Which PHEV?

[sawman]

Just had a play on the firms lease car calculator, they have some deals on golf GTE's last week, but they seem to have all gone,

put salary sacrifice quotes together for these phevs:
Golf GTE - £330
Volvo V60 - £346
BMW 330e sport - £339
Merc C350e estate sport - £352
outlander 4hs -£364

I was surprised that the outlander was most expensive and how similar the others were. Which is the best drive?
I have heard that there is a long lead in for BMW.
They all seem to have similar electric ranges, but whats the best overall efficiency with say 50/50 mix of ICE/elec use

[s1962a]

330E is awesome.. but you'll be waiting a long time.

[barryrs]

I have a friend with an Outlander and he cant wait to get rid of it.

Poor electric range and poor mpg on fuel is the feedback hes given.

[sawman]

went to try a golf today, but there was a mix up and it wasnt at the dealer when I arrived, have a test of the volvo v60 twin engine later in the week. might go and have a look at the merc also,

I am not drawn to the BMW - unless they have a touring waiting to be released.....

[jason61c]

golf, small and expensive, not very well resolved.
330e, nice to look at, ok on fuel, very common looking, very common, not much boot space, not well specced as standard
c350e, nice motorway drive, nice spec, not great on fuel
v60 d5 twin engine, 50+mpg motorway use, nice spec as standard, very nicely built.

Edited by jason61c on Tuesday 12th July 20:04

[sawman]

jason61c said:

golf, small and expensive, not very well resolved.
330e, nice to look at, ok on fuel, very common looking
c350e, nice motorway drive, nice spec, not great on fuel
v60 d5 twin engine, 50+mpg motorway use, nice spec,

pretty much agree with that - I dropped into the volvo shop today and had a chat, unfortunately their V60 was out for the day, so had a punt around in a regular V60 - just to see how the seat felt etc, back later in the week for a go in the hybrid - the volvo works out at more or less the same cost to me as the golf would be, so bigger car, possibly better non electric economy? seems like a no brainer

[jason61c]

I was getting the merc as that was my my number one choice, until the volvo d5 twin came out, I was won over by the spec(proper leather etc) and the diesel engine. Got to be the best all round if you do a few miles.

[The Beaver King]

I currently have the C350e and like it, although the fuel economy is not as great as stated. That said, the ride and quality is top notch.

If it was my money, I'd be angling for the Volvo. Diesel engine, so it should return excellent fuel economy on the motorway (a failing of most PHEV at the minute) and you should be able to spec up a better trim level than the equivalent Merc/BMW.

[jason61c]

The Beaver King said:

I currently have the C350e and like it, although the fuel economy is not as great as stated. That said, the ride and quality is top notch.

If it was my money, I'd be angling for the Volvo. Diesel engine, so it should return excellent fuel economy on the motorway (a failing of most PHEV at the minute) and you should be able to spec up a better trim level than the equivalent Merc/BMW.

The ride on the merc is lovely.

Its not my money, its a company car, just the Motorway mpg at 20k a year is important to me.

[s111dpc]

I have the Merc 350e as a company car. Done about 7k miles in it now and averaging 55mpg real world, which for the quality, speed and ride I think is great. Happy to recommend.

[The Beaver King]

jason61c said:

The ride on the merc is lovely.

Its not my money, its a company car, just the Motorway mpg at 20k a year is important to me.

Completely agree; even as a company car, I do a lot of private miles so the Volvo would have been a much better prospect for me, economy-wise.

Happy with the Merc though.

s111dpc said:

I have the Merc 350e as a company car. Done about 7k miles in it now and averaging 55mpg real world, which for the quality, speed and ride I think is great. Happy to recommend.

You're getting better mpg than me and I'm not exactly gunning it everywhere. I'm at about 3500 miles at the minute, so I'm hoping the fuel economy slowly picks up as the engine beds in.

Agree with the speed aspect; it doesn't half shift in S+ mode

[sawman]

s111dpc said:

I have the Merc 350e as a company car. Done about 7k miles in it now and averaging 55mpg real world, which for the quality, speed and ride I think is great. Happy to recommend.

Thats interesting, whats the profile of your usage? are you charging it frequently?

[Gb908010]

Volvo is a great car as I have a diesel v60 now but the phev is very expensive for the r design phev

[robemcdonald]

Another vote for the 350e here. Been caning mine around today down to 35mpg. had fun though.

[jason61c]

Gb908010 said:

Volvo is a great car as I have a diesel v60 now but the phev is very expensive for the r design phev

All the PHEV's are expensive.

[sawman]

Gb908010 said:

Volvo is a great car as I have a diesel v60 now but the phev is very expensive for the r design phev

The D6 twin engines are pretty dear, but the D5 is more reasonable.
playing with the configurator at the dealers the other day, the cost for a similarly specced D5 twinengine, and a v60 crosscountry they turned out to be more or less the same, but there is a nearly 4k discount on the crosscountry if you take volvo finance

[jason61c]

sawman said:

The D6 twin engines are pretty dear, but the D5 is more reasonable.
playing with the configurator at the dealers the other day, the cost for a similarly specced D5 twinengine, and a v60 crosscountry they turned out to be more or less the same, but there is a nearly 4k discount on the crosscountry if you take volvo finance

I can only see any of the PHEV's making sense as a company car.

[s111dpc]

sawman said:

s111dpc said:

I have the Merc 350e as a company car. Done about 7k miles in it now and averaging 55mpg real world, which for the quality, speed and ride I think is great. Happy to recommend.

Thats interesting, whats the profile of your usage? are you charging it frequently?

My commute is 30/35 miles depending on office with no charging at work, so I charge overnight and get 68mpg on the way and about 41mpg on the way home.

We do a lot of running around at the weekends with two teenage kids so lots of shortish journeys with charges in between.

Currently at 510 miles and 60mpg with 120 mile range left.

[jonah35]

Cant believe there is even a need to debate this?

Golf is too dear as its similar price to 3 series and merc so rules out golf
The outlander looks bland and terrible interior
The volvo is ok but very bland and boring
330e ok but merc far more powerful

Has to be 350e merc without question

[jason61c]

jonah35 said:

Cant believe there is even a need to debate this?

Golf is too dear as its similar price to 3 series and merc so rules out golf
The outlander looks bland and terrible interior
The volvo is ok but very bland and boring
330e ok but merc far more powerful

Has to be 350e merc without question

Erm, 5 cylinder diesel drive train isn't boring, the best build quality. No less boring than a c-class or 3 series.

The 350e isn't 'without question', quite far from it.

There's no bad options, just ones that suit needs more than others.