Electric / hybrid / petrol /best family car thats also good the environment?

[SoTiredNeedHoliday]

I'm finding the whole thing a little confusing .....

Some people say that the current electric & hybrid technology is not good enough to delve into yet - any experts out there?

We have a diesel and need to replace it. Currently have a volvo suv, could go for something a little smaller but not too small.

what would you go for a petrol, hybrid, electric?
what make and model?

No help here but in the same position, I've been looking at plug in hybrids - still trying to get my head around them. I do lots of short trips so the short range electric use would be really useful, and cheap! Hopefully someone knowledgable will come along soon.

If you do long journeys - petrol
If you do short journeys and have a garage with electric- hybrid
Do not bother with full electric as it would make like difficult if you need to do a long drive. Most only do about 150 miles on a charge. (Most of these posh people with teslas have a proper 2nd car)

Same search here - struggling as i want camping boot space and have teens.

we have a Mitsubishi hybrid 4wd, which is plug in and petrol. Great for short journeys as all electric (does about 30 miles i think depending on how you drive). but its not great for long journeys- only about 35-40 mpg (although its a big car so still better than our old diesel land rover). it also sounds quite tinny when it's on petrol so dh not so keen on it. but i drive mainly locally and it's great, comfy and really easy to park.

i have a Toyota auris hybrid but it doesnt plug in (just regenerates electric as you drive). so better for long journeys (60-65mpg), but worse for short ones. would never go back to non hybrid now

If you do long journeys - petrol

If you're a high mileage driver using the motorways a lot, then an economical diesel (like a Golf Bluemotion) is still the best thing for the environment, despite the rubbish the govt tell us. Yes, it puts out some harmful things into the sir, but far less of them, because you might be getting 70 or 80 mpg compared to 40 or 50 in a petrol.

I have a Tesla model X, it’s our only family car. It’s a fabulous car, the safest SUV available, has tonnes of space, pulls my trailer and has seven seats. Downside is the cost (especially as they have just stopped selling the cheaper 75 kw version). It’s absolutey worth the investment for us and I’m glad every day that I traded in the diesel SUV for it. Longer journeys do mean you have to plan, but most places have superchargers en-route and you’re fully charged again and ready to go once you’ve stopped for coffee.

Alternatively, a hybrid might work - the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is supposed to be good. Downside to a hybrid is that you have the tech from both the petrol engine and battery to worry about.

We have a Nissan Leaf, DH commutes a fair distance each way and we still have enough miles left for general running about. People might try to warn you off full electric, but unless you cover hundreds of miles every day, you should find it adequate.
A Leaf sounds too small for your needs, though. Something like a Tesla X would be better.

we do do fairly regular 1-2 hour trips away and back in the same day

What do you think about the current technologies in hybrids?

Will it be like tv's - as in a massive leap in technology every year and the prices reduce significantly quickly?
I just don't want to invest heavily and it depreciate even quicker than cars usual do
thoughts?

@SoTiredNeedHoliday we do, too! To Dublin and back. More than 200 miles each way and no bother to the Leaf.

good to know.

Volvo are the safest SUVs available. Not tesla’s Tesla’s also appear in 3 out of the top 15 most unreliable cars!

How much do you want to spend OP? And what Volvo do you have? Xc60? Xc90? If you were to pick a car that’s an ideal size what are you looking at?

ideal size is probably like a BMW x3 size

JuniperBeer, that’s not true about the Tesla safety rating. It is by far the safest suv out there: electrek.co/2017/06/13/tesla-model-x-5-star-safety-rating-nhtsa/

This video clearly demonstrates the safety of the new Tesla model 3 vs a Volvo m.youtube.com/watch?v=wcZkkGL85AI

If you can wait till the end of the year I think the model 3 is going to be a cracking car, but it might be a bit small for you. I’ll admit Tesla’s do tend to have quirks, but mine have been fixed by the service centre with relatively little hassle. But it’s an awesome car, honestly if you like driving then try a fully electric car, absolutely no delay they just go!!

The Mitsubishi outlander PHEV is the one we have and i really like it, but 1-2 hr drive on the mway would drain the electric. Not sure about depreciation but i would be wary of buying diesel now in case hard to sell on second hand

thanks all. You've given lots of info to think about.

@doublechocolatetiffin in the U.K. the euro NCAP is generally the most thorough and broadly accepted safety test. None of Tesla cars feature on it.

That video with the crash test comparisons didn't look as though the cars were being tested with the same equipment

Juniper, the S model has been tested to 5 star by NCAP. That's the only model though so doublechocolates claim of it being the safest SUV on the road is certainly not by Euro standards.

That video also didn’t look at suv’s- it was saloons.
There are tons of links, this is the first. But the xc90 by Volvo is the safest car ever built. No one has ever died from either being a passenger, driver, pedestrian or third party where an xc90 has been involved.
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.autoexpress.co.uk/volvo/xc90/103233/no-fatalities-ever-recorded-in-a-volvo-xc90-in-the-uk%3famp

I'm an EV lover.

Do not buy a diesel - with issues over diesel cars, fuel prices and cities looking at banning diesels in the future, it is all going to affect re-sale values.

If you want to go with a fossil car then pick petrol.

I'm not a massive fan of hybrids. If you want one, you want a plug in hybrid - the others have such small batteries that they may as well not have them.

For the plug ins, the Mitsubishi PHEV is popular and you can pick a second hand one up for a decent price. The issue is you do have to make sure you charge it and use electric when you can. It was popular as a company car as it is low tax, but people were then not charging them and they were actually less economical to just use petrol than a regular ICE car. Charge it up and you will cut your costs.

I am a pure EV, but they do have their drawbacks. They are not there in the second hand market yet, so to get one with a good range you are looking at at least £15-£20k upwards. The cheaper ones have a smaller battery. If you live somewhere flat, that is fine. Mine has a 24kwh battery and can realistically do 70 miles on a charge (although in the cold we are only getting around 45 miles on the last charge!). Take it on the motorway and it is a lot less so you have to factor in stopping and charging.

If you went for one, you would ideally want to go for at least a Nissan Leaf 40kwh, the newer model Zoe or one of the newer ones, but the price is still high.

The Leaf and Zoe have small boots, so for what you want you would really want either the Hyundai Kona which is an SUV type electric car (they do a hybrid) or the Kia Nero which is SUV type EV that is bigger than the Kona and due out in the next few months. The problem is the cost - the Nero is going to be about £32k when it comes out and it will be a few years before the second hand ones come through at an affordable price.

Volvo are due to bring out a V40 electric soon, but for the type you want the car and price may not be there for a few years.

Sorry this is so long!!

CornishMaid1 so very helpful! Thanks

Been driving various company Toyota hybrid's for past 5 years. Bought a Toyota hybrid and really happy with it, so are kids. I mostly drive in London, so lots of traffic, hybrid system doses fuel in really small amounts, generally average 60mpg. It doesn't like Cornwall and Scotland much and drinks as much as the locals...
Look up new RAV Hybrid, might work for you. Great value for money. Toyota's technology seems to be leading the way. If you are on a budget, lookup used Lexus rx450h or rx400h. great suv's.

I found this article so helpful when we were looking to buy a hybrid/electric.

Got a hybrid in the end as it turned out to be more expensive to get the electric bits fitted etc.