Buying a small hybrid car
Last updated Wednesday 30 April 2008
The short-cut to urban fuel efficiency
Cars with two engines - one petrol and one electric - are claimed to halve the emissions of the average petrol car.
And while hybrids may be 10-20% more expensive to buy, lower road tax and congestion charge exemptions also help make your money back. For a start, your road tax is only £40, a third of that for a Ford Fiesta. (See Direct Gov for more information.)
The fuel efficiency of hybrids depends on where you drive them. While city drivers will reap the greatest benefits from the electric engine, diesel cars may deliver lower emissions to motorway commuters.
Read more below
Saves about 1,070kg of CO2 a year
85 Bloomers are doing this
CO2 reduction 
Cheapness 
Popularity 
Cost £14,000 - £38,000
In this article:
How does it work?
Pub Fact
- In 2006, around 9,000 hybrid-petrol electric cars were sold in the UK
- The first hybrid vehicle was developed back in 1899 by Dr Ferdinand Porsche
- Hybrid car sales saw sales growth of 20% in 2006
- Most drivers use the maximum power of their engines less than 1% of the time
- Cars generate one sixth of the world's greenhouse gas emissions
- Average fuel efficiency has increased slowly in the UK, by 8% since 1995. In the USA it has actually decreased
- Transport is the only sector where carbon emissions are predicted to continue to rise (by 5-7%) between now and 2020
The hybrid contains a petrol engine and an electric motor and automatically selects the most efficient engine for the driving conditions - usually electric for slow, town driving and petrol for high-speed long hauls.
What's the debate?
Critics claim the virtues of hybrids have been overstated. One concern is that their manufacture produces more carbon than making traditional cars, sparking a debate over whether notoriously oversized Hummer 4x4s are actually better for the climate than hybrids. In reality, recent research by the Pacific Institute shows that hybrid cars have a much lower climate impact than Hummers - and generally save much more energy than is used in their manufacture.
Another issue is that most hybrids have petrol engines which - when in use - are less fuel efficient than diesels. This is true, although the efficiency of the electric engines compensates for this. Diesel-electric hybrids are expected to hit the market by the end of the decade.
What's stopping me?
"They cost how much?"
New hybrids cost from £17,000-38,000. Battery pack replacement is rare but if something does go wrong, manufacturers are providing generous battery warranties (generally about eight to ten years and 80,000 to 100,000 miles). As Top Gear's James May helpfully puts it: "It's money where your mouth is time, greeny-chops".
How do I do it?
- Find the right hybrid for you at What Green Car or Act on CO2
- Put your foot down and learn how to drive more efficiently
- Apply for your congestion charge exemption: Transport for London. Read this Treehugger article on how the congestion charge is boosting sales of hybrid cars in London
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It's true that the hybrid car is great in slow traffic, stop start conditions are perfect for electric vehicles. However, consider this, When you have driven the car in traffic for a while the battery will need to be recharged. The engine starts automatically to do this and if the traffic is heavy, there you are sitting in a traffic jam with the engine running. Sounds familiar? This of course is the worst scenario, the better use cycle would be on a journey when you drove from home into a crowded town centre where the battery would take over and carry you through the traffic to your destinaation. Then on the homeward journey tha battery would have enough charge to get you out of the congestion onto the open road where the engine would start and charge the battery for the journey tomorrow. Oh! just one other thing (Columbo style) where is the energy coming from to charge the battery? I think the answer is PETROL.
I am sure the gains are there to be made, but consider two issues,
1 The gains are overstated
2 The gains will depend upon the traffic conditiond encountered.
Do they fit a 13A plug to these things?