Simon Barker:That doesn't work for the people who live in the city. After a few shopping trips, and taking the kids to school, the battery will be flat and the car will be forced back to running on petrol or diesel.
That's why plug-in hybrids were invented. It doesn't take long to re-charge a modest size battery from the mains. That way short city trips can be entirely on electric, and the engine only has to start up on long journeys.
That's exactly how we use our hybrid VW Passat GTE, short trips to the shops, school runs, dog walks, playgrounds etc, all on 100% electric.
If going longer distances I switch to Hybrid mode and let the car decide how best to use Electric/petrol. If we (remember to) plug it in after each journey it rarely goes flat, but with only about 20miles usable electric range when it does go flat it takes about 3hours to charge.
Electricity costs 14.4p per kWh during the day and just 5p for four hours overnight so it works out cheaper than doing the same types of driving in the VW Golf 1.4Tsi we traded for the Passat GTE and it has the same petrol engine.
CliveS:
kfh, I am sure you are correct. To encourage solar and wind energy, huge grants were given for a few years which then disappeared so we need to take the advantage whilst we can.
Re the Passat the electric side is exactly correct as new model has a 31 kWh battery but the car is much to heavy 1.75 tons because it has a 6 speed gearbox and several luxury sporty add-ons.
Better if VW go for a micro-electric vehicle with no gearbox just a 1 litre engine that charges the battery on long motorway trips only.
amen to that!
That's why plug-in hybrids were invented. It doesn't take long to re-charge a modest size battery from the mains. That way short city trips can be entirely on electric, and the engine only has to start up on long journeys.
Real world useage, having recently got a plug-in hybrid (new):-
Quoted electric range:- 40 miles
Actual electric range:- 28 miles (i.e. about 70%) based on the same commute each day (equal hills up and down)
Battery size :- about 13kwh
Range per kwh :- about 2 miles (slightly over)
Time to charge from UK 13A socket :- about 9 or 10 hours
Range added per hour from UK 13A socket :- about 3 miles (walking pace!).
Yes I am getting a larger charge socket soon, but the point is you canna change the laws of physics capn.
YMMV but best take the real world into account regarding the word "modest" as that certainly doesn't apply to manufacturer claims :-)
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