Will your next car be petrol, diesel, EV or hybrid?
Discussion
I'm just curious, as most people seem to be firmly in one camp or the other ie they don't like diesels or would never buy an EV or only buy an EV etc but I could genuinely make a case for all of the options and there are candidates in each category for my next vehicle that I would like to own. Got a 10 year old Renault Captur diesel at the moment, which is nominally the "family" car.
I'm not anti-EV at all but for me, there is just a dearth of genuinely desirable EVs at the moment, especially at the cheaper end of the market with the exception of one of these, which I have a lot of want for specifically in this colour (but it is on the small side for a "family" car). I quite like the look of the new BMW i3 too, which is a better size for a family car but it's c. £60k and I'm not spending more than a year's salary on a new car!
Go for the petrol option and I would love an orange Renault Megane RS, which is a bit bigger.
My Captur averages 65mpg and I get around 600 miles out of a relatively small (less than 50 litre tank), so I still find that aspect of a diesel quite compelling and the refinement/power delivery doesn't bother me, although mine is a little slow. The Peugeot 508 fastback is a lovely looking thing though, especially in metallic red and I don't think that the 2.0 HDi version would want for performance or comfort. Something like a 335d Touring is still quite a desirable car with a broad range of talents too?
I'm a little sceptical of hybrids, especially plug-in hybrids but the best all-round car that I ever owned was a mk7 Golf petrol estate and I find the mk7 Golf GTE quite a compelling package. A friend owns one, does all his local journeys on electric only, averages 65mpg on a run and close to GTI performance, do you really need the GTI/R? The only mark against it is that it is not available as an estate, which I would prefer if that was an option. Perhaps a little boring but I also see the appeal in some of the "self-charging" hybrids such as the Civic/CRV hybrid and the Nissan Qashqai ePower but perhaps they're a little boring and I would want a fun car/motorbike alongside them.
So are you set on one form of propulsion in your next vehicle or are you like me undecided and open to multiple options?
I'm not anti-EV at all but for me, there is just a dearth of genuinely desirable EVs at the moment, especially at the cheaper end of the market with the exception of one of these, which I have a lot of want for specifically in this colour (but it is on the small side for a "family" car). I quite like the look of the new BMW i3 too, which is a better size for a family car but it's c. £60k and I'm not spending more than a year's salary on a new car!
Go for the petrol option and I would love an orange Renault Megane RS, which is a bit bigger.
My Captur averages 65mpg and I get around 600 miles out of a relatively small (less than 50 litre tank), so I still find that aspect of a diesel quite compelling and the refinement/power delivery doesn't bother me, although mine is a little slow. The Peugeot 508 fastback is a lovely looking thing though, especially in metallic red and I don't think that the 2.0 HDi version would want for performance or comfort. Something like a 335d Touring is still quite a desirable car with a broad range of talents too?
I'm a little sceptical of hybrids, especially plug-in hybrids but the best all-round car that I ever owned was a mk7 Golf petrol estate and I find the mk7 Golf GTE quite a compelling package. A friend owns one, does all his local journeys on electric only, averages 65mpg on a run and close to GTI performance, do you really need the GTI/R? The only mark against it is that it is not available as an estate, which I would prefer if that was an option. Perhaps a little boring but I also see the appeal in some of the "self-charging" hybrids such as the Civic/CRV hybrid and the Nissan Qashqai ePower but perhaps they're a little boring and I would want a fun car/motorbike alongside them.
So are you set on one form of propulsion in your next vehicle or are you like me undecided and open to multiple options?
DaveyBoyWonder said:
My next car will likely be a special one for my 50th birthday (assuming I can eek another few years out my Merc) and will 99% certainly be petrol.
You make an excellent point. For a "special"/fun car, it has to be petrol, no question! 
For a daily driver though, I'm a bit more torn.Starsky80 said:
AndySheff said:
I'm open to multiple options. Just not EV or hybrid.
I get the argument for not EV but why not hybrid?To be fair I have only driven a Kia Niro self charging hybrid which is a bit clunky.
Next car?
