PHEV - Realistic mpg expectations from Lexus NX450h+?
Discussion
I'm thinking out loud here and hoping those fully clued up on alternative fuels might chime in with some advice or confirmation/correction on my thoughts!
I'm considering the NX450h+ - when I check the usual 'real life' mpg that owners achieve it varies between 45 and 300mpg...helpful....
It seems a costly car to run in terms of insurance, odd-sized runflat tyres and servicing every 10k miles (which is every 8 months for me), but can I balance that out with fuel savings? And can I do that by charging with a 3-pin plug from my garage, without changing my electricity tarrif?
It has an 18.1kwh battery, and can realistically be charged for 7-8 hours each night, every night if necessary - and probably during the day also when I WFH inbetween client meetings. Forgive me if I'm being an idiot, but Lexus say it'll do 42 miles on electric, and up to 83mph on electric, so presumably for ALL journeys within those limits I can do them on electric only which at 22.77p per kw/h will cost me £4.12 per charge (18.1 x 22.77p)?
Which if my maths is correct is about 60% of the cost of running a pure ICE at 38mpg as a comparison - without the expense of a dedicated charger installation?
I'm considering the NX450h+ - when I check the usual 'real life' mpg that owners achieve it varies between 45 and 300mpg...helpful....
It seems a costly car to run in terms of insurance, odd-sized runflat tyres and servicing every 10k miles (which is every 8 months for me), but can I balance that out with fuel savings? And can I do that by charging with a 3-pin plug from my garage, without changing my electricity tarrif?
It has an 18.1kwh battery, and can realistically be charged for 7-8 hours each night, every night if necessary - and probably during the day also when I WFH inbetween client meetings. Forgive me if I'm being an idiot, but Lexus say it'll do 42 miles on electric, and up to 83mph on electric, so presumably for ALL journeys within those limits I can do them on electric only which at 22.77p per kw/h will cost me £4.12 per charge (18.1 x 22.77p)?
Which if my maths is correct is about 60% of the cost of running a pure ICE at 38mpg as a comparison - without the expense of a dedicated charger installation?
yellowbentines said:
I'm thinking out loud here and hoping those fully clued up on alternative fuels might chime in with some advice or confirmation/correction on my thoughts!
I'm considering the NX450h+ - when I check the usual 'real life' mpg that owners achieve it varies between 45 and 300mpg...helpful....
It seems a costly car to run in terms of insurance, odd-sized runflat tyres and servicing every 10k miles (which is every 8 months for me), but can I balance that out with fuel savings? And can I do that by charging with a 3-pin plug from my garage, without changing my electricity tarrif?
It has an 18.1kwh battery, and can realistically be charged for 7-8 hours each night, every night if necessary - and probably during the day also when I WFH inbetween client meetings. Forgive me if I'm being an idiot, but Lexus say it'll do 42 miles on electric, and up to 83mph on electric, so presumably for ALL journeys within those limits I can do them on electric only which at 22.77p per kw/h will cost me £4.12 per charge (18.1 x 22.77p)?
Which if my maths is correct is about 60% of the cost of running a pure ICE at 38mpg as a comparison - without the expense of a dedicated charger installation?
A couple of thoughts: I'm considering the NX450h+ - when I check the usual 'real life' mpg that owners achieve it varies between 45 and 300mpg...helpful....
It seems a costly car to run in terms of insurance, odd-sized runflat tyres and servicing every 10k miles (which is every 8 months for me), but can I balance that out with fuel savings? And can I do that by charging with a 3-pin plug from my garage, without changing my electricity tarrif?
It has an 18.1kwh battery, and can realistically be charged for 7-8 hours each night, every night if necessary - and probably during the day also when I WFH inbetween client meetings. Forgive me if I'm being an idiot, but Lexus say it'll do 42 miles on electric, and up to 83mph on electric, so presumably for ALL journeys within those limits I can do them on electric only which at 22.77p per kw/h will cost me £4.12 per charge (18.1 x 22.77p)?
Which if my maths is correct is about 60% of the cost of running a pure ICE at 38mpg as a comparison - without the expense of a dedicated charger installation?
