Hybrid or petrol car?

[RedAngel19]

We bought a secondhand XC90 several years ago. Absolutely love the car as it meets all our needs. We really need the large boot space as we do a lot of camping or UK road trips as our holidays. Plus we use the extra seats to transport my elderly parents when we visit them. We use the car a lot. During the week to take the kids to their activities and to take the dog for walks, further afield on weekends and a few times a year we do 5-6 hour each way road trips to see family. Maybe once a year we'll drive over to France or Spain for a holiday.

However, we live in London (not centrally) and are already limited in where we can take the car now because of ULEZ. Our car narrowly misses being compliant because of its age. The proposed expansion of ULEZ hits our zone next year so we'll need to think about changing the car now whilst there's some value left in it.

I'm not confident in fully electric because of the long trips we do. I have friends who bought a non-plug in hybrid (recharges itself whilst you drive) but I don't want to be in a position where we buy a car then have to change again. I'm slightly sceptical that the hybrid technology is fully quite there yet and, as it's so expensive, I'm worried about getting it wrong. I remember we bought diesel back when we were told petrol was bad. Then shortly after getting our diesel, petrol was then the better option. We can't seem to get it right!!!

So I'm wondering if we should go for a cheaper second hand petrol car now so we can get a bigger car (boot space is the main thing). Though the 2030 ban on selling new petrol or diesel cars may mean we can't sell our petrol (it won't be new but presumably there will be less appetite for petrol cars). Or do we get a plug in Hybrid? I have read conflicting reports about how cost effective they actually are. Also, we don't have enough charging points where we live and we don't have off road parking to install a charging point outside our house. Plus the issue of there being enough charging points if we drive to France or Spain.

In our shoes, would you opt for petrol with a view to changing again in a few years when the costs of hybrid cars have hopefully come down? Or go for hybrid now? Though we wouldn't be able to afford a car as big as we have now so not sure how we'd be able to fit everything in when we go away! We only just manage now with the large boot and roofbox!

Appreciate any thoughts Mumsnetters have on this. Or, indeed, any cars you would recommend we look at or avoid?

Thank you in advance!

Practically it doesn't sound convenient or suitable if you can't charge at home.

Our experience of a hybrid is it isn't that easy to recharge while driving, we still need to plug in at home and don't get much mileage out of it - less than 40 miles.

I'd check how far a charge would get you on your chosen hybrid as I would not get another for such a low distance.

Added to the low distance, use aircon or heated seats & you use the electric even faster.

Also you would need to plan well with 100% electric on your long journeys.

Maybe now is not the time for you so hang on to petrol for a bit longer.

We went through the same thought process and ended up going for a petrol car, technically it’s actually a mild hybrid but not a plug in one.

Our thought process:
-We park on the street, there are no charging points
-We don’t do many short trips so wouldn’t get much use out of the short electric range on a plug in hybrid

-We drive to France 1-2 times a year and charging would significantly slow us down
-Plug in hybrids are significantly more expensive

The next car we get in approx 5 years time will likely be fully electric and hopefully things will have improved significantly by then!

If you are going for a plug in, you definitely need a home charge point, otherwise you have bought a heavy, expensive petrol car with minimal benefits.
I'm on my second self charge hybrid, first was a Lexus that I loved, very comfy and bomb proof reliability.

I've got a self charging hybrid . It's not a massive car, more Ford Mondeo size, but I love that I'm getting 60mpg. I do a lot of miles. I don't pay in the ULEZ.
Not sure if that's helpful!

I have a self charge hybrid - Toyota CHR. The main advantage to it is that normal mileage is 63 miles to the gallon (my normal driving). It's quite roomy - I have 2 teens and as a family we like camping - we have a roof bag but there is plenty of room in the car and have used it to drive to Germany, France etc.

I have owned both plug in hybrid and fully electric. For a hybrid you need to be able to charge at home but you can do that overnight from a normal 3 pin socket. For fully electric, some people cope with just a 3 pin socket but I would recommend a charge point.

We had this dilemma when we replaced our car a few years ago and ended up getting an efficient petrol car (nearly new). We wanted a plug-in hybrid - and unlike you we could have parked and charged it in our driveway - but we decided that the saving on fuel didn't justify the significantly higher price of the car. We also found that with hybrids you have less boot space because the battery has to go somewhere. (And of course you still have a petrol engine, unlike with a fully electric car.) We will probably get an electric car next time we need to change cars, as I think the ranges will improve and there will be more and more charging points. We'll buy second hand though because I think there are concerns about the materials and resources needed to make electric cars - they are not necessarily as virtuous as they seem.

We have reduced our use of the car since we bought electric bikes (including an electric cargo bike) and we use those as much as possible including going into work. The car is for longer journeys out of town.

Dh has a Toyota RAV4 hybrid. It’s got a huge boot. It’s self charging like the CHR above (which has a much smaller boot). We go off road with the RAV4 quite a bit. It’s fuel efficiency is not bad. I’ve driven it when we’ve had low fuel and ended up driving it with electric. It’s very quiet to drive. Like a milk float.

I am in Central London, no home charger, and a fully electric car. Kia eNiro - the one all the Uber drivers have. It is EXCELLENT. Love it. We do lots of long journeys. I charge at public chargers. Changed for eco reasons. Also - no congestion charge and no ULEZ worries. PM me if you’d like a chat about this. I am evangelical. Think of London pollution and climate change. This is a sincere post. I’ll chat with anyone who’d like more info.

We have a Toyota Auris self charging hybrid. It does great mileage even in London as the extra power is generated from your foot on the brake.

I don't think it is big enough for you though.

First of all, sorry for the slow response as I've been at work and only just back.

Wow! Super helpful responses! I will share with DH. Some excellent points have been made here and it's definitely making me think perhaps this isn't the right time. Or certainly we need to do a lot more thinking. I knew Mumsnetters were wise :)

We have a Toyota RAV4 hybrid too. It's great really easy to drive. Seems a good compromise as it's self charging.