Anyone got one as a company car ?
I do like the sound of these, even accepting the technology isn’t perfect yet.

Running one atm, really like it. Charges quick, the app is quite useful. I get about 23 miles off a full charge, great if you’re not doing massive journeys.

Please bear in mind that i work at a VW dealer.

I think there have been a couple of people on here with them.

Have you thought about the BMW 330e? For me it was loads cheaper to lease than the Golf, and its a much better car.

FunkyDunc – Who’s your lease through ?

Ditto thered‘s post, save for working at a VW dealer. Tax is better than GTD or even bluemotion for the next few years. Lease through leaseplan. Had one cable fail, and if driven in a spirited fashion, you can tell the weight of extra motor & battery. Got the cheaper version without satnav/app facility.

Do you mean 230 miles?

I get about 23 miles off a full charge, great if you’re not doing massive journeys.

23 miles? Is that a mistake or have you bought a car you can only nip to the supermarket in?

Its 23 miles on full charge before petrol kicks in. Most of mine and wife trips are within 10 miles or so of home, dropping kids off at clubs etc.

The BMW has something like 22 mile range, comes cheaper on a lease and is going to be a far better ride.
*Looks down on Gary_M and kahunajb and chuckles at ignorance.* 😆

Just look at the vw website and they say up to 31 miles on a full charge .
I

Where are all these cheap BMW leases ?

23 miles on just electric or 500 with mixed use electric / petrol

I suppose my question is what are the real benefits vs a more “traditional” hybrid which just uses the electric to get going / pull off

Jam – I’m hoping that for 75% of our journeys, the car won’t need to use any petrol at all. But if we do need to do longer journeys we can without having to stop and recharge.

Where are all these cheap BMW leases ?

I lease through an NHS scheme, at the moment I can get a top of the range 330e for £350pm 15k miles full maintenance. GTE is coming out £450pm (using the quote system I have access to)

The cheap deals on the BMW may well have gone. There were loads going very cheap a few months back.

I ordered mine in February, delivery next month costing me £330pm.

At the end of the day all these type of hybrids 330e/GTE/e350 are all tax dodge cars for company drivers.

These type of hybrid work best in busy town commutes where conventional petrols eat fuel. Mrs FD will be able to get to work and back without any spend on fuel, and about £1 per day electricity.

£280 + VAT for GTE (I’m VAT registered). I agree its a bit of a TAX dodge, but not one I’ll loose sleep about.

At the end of the day all these type of hybrids 330e/GTE/e350 are all tax dodge cars for company drivers.

Yes and no.
I expect to be paying 100% of the tax that is due for the car. I am not dodging a single penny. But I understand how you’ve come to that conclusion.
As there are many on street charging points, I’m expecting to do much of my city centre driving on electric.

Its 23 miles on full charge before petrol kicks in. Most of mine and wife trips are within 10 miles or so of home, dropping kids off at clubs etc.

…

I’m hoping that for 75% of our journeys, the car won’t need to use any petrol at all.

I’m going to guess that VW weren’t anticipating the steepness of your road when they came up with the 23 mile figure

Just look at the vw website and they say up to 31 miles on a full charge .

*Up to* 31 miles – so 23 seems reasonable in normal use.

I suppose my question is what are the real benefits vs a more “traditional” hybrid which just uses the electric to get going / pull off

Well the Toyota hybrids use electricity for all sorts of cleverness rather than simply pulling away. But they all need petrol wherever you drive. A plug-in such as the GTE means if you are commuting less than 11 miles you may never need petrol at all.

I’d like one.

Is the £1 a day electric as it’s subsidised ? Also another Q how do you factor in battery life/replacement cost, I mean a petrol tank rarely wears out ?

FWIW am considering a hybrid as London Congestion charge is £2 not £12 (I think) and lots of city driving. Am not enough of a leading edge buyer to go full electric

Is the £1 a day electric as it’s subsidised ?

Nope not subsidised, people are saying it costs less than a pound to charge their BMW at home per night.

how do you factor in battery life/replacement cost

You don’t when its on lease 😀 Personally I wouldn’t buy a hybrid as a long term private purchase, too many unknowns at the minute in terms of battery life/replacement costs etc.

Does it charge the batteries when it’s switch to petrol running?

guess that VW weren’t anticipating the steepness of your road when they came up with the 23 mile figure

Should anyone be surprised that real world figures don’t match manufacturers’, esp. those from VW?
Battery performance (charge & discharge) is very temp. dependent; in winter, it’s the double whammy of less charge and more demand (heating, lights). Can at least pre-heat when plugged in.
I’ve tried driving uber conservatively on a predominantly flat route, but never managed more than 26 miles.

Edit: for IHN – two hybrid modes, one of which prioritises battery charging more than the other. There’s a GTE button which allows combined use of both engines, but it’s barely like a regular GTi – more weight and less combined BHP.

ersonally I wouldn’t buy a hybrid as a long term private purchase, too many unknowns at the minute in terms of battery life/replacement costs etc.

Non-plugin hybrids like mine are fine. The battery is small and kept between 40% and 80% charge, which prolongs its life to similar to the rest of the car. There are failures here and there of course as there are with anything. But the individual cells are replaceable.

for IHN – two hybrid modes, one of which prioritises battery charging more than the other. There’s a GTE button which allows combined use of both engines, but it’s barely like a regular GTi – more weight and less combined BHP.

The BMW works differently. There is a normal drive mode where it looks at where you are and decides whether to use electric or petrol (or you can programme the sat nav with your journey in the car, or using the phone app). An electric only mode, or in essence a recharge mode, which reduces fuel economy to low 30’s/20’s.

Full combined power is available at all times in the BM depending on how much you press the accelerator. Reports are that it doesn’t half shift at normal road speeds.

The brakes are used to recharge the battery at all times, but I don’t think this can recharge the car in itself.

So far it would appear that people who are doing less than 50 miles a day are getting 60-100mpg. Anything over that and mpg drops off dramatically to around 40-45mpg.

Hopefully for me it will mean I get similar mpg to my current diesel, without killing quite so children from diesel particulates. Plus I will get a higher spec car.

(or you can programme the sat nav with your journey in the car, or using the phone app).

Fab.. I had that idea in 2004, glad someone’s finally done it 🙂

This BMW sounds like a brilliant car. That is, if it has a fully electric mode FunkyDunc for the shorter trips?

It does have an electric mode, but people don’t bother with it as the normal drive mode works very well.

It can do up to 75mph on electric, and pulls quite strongly.

Funky and Molgrips very interesting thanks

The BMW 330e was obscenely cheap at the beginning of the year, them BMW realised their idiotic mistake and the deals disappeared, they’d already sold all the cars by that stage so it’s next spring for one now.

Getting a price from BMW for their little 2 series box.