Hybrid question

Relentless81

Relentless81

Relentless81

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Joined
18 May 2010
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12,850
Hello,

I have a question RE Hybrids on the commute described -

If when I drive to work and the limit is 50 and its clear for 90% of the journey the battery is charging whilst using the engine.

If when I drive home in the evening and its bumper to bumper traffic at less than 30 for the whole journey, I wouldn't use any fuel as the engine wont be used.

Repeat the next day and for the rest of the working week essentially meaning that my commute is halved in terms of fuel use, or is it not that simple?

Essentially I want an auto and I am weighing up an Auris Hybrid Estate vs an Octavia 1.4TSI DSG

Thanks
 
As a hybrid owner myself I don't think you quite understand how hybrids work, the battery would run the car for short interludes at all times depending on several factors, if you are driving slightly downhill for some distance then it will stay in electric mode for a reasonable time but coming back home will be uphill so the engine will be on together with the electric motor if you accelerate.

Bumper to bumper crawling along will only stay on battery alone depending on whether you have the heater on, wipers going etc as the engine will power up to keep the engine hot regardless of whether the battery is full or not.
 
MPG will probably be better. That's ultimately what you are asking. Why do you care exactly how it is happening?
 
I recently test drove a Yaris hybrid, the sales assistant said that it's possible to do 4miles on battery alone at speeds up to 40mph, conditions will effect the result. It takes about 2mins to fully charge the battery when moving. The transition from electric to petrol and back was very good. On the short test drive which was about 6 miles it averaged about 60mpg according to the trip computer, mixture of 30mph limits and on a dual carriageway.
 
My experience is that hybrid drive is a waste of time when looking at efficiency. They are usually fitted with gutless petrol engines though so the electric boost improves the performance a bit. Ultimately you'd be better off with a TDI.
 
I cant get a TDI, I dont do enough miles, I just sit in a lot of traffic which is why I want an auto which is the most important factor of the next car. MPG isnt a major issue I just dont want to end up with worse than what I get now. I really did think a Hybrid would allow me to creep in traffic on the battery only. I moved someones car for them at work which was an Auris Hybrid and the engine didnt kick in whilst moving it, I then did a very quick read up and sure I read the engine doesnt kick in until 30MPH.

I put two and two together and got potato
 
So, my experience with a few hybrids is thus:

They can be very economical, if you drive them correctly. Anyone who says a CVT is garbage clearly hasn't driven a good one. You need a larger engine (smaller ones can get thrashy - e.g. Lexus CT200h) but larger engines make the experience sublime (e.g. Lexus GS450h and RX450h).

They won't win any awards for driver involvement, but few cars are as quiet as a decent hybrid. Both the big Lexuses we've had make it extremely difficult to hear whether the engine's actually on or not. You get a bit of engine noise if you really floor it, but you would in any car.

Our RX averages 33mpg, whether on a high speed motorway cruise or sat in traffic - not bad for a large, 2+ ton '4x4'.

Ours managed, battery only, about 2 miles. They're designed to electrically assist the petrol engine, making up for the areas where the ICE isn't powerful enough, or inefficient. They do this very well and the transition between power sources is seamless.

Go try one. I think you either get it, or you don't.
 
I do need to try one but it wont be a large engine version, it would be an Auris Estate in terms of what I'm looking for in a car and thats only because the hatch boot is tiny compared to what I have now

I'll be honest I find myself reading up on the Octavia a bit more, just the reliability of the TSI engine and DGS box puts me off as does the shorter warranty
 
With a hybrid (non plug in) the only 'free energy' you are getting is when being forced by driving conditions to ease off the accelerator or brake (e.g going downhill and would otherwise exceed the speed limit, or faced with an obstruction like a red light). These restrictions aside, it would usually be more efficient to not actually brake. Anything else effectively comes from the petrol engine.

This isn't usually enough to power a significant portion of your journey on its own.

