Which PHEV?

As needing a new car with a bit more ground clearance than my current car (BMW 340D) have been looking at SUV’s

A Plug in hybrid would work well for me as work commute is only 24miles round trip but also go to the Scottish Islands once a year, so a full EV would be a right pain.

Have narrowed it down to either a Volvo XC60 or a RAV4, any experience of both, Volvo seems a bit more luxury but a lot more expensive!

We have a XC60 petrol PHEV with the 18kw battery ( the later ones are a bit bigger for battery). Ours will do 20miles on battery so not quite your full commute. It’s better if you preheat the car with the app before travelling. We do mostly local runs and an almost weekly 350mile day round trip. It works fine for us. Diesel PHEV would probably be more economical but I wanted a petrol. Some of the latest PHEV will easily make your 24mile commute.

Tuscon perfect for that scenario.

Not be in your shortlist, but we have a Kuga PHEV (21 plate) that will easily do your commute on full electric in winter, even though it’s an 11KWh (ish) usable battery.

We looked at the RAV4, but the even the base model seemed a lot of money for what you get and didn’t really like the insides compared to the Ford.

If your long-trip use is only once per year, would it be worth considering something smaller and more efficient for the daily stuff, and hire something for that trip?
I’ve no idea what other constraints you have, obviously…

Mate has the Tucson for OP’s exact reasons. Pootles round town/commute on battery, then longer family trips on dino juice. Very nice inside too.

Sportage HEV 1.6t / 225 0.-60 7.5s for the win.  They do a PHEV also if you really want to plug it in, but the HEV saves  the cost / hassle albeit you don’t get to choose when it runs in Electric albeit you can make it do so in short trips with careful throttle / load awareness and input.

Itd also eliminate your search for a charging point at the end of your longer journey.  The Sportage gets rated above the Kuga & Tuscan also in general review.

Tucson is out as coming from a 340D, looking for a bit of pace for overtaking and the Kuga is not AWD.

The RAV4 ticks all the boxes, on offer with a cheap APR and free wall charger but its the interior I’m struggling with as quite low rent compared to the Volvo, the issues I have with the XC60 is not so great mpg when battery is depleted and the google interface is meant to be quite unreliable.

I swapped from a 1.5 Focus diesel estate to Tucson PHEV ultimate through a Tusker work sceme. I had to choose a vehicle with some electric electrickery so went the safe route as I do often do longer journeys. I have been impressed with the Tucson in terms of comfort, quality and performance. It will do trips of about 32 miles this time of year on battery only and will seemlessy switch to hybrid or petrol automatically, depending on mode and conditions. I would recommend whole heartedly.

and the google interface is meant to be quite unreliable.

Which version are you talking about? I have the latest version in my V60 (Android Auto/iCUP) and even the pre prod/google beta stuff i am using has been spot on.

work commute is only 24miles

Be very very sceptical of any claimed electric range in a PHEV. I would look for one that offers a claimed electric range of triple what you need then it might just do it.

Once the battery goes they eat mpg

Thats interesting as have read about the Google OS shutting down and you then lose all control of climate, driving modes etc

Test driven the RAV4 on my work route and it had plenty of battery left.

What about a small full EV for regular commute and van/suv for trips away? That’s our solution, little electric Mini for local stuff and T6 camper for holidays and longer trips.

and the Kuga is not AWD

The “slippery” mode works quite well the times we’ve used it.

It’s not a regular use case for us so we decided to live without it.

****If your long-trip use is only once per year, would it be worth considering something smaller and more efficient for the daily stuff, and hire something for that trip?***

I looked at this idea briefly – but, at £1,300 for two weeks hire of a big family car for a UK trip, I quickly discounted the thought.

What about a small full EV for regular commute and van/suv for trips away? That’s our solution, little electric Mini for local stuff and T6 camper for holidays and longer trips.

not enough driveway space as only have room for two cars.

Thats interesting as have read about the Google OS shutting down and you then lose all control of climate, driving modes etc

Think that’s an earlier software, and AFAIK wasn’t hugely common. I had it once in a test car and a reset of the entertainment system and everything came back (hold the home button for 10 + seconds.)

Be very very sceptical of any claimed electric range in a PHEV. I would look for one that offers a claimed electric range of triple what you need then it might just do it.

I get pretty much what the book says. But i usually precondition both the battery and the cabin, and drive “sensibly”.

Once the battery goes they eat mpg

Use hybrid mode then, not electric. Will take a bit of learning of the strategies of the particular car to work out where the cut off is. And yes, they do drink fuel if you empty the battery and then try to charge using the ICE, or drive on pure ICE with no EV support.

Use hybrid mode then, not electric. Will take a bit of learning of the strategies of the particular car to work out where the cut off is

…is why I suggested the Sportage HEV, other than the fact we own one.   6k miles and total average 43.8mpg on a mixture of driving from the 1.6T 225bhp auto version.  It averaged 47mpg from London to Afan and back last week with two bikes on a Thule tow rack driving at the National speed limits.

***If your long-trip use is only once per year, would it be worth considering something smaller and more efficient for the daily stuff, and hire something for that trip?***

**I looked at this idea briefly – but, at £1,300 for two weeks hire of a big family car for a UK trip, I quickly discounted the thought.**

Fairy ‘Nuff. What is the difference in running costs between the proposed PHEV and a small BEV? It might not be £200/mth, but I bet it would offset a lot of that £1300. I get that the hassle factor needs considering too, though.