- Looks like the pure electric power is almost 240bhp. So, the power to weight is similar to a typical single motor EV (Ioniq 5 RWD, e.g.), but the front motor is doing most of the work (183 bhp vs 53 bhp). The front bias might be noticeable in wet/slippery conditions, even in everyday driving.
- With a small(ish) battery, you will go through the charge cycles faster than with an EV. The current consensus lifetime estimate seems to be around 3000 cycles for lithium batteries, so NX450h+ should be able to cover up to 150,000 miles of pure EV use (instead of up to 700,000+ for a "real" EV). It's still a theoretical issue in most cases (10 years of driving in your usage profile), but it might have an impact when it is time to sell.
- 3-pin plug charging should be more than enough, I'd imagine it would be possible to optimise the costs. 3-pin charging is the least efficient in terms of charging losses, though.
For cost savings, your use pattern seems like it might be a good match with an EV.
PetrolHeadInRecovery said:
Economics might sort-of work if most of the trips are short & electric, but not enough to motivate the change in and of itself (IMHO). It seems a bit compromised when used like a pure EV (efficiency in addition to front-biased power delivery), though. However, if it feels like a nicer place to be than the current car and you'd see it as a (possibly/hopefully) cost-neutral upgrade...
For cost savings, your use pattern seems like it might be a good match with an EV.
Thanks, my thoughts were also along the lines that this car won't necessarily save me money, but the fuel savings could offset higher purchase and running costs - a bit of 'man maths' to get me into something nicer.For cost savings, your use pattern seems like it might be a good match with an EV.
EV isn't a great fit for us, as of the 15k miles I do each year, whilst a chunk is around town, the remainder is long journeys hillwalking in Scotland, visitng family on Outer Hebrides and in NI, couple of breaks in the Lake District each year - lots of long trips with minimal or no charging possible hence PHEV seemed a good middle ground I thought.
In reality an EV for city work and an ICE for long trips would be the ideal solution, but I don't want to run 2 cars any longer after going down to 1 a year ago
Will need to look more into it - charging losses was not something I was aware of, seems like there's a lot more I need to consider before making a final decision..
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 19th November 13:00
yellowbentines said:
Thanks, my thoughts were also along the lines that this car won't necessarily save me money, but the fuel savings could offset higher purchase and running costs - a bit of 'man maths' to get me into something nicer.
EV isn't a great fit for us, as of the 15k miles I do each year, whilst a chunk is around town, the remainder is long journeys hillwalking in Scotland, visitng family on Outer Hebrides and in NI, couple of breaks in the Lake District each year - lots of long trips with minimal or no charging possible hence PHEV seemed a good middle ground I thought.
In reality an EV for city work and an ICE for long trips would be the ideal solution, but I don't want to run 2 cars any longer after going down to 1 a year ago
Will need to look more into it - charging losses was not something I was aware of, seems like there's a lot more I need to consider before making a final decision..
Glad if it is helpful!EV isn't a great fit for us, as of the 15k miles I do each year, whilst a chunk is around town, the remainder is long journeys hillwalking in Scotland, visitng family on Outer Hebrides and in NI, couple of breaks in the Lake District each year - lots of long trips with minimal or no charging possible hence PHEV seemed a good middle ground I thought.
In reality an EV for city work and an ICE for long trips would be the ideal solution, but I don't want to run 2 cars any longer after going down to 1 a year ago
Will need to look more into it - charging losses was not something I was aware of, seems like there's a lot more I need to consider before making a final decision..
Edited by yellowbentines on Tuesday 19th November 13:00
Re. feasibility of an EV as the only car: have you checked the routes with https://abetterrouteplanner.com/ ? I hear the UK is very different from most of the continent, but 20 of the 21 other European countries we've set a tyre on have not required any extra planning compared to an ICE car.
To explain where I'm coming from: a couple of years ago we were absolutely convinced that an EV wouldn't work for us (30,000km/20,000 miles per year, more than 90% long road trips, often 600+ miles per day), but we just wanted to make sure EVs were still something to look (far) in the future. The least bad option seemed to be sinking a fair bit of money into our old, essentially worthless car. It would have needed a brake upgrade (expensive paperwork here) and whatever the Swiss MoT equivalent would tell us to fix. I had a nagging suspicion the latter might force us to get a new car anyway.
