Best Plug-In Hybrid Cars 2021 (and the PHEVs to avoid) | What Car?

maybe you want an electric car but you aren't quite convinced that it will perfectly suit your lifestyle well a plug-in hybrid could be a brilliant alternative for you and with so many to choose from now we're gonna name the best 10 on the market before we start subscribe for much more car buying advice and new car reviews every week and if you're ready to buy then don't forget to go to our website whatcar.com to get a great saving on your next new car now this list is about plug-in hybrids sometimes referred to as phevs or fevs rather than standard hybrids both types of car combine a petrol or diesel engine with an electric motor powered by a battery but with a standard hybrid the battery is absolutely tiny and means you can only really travel on pure electric power for not very long at all the vast majority of the time the battery and electric motor will just be helping to boost your fuel economy plug in hybrids the ones that we're talking about here have much bigger batteries than normal hybrids so some are able to travel up to almost 60 miles on pure electric power alone before the engine is needed and as the name suggests you can plug them in to charge them up there are huge benefits of going for a plug-in hybrid if you can make use of that electric range then your fuel bills will be peanuts compared to a normal petrol or diesel car plus even if you're not in fully electric mode then a fev with a fully charged battery is incredibly fuel efficient but the thing to bear in mind with plug-in hybrids is that fuel economy is brilliant when there's juice in the battery but once you've run out and you're only powered by fuel then the mpgs plummet anyway let's get to the top 10 starting with the bmw x3 xdrive 30e comfy beautifully built this x3 is a well-resolved premium plug-in suv it's ultra quiet in electric mode and even when the engine fires up it's very peaceful the volvo xc90 is unique in this list and in the entire plug-in hybrid world in fact because it is the only fev that has seven seats is there more to the xc90 than its practicality oh yes it's extremely safe very nice inside and actually pretty nippy for a massive suv speaking of massive the volkswagen passat gte estate offers solid build quality inside loads of space and a smooth transition between electric and petrol power it's a great green wagon you can also have it as a saloon but we'd go for the estate because it's not much more money and it's an incredibly practical car but let's take a moment to discuss the claimed fuel economy figures of plug-in hybrids so take this passat gte it's said to achieve 235.4 miles per gallon compare that to a standard petrol passat and the claimed figure there is around 45.6 miles per gallon but before you reach for your credit card to buy a fev and take advantage of this ridiculous fuel economy it isn't all as it seems you might achieve 235.4 miles per gallon for the first few hundred yards you travel on a journey with a full battery but on a 50 mile test route starting with a full battery we managed to record 65 miles per gallon over that test route with a flat battery that will drop to more like 40 miles per gallon so it's impressively efficient sure but it's nowhere near what the official numbers suggest and this isn't just a passat thing the same can be said for every single car in this list and indeed every single plug-in hybrid on sale although the official wltp fuel economy figures are supposed to be representative of real-world driving conditions they just aren't likewise the pure electric range is claimed up to 37 miles but expect more like 25 miles in real-world driving conditions anyway next on the list is the ford cougar fev it actually required a safety recall early on in its life due to concerns about the batteries overheating and causing fires but this is all in the process of being fixed and a cougar fev that you buy now won't be affected at all so now the good bits of the cot well it's agile for a big hybrid suv and actually feels less bulky than the x3 plug-in that we mentioned earlier plus it's comfortable and even with a flat battery you can hope for more than 50 miles per gallon which is very impressive indeed the 5 series is comfortable enjoyable to drive really plush inside it is a fantastic all-rounder and this plug-in hybrid version adds even more to its talents it has an official electric range of 36 miles and even when the smooth two liter petrol unit does fire up the car is quiet enough to put some full on limousines to shame specify it with adaptive suspension for the best ride and the 530e becomes the supreme luxury package without the price tag to match just bear in mind that the extra weight of the battery does blunt the handling slightly compared to the non-hybrid models the skoda superb's rather unassuming appearance masks a phenomenal range of talents comfy decent to drive and huge inside add a decent electric range and all the usual plug-in hybrid benefits and you get a fantastic all-rounder the passat gte we mentioned earlier is a great practical plug-in as well but the superb is even more car for the money the plug-in hybrid audi a3 sportback has pretty strong direct competition it's up against plug-in versions of the mercedes a-class and the volkswagen golf but the a3 is better than both not only does it have the best ride and handling balance of those rivals but it's got a really classy interior to go with it throw in a real world electric range just shy of 21 miles and you have a very well-rounded family car the number that stands out here is this huge electric range the bmw x5 xdrive 45e offers the longest journey on pure electric power of any car in this list and if that isn't enough you'll be travelling those electric miles in one of the best suvs around it's powered by a smooth six-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor that gets its energy from a 24 kilowatt-hour battery it's quiet and very quick if you want to prioritize performance over fuel economy the bmw 3 series 330e is not just brilliant for a plug-in hybrid but it's brilliant full stop it is really rapid handles brilliantly and it can be hugely frugal too then there's this excellently built interior with the best infotainment system around there's an estate version on the way too but the very best plug-in hybrid you can buy right now is the skoda octavia iv estate it might be one of the more expensive versions of the octavia but it's still one of the cheaper plug-in hybrids that you can buy as a fev it really does represent staggering value with an impressive 41 mile electric range and fairly nippy acceleration combined with a properly big interior that's nicely finished too this is the benchmark for plug-in hybrids but not every plug-in hybrid is recommendable the ones to avoid include the ds7 crossback e-tents with sloppy handling inconsistent ride quality and a jerky switch from electric motor to the engine it just isn't as polished as its other plug-in suv rivals if it was cheap you could maybe overlook some of its shortcomings but it isn't the standard hybrid toyota prius might be a common sight in big cities because of its popularity as a taxi but the plug-in version hasn't caught on anywhere near as much it's much more expensive than the standard hybrid the petrol engine's noisy and it isn't particularly practical inside either the mitsubishi outlander fev was a trailblazer in the plug-in hybrid market and has sold well in that segment over the years but today it is very far off the pace being short on refinement and quality and lagging behind its rivals in basically every area so those are the best and worst plug-in hybrids on the market thank you very much for watching and if you've enjoyed this video then give it a like let us know your thoughts on the running order in the comments below and make sure you're subscribed to see lots of new car buying advice and reviews every week and don't forget we can help you 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Channel: What Car?

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Keywords: hybrid, phev, plug-in hybird, plug in hybrid, bev, electric car, hybrid suv, plug in hybrid suv, PHEV suv, new hybrid car, best hybrid car, best plugin hybrid car, best plug in hybrid car, best hybrid car review, hybrid review, what is a hybrid, what is a phev, phev explained, new phev, new phev review, skoda octavia iv, tesla, ev, new ev review, ev hybrid, new car review, best new car review 2021, 2021 phev, 2021 hybrid, best new car, best new hybrid, new hybrid review

Id: iFq44gEdDyI

Length: 8min 24sec (504 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 20 2021