Could a plug in hybrid be good as my next company car?

[FreeLitres]

My company car is due back soon and I am looking at the options for my next one.

I have always had Diesel company cars but the car tax is ramping up over the next few years and the HMRC pence per mile decreases year on year. For the first time, I'm looking at Hybrids.

Personal use:
I do many short (<3 mile) journeys into town, where we have decent EV infrastructure. (I drove a full EV for 6 months about 5 years ago). If EVs still get free parking when charging, I will save myself a chunk of money on parking tickets.

Work use:
Once a week, I have to do a 150 mile round trip to one of our offices where there is no charging point.
Every couple of weeks I will do a long journey to visit a client which could be anywhere in the UK

After an initial search on comcar, I spotted the Golf 1.4 GTE which seems to tick all the boxes: 200+ Bhp (exciting - not had anything remotely powerful for many years!), high mpg, very cheap company car tax, I like VWs, etc.

For my longer journeys, I presume the battery will have depleted so I will be running purely on the 1.4 engine. Is a Golf with a tiny 1.4 engine hauling a heavy battery not the ideal motorway cruiser? Are the plug in hybrids not really designed for this purpose?

Have any company car users on here selected a hybrid and had it all work out for them?

[jonobigblind]

Mine isn’t here yet but I’ve gone for a PHEV for the same rationale as you. I have a similar mileage profile and my man maths totally justifies this. Get yourself down to SpeakEV as a dedicated EV forum and look at their VW sub forum as there are many GTE owners with the same questions (and plenty more about charging on the road too).

Just make sure the reduced boot space can work for you too.

[jkh112]

I made the same decision in 2014 and chose an outlander phev as my company car. My travel is is similar to yours with my daily commute done on battery with a weekly longer journey which was done on petrol.
On a pure financial basis the decision was the right one with the car achieving something like 55 mpg as a total average over 3years. The car did 35 mpg rising to 40mpg when on a motorway with depleted battery.
I did not replace it with another phev as I found it not ideal for the motorway and so chose a more conventional car which is better suited to the motorway. The golf may be better.

[anonymous-user]

I've just ordered one

MPG's aside (as have fuel card) it meant I could spec the car pretty much how i wanted and still have a tax bill that was less than a diesel passat with zero options

For that alone it works

[Jag_NE]

based upon what I have calculated and especially if its fully expensed PHEV is really the only way to go. Exceptions being if you are so wealthy you don't care or if your car options are so meagre that a plug in hybrid isn't on the list. I have a diesel at the moment but am taking a cash option (opting out) in a year. Month to month I don't expect to save a huge amount but my mileage is relatively low for CC (16-17 a year) and the value for me is in the equity in the car, assuming I buy smartly. If I did 25k a year I'd definitely opt in with a PHEV.

[LayZ]

I did the sums on all this and if it is actually worth it to you to have a company car (have to be on lower tax rate and doing loads of miles as far as I can tell) then with the tax rules the way they are in the next 3 financial years getting a PHEV is a no-brainer. Expect to see the roads full of Passat GTEs soon.

[anonymous-user]

LayZ said:

I did the sums on all this and if it is actually worth it to you to have a company car (have to be on lower tax rate and doing loads of miles as far as I can tell) then with the tax rules the way they are in the next 3 financial years getting a PHEV is a no-brainer. Expect to see the roads full of Passat GTEs soon.

I've often seen this about Co Cars not being worth it etc

I am on lower rate (just)

I'm getting a fully maintained, 260 bhp 3 series with all fuel paid for and insurance for myself and my wife for circa £200 a month. That's amazing value in my eyes

[oop north]

Do bear in mind that company car tax on phev’s will be going up a lot over the Next couple of years - 9% this year, 13% next year (18-19) and 16% the year after (19-20). After that depends on electric mileage but 14% or less for extended electric miles

[LayZ]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Agreed, but the party's coming to an end.

Have a look at what that's going to be in 2019/2020 on http://comcar.co.uk

[jonobigblind]

The party might be coming to an end but it ain’t all champers and caviar for diesel drivers.

The BiK on my current oil burning Merc is £3,454 this year, rising to £4,174 in 19/20

The PHEV I’m getting is £1,135 rising to £2,017 over the same period.

Yeah, it’s going to nearly double, but it’s still a chunk less than I’m paying now, let alone an eye watering £4k in a few years.

That’ll buy me a lot of fuel or electricity

[DragonflyTrumpeter]

LayZ said:

Agreed, but the party's coming to an end.

Have a look at what that's going to be in 2019/2020 on http://comcar.co.uk

Not sure about the party being over, depends what you want to drive. Phev's are not the only cc's going up. A 330e m sport @ 16% or a 330d @ 33% in 19/20. No brainer for me but I do get private fuel.

Diesel astras are cheaper though lol.

[anonymous-user]

To me the party is just beginning really. Have been in a 150 bhp diesel golf for the last year paying the same amount. Now I'm getting a decent spec BMW that's as fast as my old E39 540 to 0-60. For the same money

Vive la Revolution

[LayZ]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Ah, I misunderstood. I thought you meant for a diesel 3er. We're all in agreement then really, only co-cars to make sense in the coming years are plug-ins and EVs.

I looked at getting an i3 as a company car, would have been £7k in tax over the next three years, vs £500pcm car allowance (£300 post-tax). So in the end, I bought a two year old one.