Fast forward to last summer's EV road trip:
By definition, it is not a long trip (because EVs can't be used for those
), but you start to appreciate the effortless power delivery and (relative) lack of NHV even on these quick trips around the block. Financially, I have been careful not to do the exact maths.Edited by PetrolHeadInRecovery on Tuesday 19th November 13:49
I've currently got a Volvo XC40 plug-in. Smaller battery (around 10kwh), max range on electric is 24 miles.
That's good enough for about 70% of my mileage.
Drives fine on just the electric motor, plenty fast enough to keep up with traffic.
I charge at home from a 13A socket. Get just under 3 miles per kwh.
Don't rule out getting an EV tariff. Octopus Go means less than 3p a mile to drive the car.
Slightly more expensive during the day, but using the washing machine etc. at night more than offsets this. I'm basically driving the car for free, compared to the standard tariff and not having a battery car.
That's good enough for about 70% of my mileage.
Drives fine on just the electric motor, plenty fast enough to keep up with traffic.
I charge at home from a 13A socket. Get just under 3 miles per kwh.
Don't rule out getting an EV tariff. Octopus Go means less than 3p a mile to drive the car.
Slightly more expensive during the day, but using the washing machine etc. at night more than offsets this. I'm basically driving the car for free, compared to the standard tariff and not having a battery car.
yellowbentines said:
I'm thinking out loud here and hoping those fully clued up on alternative fuels might chime in with some advice or confirmation/correction on my thoughts!
I'm considering the NX450h+ - when I check the usual 'real life' mpg that owners achieve it varies between 45 and 300mpg...helpful....
It seems a costly car to run in terms of insurance, odd-sized runflat tyres and servicing every 10k miles (which is every 8 months for me), but can I balance that out with fuel savings? And can I do that by charging with a 3-pin plug from my garage, without changing my electricity tarrif?
It has an 18.1kwh battery, and can realistically be charged for 7-8 hours each night, every night if necessary - and probably during the day also when I WFH inbetween client meetings. Forgive me if I'm being an idiot, but Lexus say it'll do 42 miles on electric, and up to 83mph on electric, so presumably for ALL journeys within those limits I can do them on electric only which at 22.77p per kw/h will cost me £4.12 per charge (18.1 x 22.77p)?
Which if my maths is correct is about 60% of the cost of running a pure ICE at 38mpg as a comparison - without the expense of a dedicated charger installation?
What you want to do is find someone who has one as a company car,with a fuel card. these people never charge their PHEVs.I'm considering the NX450h+ - when I check the usual 'real life' mpg that owners achieve it varies between 45 and 300mpg...helpful....
It seems a costly car to run in terms of insurance, odd-sized runflat tyres and servicing every 10k miles (which is every 8 months for me), but can I balance that out with fuel savings? And can I do that by charging with a 3-pin plug from my garage, without changing my electricity tarrif?
It has an 18.1kwh battery, and can realistically be charged for 7-8 hours each night, every night if necessary - and probably during the day also when I WFH inbetween client meetings. Forgive me if I'm being an idiot, but Lexus say it'll do 42 miles on electric, and up to 83mph on electric, so presumably for ALL journeys within those limits I can do them on electric only which at 22.77p per kw/h will cost me £4.12 per charge (18.1 x 22.77p)?
Which if my maths is correct is about 60% of the cost of running a pure ICE at 38mpg as a comparison - without the expense of a dedicated charger installation?
Then you need to know your mix of journeys.
Short journey on battery will be very cheap.
Long journeys cruising at 70 will be similar to petrol
It should be reasonably good on stop-start mixed driving.
But my nephew and his work colleague have identical PHEVs as rep-mobiles, and get very different MPG.
Driving style and the type of crappy traffic you endure makes a big difference.
Your 'average mpg' is not a real thing, because there are no average journeys.
What's more useful to know is what will it cost to drive say 200 miles ?
But do you really care?
