Outlander Diesel or PHEV - help please

[Clementine1971]

Hello, looking for some help and guidance please!

I test drove a Gx4h Phev at the weekend and loved it. I currently drive a Seat Leon 2.0 FR and am looking to go back to an SUV, but one that is economical. I have a 140 mile round trip commute (all A roads and m/way) 3 times a week (max) and the rest of the time just local driving, popping to the shops, school run and the like. This would be a private purchase with a company car allowance and my employer pays for fuel via a fuel card (I pay tax on it at 40%).

I really liked the car but don't know whether it's sorted to my commuting distance - I know the mpg will fall on the commute but would it likely to be compensated for by the local trips being so that I would still get close to the 55mpg I currently get in the Seat do you think?

I would be charging at home and at work so possibly up to 1/3 of the journey both legs would be battery powered. There are a couple of Ecotricity charging points I could use but whether I would in reality I'm not sure (it would depend on time available for a quick charge).

Would I be better off with a diesel?

All help and advice gratefully received!

Many thanks

 

[Hypermiler]

Hi.

In my opinion, Whether it will work for you depends on the amount of fully in-range driving you will do on those days - If you have regular local runs you do on your non-commuting days, I would list them out with usual times, mileage so you can work out whether you would be able to charge in between each trip. If you have a proper charger you will get about 8 miles charge per hour, on a 13 amp socket you will get about 5 miles charge per hour. Motorway consumption will depend mainly on your speed ultimately. Charging at work certainly helps.

Don't count on using ecotricity points - they will probably be charged for soon and are sometimes busy or out of order.

Don't forget the feel good factor you get - near silent driving within range, ability to charge from solar pv, lack of fumes,etc.

Let us know what you decide. Someone else will no doubt comment on tax and finances in more detail.

Cheers
H

 

[jaapv]

What Hypermiler said. On the sparse data you provide it should work but don't expect miracles. However, economy is but one of the reasons to buy this car, and IMO not even the main one.

 

[Clementine1971]

Thanks for your very quick replies - you've both made me think that actually I'm over thinking this, mpg is important but not the be all and end all and yes, I loved the car and it felt great to drive so.... I think my mind's made up! Just need to get a good price now!!

Thanks again for your feedback.

 

[Claymore]

Hello, looking for some help and guidance please!

..................I have a 140 mile round trip commute (all A roads and m/way) 3 times a week (max) and the rest of the time just local driving, popping to the shops, school run and the like. This would be a private purchase with a company car allowance and my employer pays for fuel via a fuel card (I pay tax on it at 40%).

I really liked the car but don't know whether it's sorted to my commuting distance - I know the mpg will fall on the commute but would it likely to be compensated for by the local trips being so that I would still get close to the 55mpg I currently get in the Seat do you think?

I would be charging at home and at work so possibly up to 1/3 of the journey both legs would be battery powered.. ....................

Bit late (been binge watching 'Thicker than Water', I know, I must be!) but if you are able to charge at both ends of your commute and you are a light footed and intelligent driver I don't think you'll have much trouble achieving your target fuel consumption.

The car's a joy to drive so if you miss by a little bit you'll still be smiling...IMHO.

JimB

 

[Clementine1971]

That's great, thanks Jim, it's great to get some views to out this into perspective. will let you know how I get on

 

[Steel188]

I have now had my (company) car just over 3 months and will pass 9000 miles at the weekend. I am able to charge at work and on the motorways (home charging will be installed in a few weeks).

As a 'road warrior' I find the car supremely comfortable, the view out is fantastic and no congestion charge with free on street parking in Westminster is fabulous, however, real world economy is not a strong point.

When I travel home from the office with a full charge the petrol engine only kicks in for about 500 yards of the 11 mile trip, so my mpg hovers around the 700mpg mark. In the winter this trip would use about 80% of my charge, but now the weather is warmer it uses around 60%. However, if I leave home the next day and drive to Bath, Manchester, Lincoln or Leeds letting the car do its thing, 35mpg is more like it. After all it is an 1800Kg brick! I use the TomTom sat nav app on my iPhone to regulate my speed to a true 70mph on the motorway (where possible) and whilst I'm no boy racer, living on the road 'positive progress' is the name of the game. Also, I never turn the air con off, use heating and cooling when ever necessary, run the fan on at least 2 all the time and use the heated seats in the winter. Life's too short to have a £35K car and not be warm or cool as required.