I've driven diesels exclusively for nearly 30 years and love their economy and mid range torque but Euro 6 has made simple reliable diesels complicated and fragile and I could do without all the issues they can throw up.
Currently in a fantastic Freelander 2 Sd4 which had been great over the last 8 1/2 years ive had it.
I tow a twin axle caravan and live in a rural location where heavy snow is quite common so I need decent towing ability and 4wd.
If I go for petrol I think it will be a Subaru Outback , even though it's 2.5 petrol isn't very economical or torquey i think it would be a great all rounder and have long term ownership potential.
We currently have 2 cars;
2022 BMW X5 45e - family bus, owned from new. 99% of trips done on electric/85% of the 30k miles done so far.
2015 BMW M135i - our car from pre-kids, on 135k miles, needs some work and cosmetically scruffy. Owes us nothing and now does <2k miles a year, mainly me going to golf.
If designing the fleet again today I'd be looking at something the opposite way round as the X5 is rather large (car parks etc) when being used day-day but useful when going away (1 child, 1 on way).
For us I'd be doing something like;
BMW IX3 or i3 if big enough - only has to do 100 miles on a charge - would be perfect for day-day use. Nursery runs, trips to the shops etc.
BMW X5, X7 or 5-series touring - 3.0d or 4.0d, mainly for use when needing to take people/things places or for longer trips.
2022 BMW X5 45e - family bus, owned from new. 99% of trips done on electric/85% of the 30k miles done so far.
2015 BMW M135i - our car from pre-kids, on 135k miles, needs some work and cosmetically scruffy. Owes us nothing and now does <2k miles a year, mainly me going to golf.
If designing the fleet again today I'd be looking at something the opposite way round as the X5 is rather large (car parks etc) when being used day-day but useful when going away (1 child, 1 on way).
For us I'd be doing something like;
BMW IX3 or i3 if big enough - only has to do 100 miles on a charge - would be perfect for day-day use. Nursery runs, trips to the shops etc.
BMW X5, X7 or 5-series touring - 3.0d or 4.0d, mainly for use when needing to take people/things places or for longer trips.
LightweightLouisDanvers said:
Starsky80 said:
AndySheff said:
I'm open to multiple options. Just not EV or hybrid.
I get the argument for not EV but why not hybrid?To be fair I have only driven a Kia Niro self charging hybrid which is a bit clunky.
99% sure my next car will be another petrol performance car, likely another BMW M car or an AMG, just can't really see past those options.
My wife's next car will likely be an EV or at a push a hybrid as it would make a lot of sense for her use case but as long as her's remains reliable we will likely continue as we are.
I do like the new Renault 5 a lot but it's hard to justify buying one as an extra car because it couldn't replace what we already have.
My wife's next car will likely be an EV or at a push a hybrid as it would make a lot of sense for her use case but as long as her's remains reliable we will likely continue as we are.
I do like the new Renault 5 a lot but it's hard to justify buying one as an extra car because it couldn't replace what we already have.
Jamescrs said:
99% sure my next car will be another petrol performance car, likely another BMW M car or an AMG, just can't really see past those options.
My wife's next car will likely be an EV or at a push a hybrid as it would make a lot of sense for her use case but as long as her's remains reliable we will likely continue as we are.
I do like the new Renault 5 a lot but it's hard to justify buying one as an extra car because it couldn't replace what we already have.
That is one solution. A 5 EV would be the perfect replacement for my wife's car (10 year old Clio) but no real reason to change hers right now. In that case, I would probably stick with petrol/diesel.My wife's next car will likely be an EV or at a push a hybrid as it would make a lot of sense for her use case but as long as her's remains reliable we will likely continue as we are.
I do like the new Renault 5 a lot but it's hard to justify buying one as an extra car because it couldn't replace what we already have.
SWoll said:
Daily - EV
Weekend - Petrol
The savings made on used purchase price, maintenance and running costs for the 15k miles a year covered by the former versus a comparable petrol daily will essentially pay for the latter.
EVs are cheaper? Often difficult to justify if you already own a reliable ICE car outright ie the EV may be cheaper to run but the cost to change buys a lot of petrol/diesel?Weekend - Petrol
The savings made on used purchase price, maintenance and running costs for the 15k miles a year covered by the former versus a comparable petrol daily will essentially pay for the latter.