If I want to drive to Scotland, I do it, it makes no odds if the shed does 40 or 50 mpg.
I do that a few times a year.
I used to care a big when I had a thirsty V6.
For many people, really low fuel cost for the first 15 miles or so every day is a winner.
OutInTheShed said:
But do you really care?
If I want to drive to Scotland, I do it, it makes no odds if the shed does 40 or 50 mpg.
I do that a few times a year.
I used to care a big when I had a thirsty V6.
For many people, really low fuel cost for the first 15 miles or so every day is a winner.
Well, I know it will do as good if not better mpg than my current xc60 diesel, so the mpg won't determine my annual mileage or journeys that I take - they will be what they will be.If I want to drive to Scotland, I do it, it makes no odds if the shed does 40 or 50 mpg.
I do that a few times a year.
I used to care a big when I had a thirsty V6.
For many people, really low fuel cost for the first 15 miles or so every day is a winner.
However, despite being similar sized vehicles, the Lexus is 50% more expensive to insure, the runflat tyres are 50% more expensive, servicing is more expensive and more frequent so cost of that is also about 50% more each year, the actual cost of the car itself is more expensive....
So for me this is really about trying to offset those not insignificant overall higher costs with lower overall fueling costs (petrol and electric) - man maths, and saving the planet whilst I'm at it by moving away from diesel
yellowbentines said:
I thought I'd need a dedicated EV charger at home for that, or can I just choose the EV tariff irrespective?
Some EV tariffs need a compatible charger or car, as the electricity supplier needs to communicate to control the charging schedule or monitor how much you are using.Some EV tariffs just work on the time of day, similar to how the old E7 tariffs work (but with just a normal smart meter).
Some tariffs cover all electricity at certain times, others just cover the car charging.
I'm on Octopus Go. My car and charger are both "dumb" - no comms back to Octopus.
All I had to do to qualify for the tariff was have a smart meter that works properly, and tell them what car and charger I'm using. They have no way of checking this.
I get all my electricity between 00:30 and 05:30 for just 8.5p a unit. I use this cheap electricity to charge my car, run the dishwasher/washing machine/tumble dryer, and the immersion heater.
I'm due to get a full EV soon, along with a Zappi charger. I'll then be able to get on the Octopus Intelligent Go tariff, and get 7p a unit for more hours.
clockworks said:
Some EV tariffs need a compatible charger or car, as the electricity supplier needs to communicate to control the charging schedule or monitor how much you are using.
Some EV tariffs just work on the time of day, similar to how the old E7 tariffs work (but with just a normal smart meter).
Some tariffs cover all electricity at certain times, others just cover the car charging.
I'm on Octopus Go. My car and charger are both "dumb" - no comms back to Octopus.
All I had to do to qualify for the tariff was have a smart meter that works properly, and tell them what car and charger I'm using. They have no way of checking this.
I get all my electricity between 00:30 and 05:30 for just 8.5p a unit. I use this cheap electricity to charge my car, run the dishwasher/washing machine/tumble dryer, and the immersion heater.
I'm due to get a full EV soon, along with a Zappi charger. I'll then be able to get on the Octopus Intelligent Go tariff, and get 7p a unit for more hours.
Thanks for this. I'm already with Octopus, and looking at my last month's usage, even if I don't move any other electricity use to night-time the increase in daytime rate will cost me less than £5 per month. However, being able to charge a car overnight at 8.5p per kw/h that'll give me 40 miles driving each day will cost me about a tenth of the cost of running those miles on petrol - if my fag-packet maths are correct.Some EV tariffs just work on the time of day, similar to how the old E7 tariffs work (but with just a normal smart meter).
Some tariffs cover all electricity at certain times, others just cover the car charging.
I'm on Octopus Go. My car and charger are both "dumb" - no comms back to Octopus.
All I had to do to qualify for the tariff was have a smart meter that works properly, and tell them what car and charger I'm using. They have no way of checking this.
I get all my electricity between 00:30 and 05:30 for just 8.5p a unit. I use this cheap electricity to charge my car, run the dishwasher/washing machine/tumble dryer, and the immersion heater.