This means that, for me, the big issue is the tiny 45l fuel tank. My previous Galaxy held 70l yet did over 40mpg, so I find some days I have to put £25 - £30 of petrol in twice but on average that amount lasts 1 1/2 days. I stress this is my issue, those who make most of their trips within 10 miles of home, and can charge up every day, will never have this problem.

Some on this forum have said that I am in the wrong car, but for the reasons I give in my second paragraph, I say it's just about perfect but have your eyes open when looking at economy.

Richard

 

[jaapv]

Well said indeed, and I agree that you may have the wrong car from an economy point of view ( although it will improve when your home charger is installed if I read you post correctly), but as I said a car is not just economy but the sum of a number of characteristics- Jaguar would never have sold one V12 if were only about economy.

 

[Kesto]

Hi. My 4h is 4 weeks old . I do a 28 mile trip every day and I am doing 96 % ev driving daily sometimes 100%. This is on one charge. If you have facility of charging at work you can actually do 25 miles ev one way so 50 miles knocked off so you are left with 90 miles , I am sure with some clever driving which you will when you understand the car you can easily acheive 55mpg on petrol. I have done 218 mile trip and never went below 42 on pure petrol.
As far as economics do you maths with you electricity charge, fuel paid , and tax. I think you will still be a winner

 

[jthspace]

If it is a company car, then the UK tax benefit is a huge deciding factor - I was lucky as I could write off the car against corporation tax in year one, so it was a no-brainer for me and saved me thousands. If I was a private buyer, I would (probably) not bought it as most of my driving would mean I had a mix of charge and petrol. As you can see from my "sig", I track fuel usage. As was said earlier, I also drive it as a car and don't try and use every electron at the expense of being comfortable in the car.

Jeff

 

[Clementine1971]

Thanks guys, I'm so grateful to you all taking the time to post such detailed replies which have been very helpful. I think on balance I've decided to go with a diesel, though reluctantly! It bothers me that I will become obsessed with charging and finding a charging station or at home and think that might take the fun away for me. I think it's a massively well spec'd car and so hopefully going with the diesel version still gives me the same feel good factor when driving it. Will go for a eat drive and let you know

 

[jaapv]

You are overthinking the charging bit - it is less of a hassle than filling up a tank IMO.

 

[smith72]

What you really need to do is get your firm to lease the car (very good rates at this time) and pay for your fuel.
You will get 7% BIC on both (2016/17) which blows out any question based on mpg.

I traded a diesel 2.0l for a PHEV and I am saving £100 per month (and I don't get my fuel paid!!) and the PHEV is £12k higher list price higher.

However I think Government has twigged this and I would expect this to rise significantly soon, i.e. when every company car driver is driving a PHEV and tax intake falls off a cliff.

However, your commute is quite a distance on three days and my experience of this is:
First twenty miles or so you will get on EV, which goes from 130mpg to infinity depending on the number of gadgets you are running e.g. heating, air con radio etc
The rest will be around 30 to 35 mpg on dual carriageway, dropping to late twenties for town driving when in petrol recharge or petrol drive direct modes.
I have a similar commute on 1 day per week and overall I average around 70mpg out ward and 31mpg back (no charging at work).
Once out of charge you are driving a big heavy 4x4 with a non turbo charged petrol engine .

 

[maby]

Thanks guys, I'm so grateful to you all taking the time to post such detailed replies which have been very helpful. I think on balance I've decided to go with a diesel, though reluctantly! It bothers me that I will become obsessed with charging and finding a charging station or at home and think that might take the fun away for me. I think it's a massively well spec'd car and so hopefully going with the diesel version still gives me the same feel good factor when driving it. Will go for a eat drive and let you know

Without the tax and possible economy advantages of the PHEV, it's not a car I would go for. It is expensive for its specification and build quality and the bodywork and paintwork seem questionable. The latest Jeeps look quite impressive and you get a similar specification to the Outlander for a fair bit less. I'm not a great fan of the latest Range Rover styling, but if you don't hate it, you seem to get a lot of Evoque for the same price as an Outlander and I suspect it will be tougher.

