just responding to OP.

But, at 7000 miles/year. The fuel component of overall running costs is not a significant factor in running a car. Even if you were getting 20 MPG it wouldn't be that great and even if you were to get another car capable of 100MPG you wouldn't save that much proportionally.

If cost is the "Only" factor, (And you are not traveling anywhere where the might be LEZ's or whatever)

Your cheapest bet would probably be a pre CO2 Tax change land cruiser diesel

In practice, you simply do not do enough mileage to justify worrying about this.

Just buy whatever you fancy. Fuel consumption really shouldn't be a significant concern.

 

[Bug One]

It's not theoretical the ct200h does 55mpg in the real world.

The prius theoretical is like 83mpg and its based on the same car. And prius owners report getting 65mpg and higher.

Please do your research before making false claims.

I'm sure other people get better than 28.5mpg in the real world driving the same car he currently has. The point is on his short commute, which he's already said isn't stop-start, the car will take a while to get up to temperature and unless there's a particularly long hill involved (and he has any kind of manual control over the hybrid side) spend some of the journey doing regen - so I'd expect him to get getting less than 55mpg for his commute.

Therefore I think it's unlikely he'll see anywhere near £580 a year in fuel savings.

 

[Bug One]

In practice, you simply do not do enough mileage to justify worrying about this.

Just buy whatever you fancy. Fuel consumption really shouldn't be a significant concern.

What he said.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I'm sure other people get better than 28.5mpg in the real world driving the same car he currently has. The point is on his short commute, which he's already said isn't stop-start, the car will take a while to get up to temperature and unless there's a particularly long hill involved (and he has any kind of manual control over the hybrid side) spend some of the journey doing regen - so I'd expect him to get getting less than 55mpg for his commute.

Therefore I think it's unlikely he'll see anywhere near £580 a year in fuel savings.

You have have manual control over hybrid. There is an EV button on the lexus to go electric only. You can also force it to use electric by driving it how it's intended to be. It doesn't need to be stop start to use electric.

 

[Bug One]

You have have manual control over hybrid. There is an EV button on the lexus to go electric only. You can also force it to use electric by driving it how it's intended to be. It doesn't need to be stop start to use electric.

That's good. The electricity has to come from somewhere though.

I'm not saying I don't like the car, or the idea of hybrids. I'm just not sure the fuel savings in this scenario are going to add up to as much as that.

 

[MagicBoy]

I'm sure other people get better than 28.5mpg in the real world driving the same car he currently has. The point is on his short commute, which he's already said isn't stop-start, the car will take a while to get up to temperature and unless there's a particularly long hill involved (and he has any kind of manual control over the hybrid side) spend some of the journey doing regen - so I'd expect him to get getting less than 55mpg for his commute.

I'm not fully familiar with the different systems, and how your Insight worked.

I'm driving a 2 year old Auris at the moment - the Toyota's have a rapid warmup mode from a cold start that does some witchcraft with the valve timing, and tops up the battery with the surplus power. I'm finding it runs the ICE for about 3-4 minutes and half a mile, then it shuts off and goes into EV where possible.

Real world example - nip to the supermarket a mile and a half away and it's ~40mpg, instead of the usual 55. So it's not that bad, and slightly better than my old diesel.

 

[jpaul]

Does seem daft they did'nt make all the hybrid's plugin; if, they typically have 20mile range (current London compliance) then just plugging into a regular socket overnight, would do it, but maybe you need cooling or much more fancy battery management. ... has no one hacked a regular hybrid

just read about the new leon

Going auto also opens up the possibility of adding 48-volt mild-hybrid technology on the 1.0 and 148bhp 1.5 petrol variants, to boost efficiency. For buyers who really want to cut fuel bills, the range also includes a 1.4-litre petrol-based plug-in hybrid edition that can travel up to 38 miles on electricity alone.

if they provided an interlock to disable ICE in London, could they comply in 2021 ?

 

[-Ad-]

PS. This was mine. If I hadn't needed another seat, I'd have kept it.

I'm only managing 58MPG during the winter months. Pretty crap tbh and that's with the rad block and air box mod sucking in air from above the ehaust Mani (25degsC).

Bring on the summer and 70s again!

OP, get a car you like with decent MPG, don't chase silly figures or waste money on an expensive depreciating hybrid. Or just get Gen 1 Insight, enjoy tax free and epic MPG motoring with 0 depreciation.