I’ve had my first experience of driving an EV these last couple of days. It’s a Captur hybrid lent to me by our garage and I must say I’m quite taken with it.
We’re probably going to need to change our old Chrysler next summer and I’m wondering whether a small hybrid would suit us? It would be a town car / runaround mainly.
This morning I’ve been over to Agen - about 50kms each way and the route is through several villages with their sleeping policemen and I like the fact that every time I’m braking / decelerating I’m recharging the battery. I reckon about 80% of the journey was powered by the battery - and so no need to fuss about having to manage a journey looking for charging points (if it was just just an EV) and I’ve used much less petrol than I normally would.
I’d be grateful for any thoughts on the pros/cons of my idea. Thanks.
Can’t comment on a hybrid as don’t have one. But I love my little Evie. Such a doddle to drive and so zen as no engine noise. Being cautious we limit journeys to about 120km (ie 240km round trip) so have big margin as in summer we have well over 450 “car” km. But that is about 90% of our journeys,
How about a Fiat 500 - not sure how much hybrid drive you will get though.
The Hyundai Inster is out and there is 1 model that qualifies for the 4k euros subsidy. It looks a cracking little EV.
As is frequently the case Germany seems to have landed better spec options than France at no difference in price that would matter. It would be relatively cheap and easy to import from there. eg in Germany VTL on the highest trim version, an option not on the France list. I would not now buy an EV without VTL.
Close your eyes to the “yoof” marketing. It’s unsexy but I suspect people like us are going to buy more of them than “yoof”.
Fiat 500 is selling very poorly and is being hugely discounted apparently (even more than Fiat normally).
I loved the thermal versions but the rear seats aren’t collapsible on all models and left to itself, the boot is handbag-sized and didn’t even fit a Brompton in.
Not a very safe car in an accident is my comment on the 500.
How about a Kia niro, eminently practical, not too large.
Most modern EVs come with software that navigate you to the nearest charge point at the touch of a button and relieve you of that anxiety. If your home circumstances are such that you can park next to somewhere you can install an exterior domestic socket it will be easy. Mine is attached to the post for my letter box. Depending on your tariff you will find it much cheaper. It only takes me 15 seconds to connect. There is no need to divert to a filling station, queue, pump gas, pay etc.
I had a hybrid for 12 years before going full EV but there is no way I would go back.
In which case a pure EV is better. Why have all the extra mechanical liability of a hybrid ? It’s far better to swap that weight for the larger battery size of a full EV.
We’ve had our hybrid (Peugeot 3008) for almost 4½ years now and I still like pulling away silently until the diesel engine kicks in. Our car is 10 years old this year so the battery isn’t as good as newer vehicles. Plus we only have a small range… I’d love something bigger battery-wise but can’t justify switching cars just yet.
The MIL has recently switched to a hybrid Yaris and loves it. She mostly does town driving and, like Badger says, would probably have been better off with a full EV. I don’t think she was quite ready for that originally, but pretty sure she’d switch if she changed cars now that she’s got used to driving a hybrid.
Sounds silly but I loved watching the dial for the battery go back up as I braked. 
The problem I have out here in rural farmland with little “runaround” cars is that they often have limited ground clearance which is a problem when you have to pull onto a verge or your local roads are often covered in house brick sized lumps of mud.
Do plenty of research on the engine used by any car you fancy as some of the smaller “eco” petrol engines have serious design flaws (Ford “wet” timing belts and the Hondas with over-fuelling issues washing the oil from the cyclinder walls come to mind).
Our Evie has a regenerative mode, so we play with getting to town in the fewest “car km” possible. OH is much better at the game than I and can sometimes get home having only spent a few km for a 45km journey.
Was that the reason you had to brake though, because you were watching the little dial instead of the car in front which had suddenly stopped? 
Only joking, what I really wanted to ask was, driving it on those sorts of journeys, recharging as you go, do you still have to put it on charge at some point?
I’ve got a full EV and play a similar game, seeing how far under the range estimate I can get. I usually use about 10% less energy than the car initially forecasts. Except for the December trip to Scotland during storm Darragh, where we seemed to be driving into the wind for the entire journey and, even on the steepest downward slopes, we didn’t seem to get any regen at all.
No - because it’s a hybrid - so the battery is being recharged as you drive - either by the petrol motor or, if you are braking, by the energy from the wheels (don’t ask me how!).
Obviously, the pleasure is seeing how much of the driving can be done by the battery (ie “free”) rather than by the motor (which needs petrol). As I said above, I think I used less petrol than I would have done if I’d been using our other (petrol driven) car.
…or ignore all that & go full EV 
Simple/traditional hybrids only recharge from the petrol engine (AKA ‘onboard generator’), & via regenerative braking.
There are such things as plug-in hybrids that have bigger batteries (but not as big as a pure EV) & these can be charged from an external power source i.e. the mains. With such a thing you could drive most of your local journeys without ever running the onboard generator - I know people who do.
Nah, I’ll stick with my diesel as I can afford to keep that running for at least another decade.
If I was buying a little runaround to use locally I wold ignore the hybrids and go straight for an EV. If it was me, now, I would probably look for a Zöe. I know there are people out there who will go on about their more recent crash rating score but that’s more about the goalposts changing than anything else. They’re a proven EV with a good range in a practical package. There are a lot of them a about and they were sold for about 10 years so you would find a good choice on the secondhand market.
One of my step daughters in the UK is now a proud Zöe owner. She bought a used one about a year ago having spent 2 or 3 years without a car at all. The previous Toyota Auris hybrid fell greatly out of favour after it was subject to the theft of it’s catalytic convertor.
In her family of 4 she is the only driver & was quite happy to use public transport for a while but eventually the bus timetabling & unreliability got the better of her after starting a new job. She can’t charge at home & she now commutes from Folkestone to Canterbury 3 days a week, & has charging available at work.
She has to ferry two teenage girls around to multiple theatre & singing groups, social engagements, & the whole family have gone on many trips & holidays in the Zöe, including coming to Normandie via Eurotunnel. It’s size is adequate for them, & is not taking the p*** when parked in her crowded street.
I’d probably have bought one back in 2017 when we decided to go EV, but the local Renault garage were extremely unhelpful so they lost out to Nissan.
The Nissan is better though? So a good decision.