I'm due to get a full EV soon, along with a Zappi charger. I'll then be able to get on the Octopus Intelligent Go tariff, and get 7p a unit for more hours.
Longer journeys won't cost any more than I pay in diesel currently so they're irrelevant - I'm probably about 6000 miles of long journeys and 9000 miles of town driving each year.
In short, looks like this PHEV could be a worthwhile option for my driving mix as a one vehicle does it all solution.
Just finished with a Ford Kuga PHEV as a company car. It went back today. Over 66,000 miles it averaged 113.3 mpg. OK, that’s not strictly accurate as it doesn’t factor in the cost of electricity. I’m a bit of a potterer on the motorway (65mph on cruise control) and charge at home overnight and at work, but in milder weather than we’ve seen today, it still gave ~60 mpg on a run, with the battery depleted.
Have now moved across to a ‘full’ EV, but the PHEV was a useful stepping stone.
Have now moved across to a ‘full’ EV, but the PHEV was a useful stepping stone.
2 points: unless you’re using large amounts of peak electricity, I don’t quite get why you wouldn’t consider shifting tariff? We moved to Tomato and charge for 5p/kWh whilst paying 23p at peak rate. It saves a lot and means charging our PHEV costs just over £1, for 33-45 miles of electric range.
Secondly, if you can live without the Lexus likely bullet proof mechanicals and take more of a risk with a Volvo, also worth considering the PHEV version of the XC60. Essentially the same deal as the Lexus, but servicing is 20k miles / annual and our insurance was only a bit more expensive than the car it replaced, despite it being top end insurance group (which seemed reasonable for something that does 0-60 in less than 5 seconds and costs >£60kh
Secondly, if you can live without the Lexus likely bullet proof mechanicals and take more of a risk with a Volvo, also worth considering the PHEV version of the XC60. Essentially the same deal as the Lexus, but servicing is 20k miles / annual and our insurance was only a bit more expensive than the car it replaced, despite it being top end insurance group (which seemed reasonable for something that does 0-60 in less than 5 seconds and costs >£60kh
yellowbentines said:
Thanks for this. I'm already with Octopus, and looking at my last month's usage, even if I don't move any other electricity use to night-time the increase in daytime rate will cost me less than £5 per month. However, being able to charge a car overnight at 8.5p per kw/h that'll give me 40 miles driving each day will cost me about a tenth of the cost of running those miles on petrol - if my fag-packet maths are correct.
Longer journeys won't cost any more than I pay in diesel currently so they're irrelevant - I'm probably about 6000 miles of long journeys and 9000 miles of town driving each year.
In short, looks like this PHEV could be a worthwhile option for my driving mix as a one vehicle does it all solution.
I charge the 18kWh battery in my Mazda CX-60 PHEV every night on Octopus Go using a 3 pin charger between 12:30am and 5:30am at 8.5p/kWh. If it starts at 0% the 5 hour cheap rate window charges it to about 85%. If I know I’ll use the full battery range the following day I let it charge for another hour at the daytime rate, if I know I’m only doing local journeys or not going to use it at all I set it to stop charging at 5:30am and it finishes the last bit of charging the following night on the cheap rate. Longer journeys won't cost any more than I pay in diesel currently so they're irrelevant - I'm probably about 6000 miles of long journeys and 9000 miles of town driving each year.
In short, looks like this PHEV could be a worthwhile option for my driving mix as a one vehicle does it all solution.
I also run the dishwasher and washing machine overnight on the cheap rate.
You need a smart meter and a qualifying car (EV or PHEV) for Octopus Go. Works well.
Edited by paralla on Tuesday 19th November 21:10
I purchased a nx450+ in June this year. I charge my car overnight on octipus cheap tariff between 12 - 5am with a 3 pin charger and always fully charges over night (not sure at what point during those hours it hits maxinum charge tbh).
During summer always managed to get 53/54 miles range on full charge, in the last month with the colder weather my range has dropped to 47 ish.
My driving is all motorway to work and back (apart from two miles to motorway and back) and driving in the 60-70 mph range.
On petrol hybrid I am averaging 67mpg.
Hope that helps.
During summer always managed to get 53/54 miles range on full charge, in the last month with the colder weather my range has dropped to 47 ish.
