Octavia Estate hybrid: the reality?

[Mike4]

I have had a PHEV for five years, it has done over 70000 miles. I have a charger on the drive, when I park the car on the drive I plug it in, when I leave I unplug it. I fill the car with petrol when it needs it. I run it like a normal car otherwise. It is not difficult. During the first lockdown I did not fill the car with petrol for three months but I used it every day.

Mrs RS never plugs it in...I don't think she knows or cares that it is a PHEV.

John

I fixed a boiler for an elderly lady yesterday. Her car parked on the drive was a hybrid and I asked he what she thought of it.

It quickly became clear she has no idea what a hybrid is, or that her car was one. She said it gets her round adequately, just like all her previous cars.

[staffordian]

I have had a PHEV for five years, it has done over 70000 miles. I have a charger on the drive, when I park the car on the drive I plug it in, when I leave I unplug it. I fill the car with petrol when it needs it. I run it like a normal car otherwise. It is not difficult. During the first lockdown I did not fill the car with petrol for three months but I used it every day.

Mrs RS never plugs it in...I don't think she knows or cares that it is a PHEV.

John

I fixed a boiler for an elderly lady yesterday. Her car parked on the drive was a hybrid and I asked he what she thought of it.

It quickly became clear she has no idea what a hybrid is, or that her car was one. She said it gets her round adequately, just like all her previous cars.

I sometimes wonder if manufacturers are simply jumping on a marketing bandwagon with some hybrids.

PHEVs apart, hybrids will be very similar to petrol or diesel cars in their operation, and as you suggest, many users will either barely know they have one, or not care either way. Some are described as mild hybrids, and I'll wager thet are probably no more than a normal IC vehicle with the addition of an automatic gearbox, some fancy software and a couple of rechargeable AA batteries. They can then jump on the green bandwagon and tick an environmental box or two...

[redsturgeon]

I have had a PHEV for five years, it has done over 70000 miles. I have a charger on the drive, when I park the car on the drive I plug it in, when I leave I unplug it. I fill the car with petrol when it needs it. I run it like a normal car otherwise. It is not difficult. During the first lockdown I did not fill the car with petrol for three months but I used it every day.

Mrs RS never plugs it in...I don't think she knows or cares that it is a PHEV.

John

I fixed a boiler for an elderly lady yesterday. Her car parked on the drive was a hybrid and I asked he what she thought of it.

It quickly became clear she has no idea what a hybrid is, or that her car was one. She said it gets her round adequately, just like all her previous cars.

I sometimes wonder if manufacturers are simply jumping on a marketing bandwagon with some hybrids.

PHEVs apart, hybrids will be very similar to petrol or diesel cars in their operation, and as you suggest, many users will either barely know they have one, or not care either way. Some are described as mild hybrids, and I'll wager thet are probably no more than a normal IC vehicle with the addition of an automatic gearbox, some fancy software and a couple of rechargeable AA batteries. They can then jump on the green bandwagon and tick an environmental box or two...

Perhaps that happens in some cases but you have to look at the success that Toyota have made of the Prius to think there is more to it. The Prius was probably the first mainstream "mild Hybrid" but it has become the staple of most Uber drivers out there. When you are driver for Uber I guess you need to choose a car based purely on economics so I guess the Prius fits the bill for the best about town car but with no range issues.

John

[DrFfybes]

I fixed a boiler for an elderly lady yesterday. Her car parked on the drive was a hybrid and I asked he what she thought of it.

It quickly became clear she has no idea what a hybrid is, or that her car was one. She said it gets her round adequately, just like all her previous cars.

My how things changed. not too long ago the joke was
"How can you tell if someone drives a Hybrid".
"You don't, they tell you"

[NilDenari]

Something has occurred to me ...

Why are all these electric or hybrid vehicles carrying charging cables around ?
Isn't that an inefficient use of the worlds resources ? All that copper and plastic.

Surely the cable should be part of the charging station.
I don't see petrol and diesel vehicles carrying a length of fuel hose and having to unpack it to connect to the pump.

But, I do know a chap whose car is equipped with a pump and a large hose, in case he wants to top up the boiler from a handy stream. I think he usually has enough coal on board, or maybe picks up one of those bags from a service station.

[nmdhqbc]

The Prius was probably the first mainstream "mild Hybrid" but...

the terminology is a nightmare in this world. as i understand it the prius is not a "mild hybrid", just a "hybrid". the first google result i got is below which explains the difference. mild hybrids just assist, hybrids can turn off the engine when the battery is charged enough. still all powered by the petrol though.

https://www.toyota-europe.com/hybrid/wh ... ild-hybrid

[swill453]

Something has occurred to me ...

Why are all these electric or hybrid vehicles carrying charging cables around ?
Isn't that an inefficient use of the worlds resources ? All that copper and plastic.

Surely the cable should be part of the charging station.