Having said that, I now drive a hybrid (2nd generation Honda Insight). For effectively the same mixed suburban and exta-urban commute with odd longer journeys I averaged 28mpg in an 2000 Skoda Fabia 1.4 MPI (manual, petrol), 48mpg in a 2000 Skoda Octavia 1.9 tdi (manual, diesel) and 50mpg in a 2010 Honda Insight 1.3IMA (CVT, petrol hybrid).

Just looking at longer motorway journeys, the Fabia tended to get 45-50 mpg and the Insight and Octavia both manage around 55-65mpg.

Edit: Reliability wise - the Skodas were both awful. Fabia was approved used and Octavia was a private buy with no SH (a mistake). Both had a steady stream of niggles while I had them. The Honda (used from Toyota main dealer) has only thrown up one non-consumable or service item related problem in 5 years (a leaking rear shock adsorber) but it was a newer car than either Skoda when I bought it.
 
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Relentless81 said:
I obviously fail very hard at Hybrid stuff

Thanks for the info, not sure a Hybrid will be right for me then
Click to expand...

The only way to know is to try.

As Uriel says in principle all the energy is coming from the petrol engine. The big difference is a hybrid can capture energy when braking rather than burning it off as heat in the brakes.

Most of the taxis around here are Prii/Priuses/Priora. I was talking to the driver of one on Saturday night and he said that for < 30 mph stop-starty city driving nothing else compares. If half your daily drive is anything like this you could probably still do quite well from one.
 
I notice more and more taxi drivers in Hybrids recently and my driving is always around town apart from my commute which is 90% motorway and currently limited to 50 whilst its upgraded and will be until Autumn 2017 which is where I sit in bumper to bumper traffic.

Once that limit is lifted and assuming the motorway becomes more free flowing I would have bought a Hybrid and be stuck with it

Only thing I can think of is keep my current car until the motorway work is finished and see how it flows, personally I think it will still be just as bad but its a pretty big risk
 
How is the overall mileage? You mention motorway but it doesn't sound like your actually doing many miles.

Looks like you have the choice between a 1.8 Hybrid or a small Turbo?
 
The adaptive cruise with the DSG box is a thing of beauty. The car practically drives itself! Go try it and see what I mean.
 
Work is only 6 miles away, it never takes me more than 25 minutes to get there but coming home it takes from half an hour, more often than not 45 minutes and sometimes an hour and over of solid clutch pumping traffic

Problem with the Skoda is reliability freaks me out, after much reading the chances of a lemon are higher than a Toyota and after 18 years of owning Jap cars with one Audi and a couple of Renaults in that time which were less than completely reliable it does put me off but on paper the DSG box and small turbo engine with a decent interior and class leading boot is very tempting.

The Toyota has the longest warranty though, I could get a two year old one and still have three years left on the warranty and the local Toyota dealer are very good too
 
One thing to bear in mind - hybrid benefits are somewhat limited while the car is cold. It will run the engine just to get oil and coolant up to temperature. Toyota hybrid have a few tricks to make this more efficient (a coolant heat storage system) but the effect is still there.

But basically - on a cold day your engine is going to be running all the time for at least the first couple of miles into a journey.

6 miles each way isn't a lot. You would get a good proportion of a hybrid's fuel economy benefit from any car with a start-stop system (most of them these days). And then - take into account how little overall cost saving there will be from having a more fuel efficient vehicle. You pay a premium for a toyota hybrid and it will take a long time to make that back in fuel and tax.

I can see the benefit of an auto for sitting in traffic though. What about a petrol DSG or auto if you can find one?

Edit: A comparable car to the Auris tourer might be a Honda Civic Tourer 1.8 iVTEC Auto if you can find one. It's a standard 5 speed torque converter auto box but there's not much to go wrong there.

I would absolutely not consider a diesel for such a short commute.
 
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Tbh I'd consider a big comfy scooter. Should be fine at 50 on the way down and filter through the queues on the way back.
 
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