My driving is all motorway to work and back (apart from two miles to motorway and back) and driving in the 60-70 mph range.
On petrol hybrid I am averaging 67mpg.
Hope that helps.
As far as I know the Lexus you're considering has the same drivetrain as our Suzuki Across (which itself is a Rav4 PHEV with different headlights...).
As others have said - it typically does ~50 miles as an EV with the ~240bhp from both motors giving pretty effortless performance. It also stays pure EV even under full throttle unless you manually select hybrid mode.
It then works as normal Toyota hybrid and manages to combine over 300bhp and 60 in 5.5s with easily getting over 50mpg and a 500+ mile range. It never allows the battery to drop below ~30% so it maintains full power whatever you do. It's a great, silky smooth powertrain in day to day use that gives absolutely effortless acceleration with rhe ICE only really becoming vocal at near full throttle.
I don't know how they've set up the Lexus but in the Rav4/Across it isn't sporty at all. It's obviously fast but the end result is an very relaxed car to drive. If it helps, we have a Model Y in the family and I actively choose to drive the Across over it.
Costs - I don't know how long you intend to own it but beyond the 10k service the Toyota hybrid drive system typically results in very low long term running costs. There is actually very little to maintain - no belts, no clutches, no turbos, no complex transmission, no timing belt, no alternator, no starter motor, brakes last almost indefinitely. All backed up with a 10 year warranty and Toyota reliability.
As others have said - it typically does ~50 miles as an EV with the ~240bhp from both motors giving pretty effortless performance. It also stays pure EV even under full throttle unless you manually select hybrid mode.
It then works as normal Toyota hybrid and manages to combine over 300bhp and 60 in 5.5s with easily getting over 50mpg and a 500+ mile range. It never allows the battery to drop below ~30% so it maintains full power whatever you do. It's a great, silky smooth powertrain in day to day use that gives absolutely effortless acceleration with rhe ICE only really becoming vocal at near full throttle.
I don't know how they've set up the Lexus but in the Rav4/Across it isn't sporty at all. It's obviously fast but the end result is an very relaxed car to drive. If it helps, we have a Model Y in the family and I actively choose to drive the Across over it.
Costs - I don't know how long you intend to own it but beyond the 10k service the Toyota hybrid drive system typically results in very low long term running costs. There is actually very little to maintain - no belts, no clutches, no turbos, no complex transmission, no timing belt, no alternator, no starter motor, brakes last almost indefinitely. All backed up with a 10 year warranty and Toyota reliability.
Edited by Snow and Rocks on Wednesday 20th November 08:07
Thanks so much for all of the replies - all helpful and lots of useful info that I was completely unaware of. I have no idea how to do a multi-quote reply so...
A BEV definitely wouldn't work for our long trips, we typically stay for a week at a time in remote places that can be nowhere near public charging network.
I hadn't considered a dedicated tarrif as I presumed I'd need a charger installed for one (difficult / disruptive install), the possibility of Octopus Go and cheap night-time charging is a game-changer.
Great to hear I could force it to run on EV only as that means even motorway journeys to work for the Mrs (26 mile round trip can be done all on EV.
Volvo PHEV as an alternative. Currently have a 2022 XC60 diesel that will be going. Have had various electrical gremlins that are becoming more frequent. Currently driving around with EML on, Volvo assist refuse to come out unless the car stops moving, and dealership has a 3 week wait to see me. I like the idea of Lexus reliability and dealers that are supposedly nice to deal with (in general).
Downsides are I have just found out my insurer (AXA) won't cover an NX450h+, neither will several others I tried, and those that do are 50% higher than what I pay for the XC60 - curious... Also, servicing every 10k miles will be every 8 months which is a pain. Finally, seems like the model I'm looking at has 20 inch runflat tyres and only Bridgestone make them, so either you stick with that or switch out to non-runflats and I'm unsure of warranty and insurance ramifications.
However, it seems like a good fit overall, I'm now convinced a PHEV is ideal for our mix of driving.
A BEV definitely wouldn't work for our long trips, we typically stay for a week at a time in remote places that can be nowhere near public charging network.