My understanding is that the charging stations have their own cables. You might carry a cable with you in the car if you wanted to be able to plug in to a random 3-pin plug somewhere.

Scott.

[brightncheerful]

"remove puppy crate from boot so as to lift up boot floor to put cables in cable store in boot."

So, if you wish/need to stop and recharge en route to your holiday caravan/campsite/chateau/etc you will have to remove suitcases/tent/diving gear/bikes/etc so as to lift up boot floor to retrieve cables from cable store in boot ?

Sounds like nobody asked any car users what they use a car for.

Can only suggest you leave cables on rear floor for easy access ( be careful that puppy doesn't get tangled up ) - or at home,
and put up with 10 or 15 minutes liquid refuelling stops.

There isn't room in the boot for puppy crate and separate ramp (ramp is between ground and boot for puppy) and luggage. there is space in the boot for the cables if I didn't have the ramp. it would be better to leave them in the rear seat footwell.

[brightncheerful]

I fixed a boiler for an elderly lady yesterday. Her car parked on the drive was a hybrid and I asked he what she thought of it.

It quickly became clear she has no idea what a hybrid is, or that her car was one. She said it gets her round adequately, just like all her previous cars.

My how things changed. not too long ago the joke was
"How can you tell if someone drives a Hybrid".
"You don't, they tell you"

The joke needs updating. For example:

A hybrid business is a company that has both an Internet-front end as well as its bricks and mortar premises.

the term 'hybrid' is used where a company's workers are required to WTF for a few days a week.

[Mike4]

The joke needs updating. For example:

A hybrid business is a company that has both an Internet-front end as well as its bricks and mortar premises.

the term 'hybrid' is used where a company's workers are required to WTF for a few days a week.

I'm imagining in the context, "WTF" stands for "working from home", and not what it normally means.

[DrFfybes]

the term 'hybrid' is used where a company's workers are required to WTF for a few days a week.

We used to do that every time management made a decision.

[richlist]

Not all mild hybrids have auto gearboxes. We have a Ford Puma which is mild hybrid with manual gearbox.

[AF62]

Something has occurred to me ...

Why are all these electric or hybrid vehicles carrying charging cables around ?
Isn't that an inefficient use of the worlds resources ? All that copper and plastic.

Surely the cable should be part of the charging station.

My understanding is that the charging stations have their own cables. You might carry a cable with you in the car if you wanted to be able to plug in to a random 3-pin plug somewhere.

Scott.

Not so. Public 7.4 and 22kW chargers normally require you to plug in a cable, it is only the higher powered 50kW CSS, etc. chargers that have a built in cable.

For the lower powered chargers It undoubtedly dates back to when there were several plug types in use so you couldn’t charge if they attached a cable with a ‘type 2’ plug if your car required a ‘type 1’. The higher powered ones never had that problem, and there is also the issue of needing a very beefy cable if you are dumping 50kW or more into your car.

However although the mix of socket types is mostly academic these days as the EU required all new cars to have a ‘type 2’ socket, now those lower powered chargers are expected to be in the ‘untethered’ style rather than ‘tethered’ I doubt they will change.

So not only do most people have to carry around a cable to plug into a 7.4 / 22 kW charger, they might also carry a three pin ‘granny’ cable, although with the bigger batteries in BEVs some manufacturers of those cars no longer supply them with the car but if you want one you need to buy one. The logic being the bigger battery means there is less of a range issue, and if you wanted to charge a 50kWh or larger battery with a three pin plug it would take forever and might be dangerous delivering a constant 3kW through a normal plug for 24 hours or more.

[Itsallaguess]

Need to get an external waterproof socket fitted on the outside of garage so that I don't have to leave the garage door open and the charger isn't suspended.

Would a 10m charging cable allow you to park in a better place and keep the charging box inside the garage, allowing you to close the door?

I only mention this because Screwfix are selling the Type 1 and Type 2 cables (10A / 2.3kW) at reasonable prices, and I wondered if one of those might be suitable for your car, and if so then it might both provide a useful source of a spare 'garage-based' cable, as well as perhaps mitigate the need for any additional electrical wiring work -

https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/electric-vehicle-charging/cat12700003

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[richlist]

Why is a 3 pin cable described by AF62 as a 'granny cable' ? What's wrong with a granny ?

[servodude]

Why is a 3 pin cable described by AF62 as a 'granny cable' ? What's wrong with a granny ?

I'd imagine it's because when using that one the process goes most slowly; pinched from "granny gear" (the inner most chain ring on a triple crankset on a pushbike - so called because even your gran could provide the required torque)

-sd

[DrFfybes]

Why is a 3 pin cable described by AF62 as a 'granny cable' ? What's wrong with a granny ?

I'd imagine it's because when using that one the process goes most slowly; pinched from "granny gear" (the inner most chain ring on a triple crankset on a pushbike - so called because even your gran could provide the required torque)

-sd

Oh aye - even as her mobility reduced, if there was one thing my gran could still do, it was torque.