Car tax bands.

[normal rules]

13 year old Prius.
£0 tax
70mpg on a motorway run.
Like shit off a shovel to 30mph from a standing start which really is all that matters most of the time.
Uncomfortable though. I feel like I've been beaten up with baseball bats after a 2 hour drive.

Fully electric? If so what range do you get from it now ?

[BillyStubbsTears]

No, hybrid. And not even plug in.

The battery isn't very serious. Only 1kWh. Has a range of about 2km on a good day. But if you learn how to drive all over again, you can do a lot of driving where the battery does a lot of the work on the flat and gentle rises, then recharges going downhill. It means the ICE isn't doing all the work, all the time.

Been an interesting experience having this hybrid and I wouldn't dream of going back to a full ICE. But like I say, to get the best out of it, you do have to re-learn how to drive. Being a bit less heavy footed, reading ahead and predicting what's coming up.

I still can't move to a full plug in electric as I can't charge at home, but I'm thinking of changing to a hybrid plug in with a much more serious battery, like a Volvo V60, with 40-50 km battery range. The way I've re-learned to drive, I'd expect to hardly ever have the ICE come on when driving round town.   

[Ldr]

Got the xc40 bst and rarely use fuel apart from runs to Scotland and donny

[normal rules]

No, hybrid. And not even plug in.

The battery isn't very serious. Only 1kWh. Has a range of about 2km on a good day. But if you learn how to drive all over again, you can do a lot of driving where the battery does a lot of the work on the flat and gentle rises, then recharges going downhill. It means the ICE isn't doing all the work, all the time.

Been an interesting experience having this hybrid and I wouldn't dream of going back to a full ICE. But like I say, to get the best out of it, you do have to re-learn how to drive. Being a bit less heavy footed, reading ahead and predicting what's coming up.

I still can't move to a full plug in electric as I can't charge at home, but I'm thinking of changing to a hybrid plug in with a much more serious battery, like a Volvo V60, with 40-50 km battery range. The way I've re-learned to drive, I'd expect to hardly ever have the ICE come on when driving round town.   

I love a bit of hypermiling. I always try to get the most out of my tank when. I do journeys. The cruise control helps. But slowing down well before you need to and allowing the car to coast under its own momentum helps to keep consumption down.
I have been know to tailgate a lorry on the motorway too. Just out of interest. It’s perhaps not best advised. But it’s amazing what fuel economy you get, provided you are happy sat at 56mph all day.

[drfchound]

I’ve got a feeling post 2030 car tax for diesel and petrol cars will go to the moon.

It might depend on how the electric roll out has gone. At the moment I would not like to make the journey from York to London in an electric.

There was a dealer on the Radio the other day, who said in his opinion electric cars are being missold. They should be advertised as city cars.

You say that, I went to Oxford, Wycombe and Cheltenham games and back in my EV without a hitch.

Would that be a self charging EV Janso.

Nope, I have to stop and charge once each way (to be honest I could get away without stopping on the way home usually) but that's full electric. I was nervous before Wycombe about getting there and back but really had no need to be. The range I get is dictated by the weather somewhat as it's closer to 200 miles than 300 when it's freezing, but then ICE vehicles aren't as efficient in the cold and wet so nothing new really.

When you stop to recharge, how long is the stop.

30-60 minutes depending on how far I'm going, but pre-EV I was already stopping on the way down for snap for a similar length of time and I'm never really in a massive rush to get home. I thought it'd be a bit of an inconvenience and many naysayers will make it out to be too but it really isn't, and there's apps you can use (either a passenger looking for you or using Android Auto/Apple CarPlay) to check if chargers are available and working.

Cost is probably the biggest stumbling block for many at the moment, but the actual driving experience is the same as ICE - you get ones that are more and ones that are less efficient. I don't have to trundle along at 50mph as some will make out either. It does reduce my range a bit driving at the full speed limit on the motorways but not drastically and I'm never far from a charge point.



I forgot, I also went to Shrewsbury in it and if I'd not stopped for snap on the way, I'd have got nigh on there and back without needing a charge.

I tow a caravan for seven or eight holiday breaks a year and so have a BMW X5 40d which is a fantastic tow car. Average solo driving gets me 35mpg which is acceptable to me and an EV or hybrid would probably be a good option for me for most of my other driving but I doubt very much whether the EV or hybrid would be an adequate enough tow car.
Also, on all the charging points I have ever seen I haven’t spotted one yet that would have enough room for a car towing a caravan or trailer.
The UK caravan market is worth pots of money so I am assuming that the car manufacturers are looking at ways to get a decent tow car that can be attractive to caravanner.

I forgot to mention that my X5 is the MHEV version which they claim makes a 10% to 15% fuel cost saving and is better for the environment.
It doesn’t need recharging as that is done automatically.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Got the xc40 bst and rarely use fuel apart from runs to Scotland and donny

That's good to know. Ta for the info.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

You'll find around town the engine never comes on, though some do use it to heat the car as mine does.  I find on a short drive turning the heated seats on works just as well to keep warm and doesn't use any fuel.

As others have said you learn really quickly how to drive differently, lots of coasting where possible.

[danumdon]

You'll find around town the engine never comes on, though some do use it to heat the car as mine does.  I find on a short drive turning the heated seats on works just as well to keep warm and doesn't use any fuel.

As others have said you learn really quickly how to drive differently, lots of coasting where possible.

This is quite correct, i've conducted tests with mine with not charging it for the duration of a tank full of fuel, i've found that if i drive in a restrained and controlled manner, allowing and using all the advantages the terrain of the route give you i've found that at the time when i'm down to virtually empty on petrol that for this duration i have also covered over 60miles purely on electric, this is a very good percentage of the overall consumption at just about 16%.