Can’t recommend Tucson PHEV highly enough, I’ve had an N-Line S since September last year, done over 15k miles in it. Rarely charge as a company car, but when I do get around 38 miles range in full EV mode. Superb build quality and well rapid in Sport mode. Previous to this I had a Rav4, albeit the self charging version. Great car, but build quality nothing like the Hyundai, and CVT gearbox is very noisy.

Maxda CX60 might be worth a look. I have one as a company car (I’m not a massive fan of SUV’s in all honesty but no suitable estates/hatchbacks were available). Similar size to a XC60 and not much slower. I’m realistically getting 25 miles on battery alone.

Overall mpg over 15000 miles has been around 58 (mine is always charged at home so all my journeys under 25 miles are electric powered). I use the hybrid mode for long journeys.

The only real downside is an incredibly overzealous driver assist…

We’ve got a ’19 Rav4 (self charging), came from a V90. Interior is leagues behind, solid but not a patch on the big V. The Rav’s infotainment and satnav is woeful, seats not great and lack support. The worst part for me us the CVT gearbox, that with the chassis and engine remove all driving enjoyment. Plus, on long motorway trips up to 70, with bikes on the roof, we were barely getting 25mpg. It can average over 50 on shorter local trips though.

Oh, and one more thing. If you leave doors open or the stereo on for a while etc (eg if camping), it’s easy to drain the tiny 12v battery completely, leaving the car dead. We’ve got a jump pack now after doing this a couple of times.

That said, it’s spacious with a huge boot and feels like it’ll go on for mega miles. If you’re not bothered about most of the above, it does the big car thing quite well.

To go back to the OP. What’s the rationale for needing more ground clearance?  Would the BMW be an msport version, being a 340? I’d bite your hand off for that if I didn’t have 3 kids!

I was going to suggest a 330e, but I guess that’s out!!

And I thought I’d seen some Kuga’s on the road badged as AWD if that’s needed.

Personally I’d consider a good set of all season tyres before swapping cars! Can you telli miss having a beemer?

To go back to the OP. What’s the rationale for needing more ground clearance?  Would the BMW be an msport version, being a 340? I’d bite your hand off for that if I didn’t have 3 kids!

I was going to suggest a 330e, but I guess that’s out!!

And I thought I’d seen some Kuga’s on the road badged as AWD if that’s needed.

Personally I’d consider a good set of all season tyres before swapping cars! Can you telli miss having a beemer?

Love my M340D but have been venturing onto quite rough gravel tracks and parking on verges due to my other hobby of wildlife photography, so need a higher ground clearance vehicle unfortunately.

also go to the Scottish Islands once a year, so a full EV would be a right pain.

Because they don’t have electricity on Scottish Islands?

Because they don’t have electricity on Scottish Islands?

For example Mull only has 7kW public chargers as far as I know, last time I was there I drove 600 miles in a week, so that would be 5-6hours x3 to charge an EV, you realistically cannot charge a modern EV from a 13A plug!

You absolutely can use a 3 pin plug. Can add 70-80 miles overnight on mine. But you’d need to plan around that and the Type 2 chargers a bit to do your 600 miles. Never owned a hybrid so not sure how much compromise there is Vs a pure EV. And how much that offsets any hassle. Possibly more if you buy rather than lease? If a company car the BIK is less I think.

Apologies for thread hijack/addition! Thinking about a large phev but am cautious given usage and open to advice…

3 days a week round trip commute 41miles on A type roads

rest of the week it’s multiple short 5 to 12 mile round trips to kids school etc plus weekend round trips of 22 miles – 50miles on  A roads.

Currently have a diesel Audi A3 and looking at Skoda Superb iv/Passat GTE/Hyundai Tucson. Legroom and boot space crucial.

Haven’t commented so far as our Rav4 isn’t PHEV, just regular hybrid – but I’m definitely a fan.
It’s a 2.5l 4-cylinder turbo as the ICE part, and it uses the hybrid pretty well to give it some poke. The interior space is good – rear legroom is fantastic, and the loadbay is pretty good too. Outside dimensions are not too bad compared to some – it’s a bit wide in some tiny supermarket carparks, but nothing like a Range Rover, Landrover or full size SUV.
The CVT gearbox is a bit odd, and the replacement of the rev counter with some weird counter of “Powah, Economy, Charging” is a really weird choice. But you definitely get used to it and stop thinking of it.

Critically for me, while it’s “basic” inside, it just works! There are physical buttons and turnybuttons for heated seats, fans, mirrors, radio controls etc. Android Auto and Carplay both work well, and when you turn the lane control off it stays off. The leather is robust too and we chuck in bikes/ tip run stuff etc with no worries. The Tiguan we had before lasted 6 months because while it was more “premium” inside it endlessly wound us up – the lane assist, the gearbox constantly changing up the gears so having no poke from roundabouts, the touchscreen to do *anything*.

I’ll definitely be looking at the RAV4 PHEV for our next car

For example Mull only has 7kW public chargers as far as I know, last time I was there I drove 600 miles in a week, so that would be 5-6hours x3 to charge an EV, you realistically cannot charge a modern EV from a 13A plug!

And you’re driving straight back the next day?

Up to you, but sounds like you’re letting something that you do once a year ‘handicap’ your purchasing criteria – it’s like me saying once a year I need to get all 3 grandkids in my car AND our 2 dogs, therefore I need a 7-seater (rather than the OH can bring her car too).