Starsky80 said:
I'm just curious, as most people seem to be firmly in one camp or the other ie they don't like diesels or would never buy an EV
I'm not convinced that's the case, it seems just as likely to me that they're just the noisiest people.I'd go petrol, diesel or EV but almost certainly not hybrid. I rarely buy cars new though, hybrids look like they can be a good option when in warranty. EV would fit my use case perfectly for my main car but there's nothing interesting out there that I find interesting/good value/decent reliability record. I'd buy an I-pace but there look to be too many horror stories.
Almost certainly electric, on the grounds that I bought a new car last year and will probably keep it 10 years, so there probably won't be any new ICE or hybrids on sale. If we need to be a 2 car family again at some point, the second car would be for a relatively short urban journeys, so a smallish EV would probably make sense.
I currently have a PHEV and for me it's be best of both worlds. Almost all of our day to day mileage is done on electric but no need to bother about recharging when we're away and often staying with friends or family where we'd need to find somewhere to charge. However I accept it's a relatively narrow use case and for a lot of people a BEV or a standard hybrid would probably be a better option.
If you spend a lot of time in heavy traffic then a hybrid is an absolute no brainer, I wouldn't go back to a straight petrol or diesel for the kind of driving I do now.
A couple of big advantage of a PHEV to me though are the instant acceleration rather than waiting for a gearbox to sort itself out, and having 50% more power than the basic hybrid version.
LightweightLouisDanvers said:
Worst of both worlds, 2 propulsion systems to drag around and potentially go wrong?
I guess it depends a lot between manufacturers, but Toyota's hybrid system is mechanically simpler than a petrol auto. That said I've run several cars to 150-200k miles and the only engine/gearbox failure was a thrust bearing on a 1988 Fiesta. It's always been suspension, brakes or ancillary stuff that has made cars non cost effective to repair.I currently have a PHEV and for me it's be best of both worlds. Almost all of our day to day mileage is done on electric but no need to bother about recharging when we're away and often staying with friends or family where we'd need to find somewhere to charge. However I accept it's a relatively narrow use case and for a lot of people a BEV or a standard hybrid would probably be a better option.
If you spend a lot of time in heavy traffic then a hybrid is an absolute no brainer, I wouldn't go back to a straight petrol or diesel for the kind of driving I do now.
A couple of big advantage of a PHEV to me though are the instant acceleration rather than waiting for a gearbox to sort itself out, and having 50% more power than the basic hybrid version.
SteBrown91 said:
As a daily driver family bus I have a G08 iX3 and would not replace it with anything other than EV unless I suddenly need to start towing something regularly (Very very unlikely).
The reason I haven't bought an EV is because - for me - it would only get used as a daily runaround for work / shopping. Anything further and I'd rather use the ICE cars I have.Which means that - although an EV is much more suited as a daily runaround for me - it would mean I'd have to buy another car purely for use as a daily runaround. Which makes no sense to me.
I know plenty of EV owners are happy with them to drive across countries, but that isn't for me.
So, I might buy an EV (I3 type thing) in the next few years - but only if I sell at least one of my current cars and decide I don't want to replace it like for like. Then, I may decide I need an EV runaround.
Hybrid doesn't interest me at all.
Current cars are 335d and a Fabia 1.2, 10 and 13 years old, both sound and totally reliable so far. We have considered going to one car, but will only do so if the BMW packs up, which is years away yet. I bought it with the express intent of keeping it for 15+ years.
So, our next car will inevitably be EV (or perhaps no car). We live in a rural terraced conservation area, with little prospect of fast home charging. So, I wait in hope for EVs that are:
Cheaper than now (cf ICE), and
Have a decent range, and
Cheaper public charging.
So, our next car will inevitably be EV (or perhaps no car). We live in a rural terraced conservation area, with little prospect of fast home charging. So, I wait in hope for EVs that are:
Cheaper than now (cf ICE), and
Have a decent range, and
Cheaper public charging.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff