Why aren't hybrids diesel rather than petrol?

[Draigflag]

Yes there are a few on eBay surprisingly. There's a nice one there with just 33,000 on the clock. Unfortunately a lot of hybrids have auto transmissions, which is why whenever you see them the driver is usually over the age of 70! There are 3 Honda hybrids with manual gearboxes but the majority are auto's.

[benlovesgoddess]

I love that light green colour - if I got one, it would have to be that colour, but manual!
Fiest Scangauge result is in - 69.5 mpg (I was hoping for a little more...!).
On the same routes, my last fills were 55 and 60 mpg.
Realistically, the improved figure has been mainly down to speed reduction - a lot more 40 mph rather than 50 mph I would say.
However, I have also spent more time in 4th and 5th rather than 6th gear.
Chasing the Scangauge figure has meant often ignoring my cars prompt to change up a gear; an eco display to up or down shift for purported best economy is displayed on my dash.

[sealiedog]

Electric motors don't actually need gears. My car uses the ICE to run a generator to drive the electric motors at speeds below about 50, and switches to direct front wheel drive at higher speeds.

No gearbox at all.

I think some hybrids have a CVT type gearbox, but the electric motors don't need it because they don't have the torque and power characteristics of an ICE.

There's a good simple explanation here:
Do Electric Cars Have Gears? No. Here's Why - The Green Optimistic

[benlovesgoddess]

But manual gearbox would be for the times the petrol engine is in use?

[sealiedog]

AFAIK the early hybrids were normal cars with electric assistance. The current ones switch continually between EV and ICE and that seems a bit tricky with gears and a clutch. I don't know if there are any manuals in production now, I've not seen any.

[Draigflag]

The only manual hybrids I can think of are all Hondas, the old Insight, Civic and the new Crz.

[Draigflag]

Originally Posted by benlovesgoddess

I love that light green colour - if I got one, it would have to be that colour, but manual!
Fiest Scangauge result is in - 69.5 mpg (I was hoping for a little more...!).
On the same routes, my last fills were 55 and 60 mpg.
Realistically, the improved figure has been mainly down to speed reduction - a lot more 40 mph rather than 50 mph I would say.
However, I have also spent more time in 4th and 5th rather than 6th gear.
Chasing the Scangauge figure has meant often ignoring my cars prompt to change up a gear; an eco display to up or down shift for purported best economy is displayed on my dash.

Going slower isn't always the most economical. I would try cruising at a higher speed, especially on the motorway, use final gear, chose some low revs and try and stay consistent. I promise you'll easily get over 70 MPG by cruising at a higher speed

[sealiedog]

Yes, I have just had a look at the CRZ. It can't run on electric alone, it uses an electric motor to give it an extra push. A manual box is fine with that. But mpg is not special compared to similar conventional cars.

Plugins seem to be the way to get good mpg and they are selling well here not least because there are some big tax breaks and grants.

There are electric only cars now with 100 miles+ range, so I would guess if that continues to improve hybrids might lose some of their popularity, although I wouldn't have one until there a much better public charging infrastructure.

[Draigflag]

I'm still pretty sceptical about hybrids, plug ins included. They are OK for short city journeys, but that's all. And if it's short city journeys you mostly do, then your fuel costs aren't going to be huge anyway, certainly nowhere near as much as buying a hybrid would cost. If you want to do a long cross country trip, let's say 800 miles, that's one tank full to empty on my little car, in a plug in, assuming you stop once for a break, and recharge, then of those 800 miles, how many are done on electricity at motorway speeds? A very small percentage I would guess.

On the plus side, as you have mentioned, range seems to be increasing every day with developing technologies, as does the charging infrastructure. The UK has more charge points than any other country in the World. I don't think people fully understand just how many there are. Check out this screen shot of the UK, and a zoomed in area of London!

[sealiedog]

I need a big car for my family and dogs. I live in the middle of nowhere,and I've just come back from taking my dogs for a walk in the woods,then to the local town (10 miles away) for a takeaway, then home. Petrol used, nil.

It has nothing to do with where you live, its average journey length. How often do most people do an 800 mile trip?

I recently did a 325 mile trip. I stopped twice on the motorway for a coffee and parked right by the door to the services in a charging bay and got a free charge both times. The car did 35 mpg when running on petrol because I wasn't hanging about. So 7 gallons to do 325 miles because I did 75 on electric = 46 mpg in a large SUV. Today's 23 mile trip cost me 55p for electricity which equates to about 200 mpg

What's not to like?