Whilst at the VW dealership the other week, I had quick glance at the Golf GTE (hybrid) and the E-Golf (pure electric). If I were in the market for one right now, I would find that my current mileage is suited to the relatively limited range of the E-Golf.

Any thoughts on the hybrids and electric cars at the moment? The tax threats against diesels in particular seem to be pushing buyers in this direction. LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

Hybrids certainly in the near future will be the way to go, whether diesel or petrol, as usual it will be a fudge to appear 'green' those that require more power will have recovery systems and use the engine as a generator rather than powering the wheels, this will enable lightweight AC motors to be used with battery back up for hills and starting. The system would also allow battery only for city use and controlled by GPS the engine will be disabled ( just make sure the battery is fully charged before entering an electric only zone)  my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

I'll just wait until they develop hydrogen fuel cell technology for the masses. Proper convenience, no electric cables to plug in every time you park. Can you imagine people managing a car battery when they can't even deal with a smartphone battery!

just over 2 years ago, I was really keen on getting one, I was going to travel to London from Durham for a test drive as I had narrowed it down to two cars which were virtually the same, Vauxhall Ampera and the Chevrolet Volt

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=chevrole...aScTgHGnM:

Unlike most electric cars, I thought these 2 were actually head turners, in the end it was the range of about 50 miles that got me, had it been 100 that would have been it, as being retired, I regularly drive to the Yorkshire Dales, round trips usually add up to maybe 120 miles, still like these cars, the one I fancied was £8000, I see now you cant get one for that price !

I recall studying a couple of the French ones and found it weird that with some of them you had to pay to 'rent' the battery ! What a turn off, I dont think it was cheap, I think I reckoned it was cheaper to buy fuel than rent a battery each month , what a totally STUPID idea

BossBob wrote:

I'll just wait until they develop hydrogen fuel cell technology for the masses.

As Bossbod said , hydrogen is the only real green answer . EV or hybrid cars use copper in their batteries, one of the worlds natural resources and it's running out .
I like bossbobs thought on a car park full of EV cars and trailing wires 😂, who gets sued when you trip over a cable and brake an arm ?
My wife has a Lexus ct200 hybrid, mpg in town is pretty pants but on a motorway run for 10 miles pushes the mpg up to 50, no power & no guts . She didn't buy it because of it being a hybrid but because it looks good.
I think this EV carry on is just that , it's a con by governments & car manufacturers to spend money, remember when diesel was the way to go? I bet in 10yrs time EV will be dead as the new wonder fuel will be hydrogen. Do it now ! Your a long time dead !!

I ran a BMW ActiveHybrid 3 for nearly three years until the warranty expired. The AH3 is essentially a BMW 335i 3.0 litre 6 cylinder with an added 55bhp elecric motor giving a total output near 360 bhp. I loved it for it's performance and the quirkiness of wafting down the high street in near silence. Occaionally even on a motowway the electric motor could take over entirely. The real bonuses though were very low insurance and low road tax.

It didn't gain much in fuel economy because of the added weight and the temptation to use te extra performace. Overall though I loved it but the real shock was when I asked for a quote for extended BMW warranty. BMW asked for more than twice the price of the extended warranty on a regular 335i . I know that car manufacturers offer exteded warranty through third party insurers but even so it hardly inspired confidence in BMW's hybrid drivetrain.

After extended correspondence with BMW customer services I gave up and part exchaged it for a non-hybrid. A pity because I really loved the technology but I just felt that even the manufacturer didn't have sufficient faith in it to support it.

I do think though hybrid is the way forward. I just don't think BMWs early hybrids were the answer. They just made a performance car even better whereas the aim should have been to improve economy and running costs. The later 2 litre plug-in hybrid was a step in the right direction. I would return to hybrid but not to full electric because of the range limitations and re-charging time. driving on the right side

National grid wont cope when all the cars get plugged in in the evening at the same time as the kettle etc gets switched on. Common sense isn't very common.
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2007 Land Rover Freelander2 I6 hse Auto

National Grid announced a couple of days ago that they could cope if they spread the load a little (smart metering?). I am increasing my holding in National Grid shares as they are going to benefit long term from carrying all this "fuel" around the country (even if we go Hydrogen since that's produced by electrolysis). 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Swapped the wife's Vitara for a 4x4 Ignis Hybrid a couple of months ago - I know chalk & cheese but Ignis does 55 mpg in our hilly rural area vs 25 or less before. Its a mild hybrid apparently and a bit like a turbo - it gives a bit of oomph when needed & recharges under braking or coasting. Have to say was a bit sceptical at first but now a convert - freelie replacement will deffo be a hybrid if there's anything suitable about. FL2 Ex D2, D3, RRS, etc. now all gone.

Even hydrogen requires some form of energy to produce it, even if you look at some of the latest attempts to produce it using solar energy, you still need to use non green methods to build the solar panels in the first place. Basically all this talk of green energy is rubbish, you still need to use non green methods to produce the end product. Extracting lithium to make batteries is incredibly non green yet EV's are being touted as the green alternative.

Once again this smacks of another way to get us to move from what is now an affordable mode of transport into non affordable (for most) Batteries have a finite lifespan so what will that mean for the used car market and for us poor souls that will end up having to buy a used EV with a battery pack on it's last legs.

The last government scrappage scheme to get us all to move to newer more efficient vehicles ended up profiting the manufacturers as everyone took up the option of PCP which in itself has created yet another problem of a huge debt bubble that will create havoc if it bursts.

Just my 10 pence worth of course

I've looked into EVs as my daily mileage would be fine for one, was looking at the BMW i3 but it's too small and on my days off I do like to go out and about. So will at some point trade the D5 in for a BMW 530d xDrive. Every little helps I suppose. 21MY Defender 90 S 3.0 D200

Some interesting points here. I am not a fan of Korean cars but the Hyundai Ioniq represents good value for money compared to German rivals and isn't a bad looking car relatively speaking. Gets decent reviews too.

It's an interesting balance between pure electric and hybrid because pure electric cars are somewhat limited and on a longer journey you need to be aware of re-charging locations. With a hybrid, you can drive a small distance on pure electric but the petrol engine can be used to re-charge the batteries or the batteries can assist the petrol engine to aid economy.

It will be interesting to see how things go and when rather than if the Government move the goalposts and tax electric cars rather than hailing them as the future and making them tax exempt like at the moment. LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

"It will be interesting to see how things go and when rather than if the Government move the goalposts and tax electric cars rather than hailing them as the future and making them tax exempt like at the moment."

Undoubtedly they will be taxed - just a question of when - the government needs the money from VED Jules

years a go it was petrol, and diesel was cheaper, that was no longer as now diesel is taxed more, so if everyone switches to hybrid the Gov. lose money, they change them rules to gain more from the taxpayers Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis