Best family plug in hybrid

Fleure2016

We’re a family of 5 wanting to buy a brand new car. We’re thinking a plug in hybrid would be a good choice rather than petrol/diesel options we’ve had up until now. The car would do 45km return motorway trips three times a week, (so 150km approx weekly) otherwise local driving (20km daily approx). We have an outdoor regular plug socket which I believe is sufficient to charge the car each night. Our budget would be 45-5Ok and we’re considering the petrol plug in hybrid Hyundai Tucson, Toyota RAV4 or possibly the Volkswagen Tiguan. Just wondering if anyone had any advice or feedback about these cars? Many thanks

Buddy Bubs

From someone whom owned a phev, I'd give serious thought into whether you are actually going to plug in every day to make the most of it, or are you only going to do it sometimes which will mean you basically have a petrol car carrying around an additional motor.

It's a pain plugging in every day, I couldn't wait to get rid of my phev for that reason. I quite liked the car, but not the plugging in when it was raining, windy, cables were wet etc...

Most PHEVS no matter what they say won't cover your 45kms plus a little bit of additional running around on electric

Your budget suits full electric and so does your driving patterns, some great cars similar to your shortlist above from the same brands too

vimalandrew

Toyota RAV4 Prime - 313 horse power

A car for a life time; that never breaks.

Australia's most favourite family car. There waiting period is 2 years.

NIMAN

A phev would be perfect for you, ignore the naysayers.

Mine does 50km on battery, and it's plugged in practically every night so it starts each new day on a full battery.

For someone to say its a pain to plug in every day, it's a 10sec job. If you find that painful then life must be a misery for you.

kanuseeme

OP you should consider the RAV4 80km range or the new Tiguan phev 100km range and do what others here do, switch over to a EV tariff and charge between 2 am and 5 am on 6 c a kwH both should be fully charged in that 3 hours, in fact people will praise you for going to the bother of plugging in every night.🤣

PaulRyan97

Rav4 or the Tiguan (new model) would be the better bet with their larger battery packs. The RAV4 is probably a bit better value, it lacks the interior finish and some of the nicer tech but it has nearly 50% more output and AWD. The Tiguan has a bit more range.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122531384#Comment_122531384

Although a PHEV would suit, an EV would suit as well. And they would only have to plug in once a week vs 7 times a week.

Me personally I did not like plugging in every day when I had a PHEV. And I didn’t like the limited battery range. I much prefer full EV.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122531795#Comment_122531795

Yes true. Looking at their use, a full EV would suit as well.

But some folk are cautious about full ev in case of that rare time they have to drive across the country.

Buddy Bubs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122531795#Comment_122531795

It was me that initially brought up plugging in every day but I actually forgot how much range anxiety there was with the PHEV because I always liked using electricity rather than petrol, in the end I was about 50/50 on each but I had a 530e g30 which wasnt great as a PHEV to be honest, something launched today will be better

beggars_bush

MG5 estate EV

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122532188#Comment_122532188

Yeah I stupidly got a lot of range anxiety from my PHEV. I loved the electric drive and always tried to make it last until end of day. Haven’t had much range anxiety at all with the full EV tho. Drove it down to 0% once or twice.

freddieot

Have a kia sorento phev. Just back from a 50k round trip and there is still juice left in it. At your budget don't discount the sportage phev. It goes a bit further, maybe 70k, has AWD, high spec and 7 year warranty.

My kia is recharging now, for free, from solar and i charge it about three times per week. I mostly do runs that are less than 60-70k so petrol stations are quite a novelty these days.

A phev suits some but not others. That's something for you to work out based on your particular situation and requirement. Best thing is the zero range anxiety on longer trips but I agree you would need to charge it very regularly to make it pay during normal weekly usage.

Fleure2016

Thanks so much for your replies, they’re really helpful. Fully electric sounds great but we feel it’s not as suitable for us at the moment. The new Volkswagen Tiguan won’t be available until after Christmas so that’s no longer an option for us. We’re still considering the Tucson and RAV4 and will also look into Kia as suggested above. Many thanks

GPoint

rav4 phev is 10 k more expensive than non phev version. To payback this price difference will take a decade with OP mileage.
why spend more now to maybe start saving some in the future .

GPoint

there is also new Ford kuga from July in Ireland , facelifted and new battery with longer range. If you are certain on phev drivetrain

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122533138#Comment_122533138

Full electric does suit you. You do 150 km a week and have access to a home charger.

vimalandrew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122533690#Comment_122533690

The thing is RAV4 PHEV has 313 horse power and its non phev version has only 200 horse power. There is a big difference between these horse power values.

bridgerock

The new Kodiaq PHEV looks interesting.

bop1977

the superb estate has just launched starting at $54k. PHEV with around 125km on a full charge.

privateBeavis

Recently got the Tucson and very happy with it. Came from superb PHEV with roughly same battery size but getting better EV range with the Tucson. Charge every night 2-4am on cheaper rate with electric Ireland so works out well. Bit shorter than the superb so makes parking etc easier! And boot is actually slightly bigger than the previous superb. Can see why it's popular choice!

staples7

Agreed with many posters, EV is the way to go for the OP. Prices are down and you have the constant plugging in.

If you were doing long distances weekly that involve public charging then id agree PHEV might be the way to go.