I hadn't considered a dedicated tarrif as I presumed I'd need a charger installed for one (difficult / disruptive install), the possibility of Octopus Go and cheap night-time charging is a game-changer.
Great to hear I could force it to run on EV only as that means even motorway journeys to work for the Mrs (26 mile round trip can be done all on EV.
Volvo PHEV as an alternative. Currently have a 2022 XC60 diesel that will be going. Have had various electrical gremlins that are becoming more frequent. Currently driving around with EML on, Volvo assist refuse to come out unless the car stops moving, and dealership has a 3 week wait to see me. I like the idea of Lexus reliability and dealers that are supposedly nice to deal with (in general).
Downsides are I have just found out my insurer (AXA) won't cover an NX450h+, neither will several others I tried, and those that do are 50% higher than what I pay for the XC60 - curious... Also, servicing every 10k miles will be every 8 months which is a pain. Finally, seems like the model I'm looking at has 20 inch runflat tyres and only Bridgestone make them, so either you stick with that or switch out to non-runflats and I'm unsure of warranty and insurance ramifications.
However, it seems like a good fit overall, I'm now convinced a PHEV is ideal for our mix of driving.
Interesting about the insurance - can't help you there as our insurance happily changed our policy for our old Accord Tourer onto the Across with only a fairly modest charge.
Same with tyres - ours has a spare so is on normal tyres. I paid £130 a corner for 19 inch Michelin Cross Climates earlier this week from Costco which seemed pretty reasonable for what are fairly chunky tyres. The tyres I took off were the originals at 52k miles.
As I said above I do think the servicing aspect is easily countered by the inherent low long term maintenance requirements of a Toyota Hybrid and the bulletproof reliability. Will probably keep this for another 10 years and 200k all going to plan.
Same with tyres - ours has a spare so is on normal tyres. I paid £130 a corner for 19 inch Michelin Cross Climates earlier this week from Costco which seemed pretty reasonable for what are fairly chunky tyres. The tyres I took off were the originals at 52k miles.
As I said above I do think the servicing aspect is easily countered by the inherent low long term maintenance requirements of a Toyota Hybrid and the bulletproof reliability. Will probably keep this for another 10 years and 200k all going to plan.
Edited by Snow and Rocks on Wednesday 20th November 12:30
yellowbentines said:
A BEV definitely wouldn't work for our long trips, we typically stay for a week at a time in remote places that can be nowhere near public charging network.
Sorry, just curious: you will not have access to a standard 3-pin socket at the destination? And you will need to cover lots of miles while at the destination? If yes, no arguments from me.Otherwise, a 3-pin charger is enough to cover the local mileage. Ours is a very safety-oriented one that limits the current to 6 or 8A, but even that will give you more than 60 miles of motorway (or close to 120 miles of summertime C-road) range overnight. And if you're not driving the car (or running a fridge, coffee machine or an electric stove with it), you don't lose any measurable amount of charge in a week.
PetrolHeadInRecovery said:
yellowbentines said:
A BEV definitely wouldn't work for our long trips, we typically stay for a week at a time in remote places that can be nowhere near public charging network.
Sorry, just curious: you will not have access to a standard 3-pin socket at the destination? And you will need to cover lots of miles while at the destination? If yes, no arguments from me.Otherwise, a 3-pin charger is enough to cover the local mileage. Ours is a very safety-oriented one that limits the current to 6 or 8A, but even that will give you more than 60 miles of motorway (or close to 120 miles of summertime C-road) range overnight. And if you're not driving the car (or running a fridge, coffee machine or an electric stove with it), you don't lose any measurable amount of charge in a week.
In any case, the installation of a dedicated charger at home is as big a hurdle that would put me off BEV - our fuse box is in a cupboard in the centre of the house (i.e. not on an outside wall) and the floor is a solid concrete slab. I had an electrician out last week who said it could be done but would be very disruptive - i.e. cutting multiple holes in the ceilings of several rooms which means cables, plaster, decor, expense, mess - I really can't be bothered when a PHEV will be suitable.
BEV could work, but it'd be more work than I'm prepared to bear.
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