 

[anko]

The latest Jeeps look quite impressive and you get a similar specification to the Outlander for a fair bit less. I'm not a great fan of the latest Range Rover styling, but if you don't hate it, you seem to get a lot of Evoque for the same price as an Outlander and I suspect it will be tougher.

Are these Jeeps and Evoques also plug-in hybrids? Than fine. If not, you better compare them to the price of a Petrol or Diesel outlander, as they are obviously not equally spec'd

 

[HHL]

Thanks guys, I'm so grateful to you all taking the time to post such detailed replies which have been very helpful. I think on balance I've decided to go with a diesel, though reluctantly! It bothers me that I will become obsessed with charging and finding a charging station or at home and think that might take the fun away for me. I think it's a massively well spec'd car and so hopefully going with the diesel version still gives me the same feel good factor when driving it. Will go for a eat drive and let you know

Without the tax and possible economy advantages of the PHEV, it's not a car I would go for. It is expensive for its specification and build quality and the bodywork and paintwork seem questionable. The latest Jeeps look quite impressive and you get a similar specification to the Outlander for a fair bit less. I'm not a great fan of the latest Range Rover styling, but if you don't hate it, you seem to get a lot of Evoque for the same price as an Outlander and I suspect it will be tougher.

The whole point of this car is that it can be a near ZERO emissions vehicle. If that is currently more expensive, more "fiddly" to use, so be it. But the main purpose of ALL electric cars is just that. Forget about tax breaks, incentives etc. If we want to be cleaner (many of us do), then the notion that it can be done at no or little cost as some politicians try to tell us, it can't be done.

 

[maby]

The latest Jeeps look quite impressive and you get a similar specification to the Outlander for a fair bit less. I'm not a great fan of the latest Range Rover styling, but if you don't hate it, you seem to get a lot of Evoque for the same price as an Outlander and I suspect it will be tougher.

Are these Jeeps and Evoques also plug-in hybrids? Than fine. If not, you better compare them to the price of a Petrol or Diesel outlander, as they are obviously not equally spec'd

I know that you love to disagree with everything I say, but please read more carefully before you do so! The OP has decided that he will probably buy a diesel Outlander, not a PHEV - and I'm suggesting that he should look seriously at other diesel SUVs. When you take away the plugin hybrid functionality, the Outlander is a fairly unexciting 4WD and the build quality does not seem to be that great. There are several other diesel 4WDs at similar prices that merit consideration. The entry level price for a GX4 spec diesel Outlander is over £31,000 - that puts it in direct competition with several models of Jeep and the RR Evoque.

 

[anko]

So, you have compared them to the price of a Diesel Outlander? That's great. In that case, I am not at all disagreeing with you. Well, I disagree that we disagree :lol:

 

[JSC]

I might be too late, as you seem to have plumped for the Diesel, but my driving pattern is similar to yours so might be a useful comparison.

I work away from home most of the week and have a 90-100 mile drive each Monday to my workplace and then back again on Thursday or Friday. I am lucky in that there is on street (free) charging where I am working and at the hotel I use, so during the week I drive pretty much without using any petrol. I also have occasional longer trips for business or personally. I occasionally use the motorway rapid chargers, but (as you say) this depends on whether I have the time. I've had the car for 6 months and have driven a little over 9,000 miles and my overall mpg is 48.5 (calculated using the trip meter and the fuel I'm putting in the car). I agree with the figures others have quoted - on the motorway at 70mph with no charge the PHEV achieves around 35mpg. I try to save charge for use on slower roads so can't comment on the mpg in town, but I'd expect it to be worse.

So, your 50mpg target shouldn't be too unachievable, and the plus side is the "silent" running, the green credentials and the gadget mania Whatever you finally choose - good luck