Lady Elanore

WHAT! WHO! WHEN! WHY! Why don't salemen lead with this! "Hello would you like to buy a hybrid" "Nah, just tyre kicking" "You will get to meet George Clooney look a likes" "What, free of charge" "Yes, them and their hybriddiddy cars" (see what I did there) "Can I buy one of your hybriddiddy cars please?" "Certainly, 3 copies press hard" (old salesperson joke)

I think this thread might have run its course as it's drifting into territory covered by other threads. It's all very interesting, but probably a little unnecessary now there is plenty of threads for EVs, emissions and the like, in this section. Thanks for the replies guys.

So back on topic, here is Harry of 'Harry's Garage' fame talking about PHEVS compared to EVs and ICE running on sustainable fuels. There is a flaw in his figures relating to the PHEV, but it's an interesting look at the different tech and how it impacts the environment. I like Harry and his videos, because they tend to be a no nonsense approach to things and he is a genuine 'car guy', not prejudiced against any particular form of transport.

I do genuinely find all this stuff interesting, but as I've said previously in this thread, it was really about the hybriddidys and there is a battery thread with 90 pages already in it!

We have been told repeatedly, that batteries which are made of more environmentally friendly substances are "just around the corner" and solid state batteries are "just around the corner" but if they are, they don't seem to in anything I can see at the moment. Burning hydrogen can be made very friendly, with the NOx being controllable and of a very low order, with a bit of care and attention. You won't get high performance engines that way (see JCB), but it's early doors for that specific use of technology, unlike batteries and electric motors. An advantage of making hydrogen is it can be stored comparatively easily and stored for a very long time. It is also a quick way to replenish the energy store in your car. But this is not Hybriddidy... at the moment

The more I look into hybrids, the more I think they are a clever idea that might give an economy edge to the petrol car and at the same time, raise it's green credentials, But, at the same time, it is the worst of two different technologies. I feel it can be no more than a stop gap measure, regardless of whether we go battery, or some form of hydrogen power. I detest the current batteries that we have, as they are extraordinarily heavy, and relatively slow to charge. If you want to hold a large charge, then the whole shebang weighs a ridiculous amount and so reduces some of the gains the capacity increase should bring. It presumably will eventually show no further gains in range at some point on that seemingly inverse exponential curve. It feels to me that battery tech is like fusion tech, it's always just around the corner...

This thread wasn't meant to be about EVs and the benefits and problems with them, but I'll say this. I recently worked with two people with EVs. One with a Tesla X (claimed 360 range) and one with a Kia Soul (claimed 280 range). Neither car gets anywhere close to these figures in real world driving, easily lose 100 miles of range in cold weather with all the electrics running (which, if you buy a nice car with heated seats, aircon, big sound hifi etc you want to use in the many hours we spend in our cars). In fact, the X model was very disappointing. The build quality is atrocious! The panel fitting was done by a bunch of drunken Lego enthusiasts, whilst wearing blindfolds and the interior leather was stretched terribly. Anyhoo both these cars had to be taken off site during the day and the owners drove around Hartlepool looking for a charge point so they could get home (between 01:00 and 03:00hrs) depending on which driveryou are talking about). They were fortunate that the specific jobs they did on that day, allowed them time to do this, it is not usually the case. Otherwise, they would have had to stop at a service station, probably on the way home and incur the inflated prices therein. I passed them on the motorway on their way home, as they also chose a distinctly slow cruising speed to maximise their range. Interestingly, the Kia spent most of the first few months of its life at the dealers owing to repeated faults. So far I am not impressed with EVs and I don't believe they are as ethically green as they claim. Don't get me wrong, I realise they are greener than combustion cars, but in the 'real world' they are not the streets ahead they say. I don't include the sort of cars I like in this, as they are not particular green cars (my 130TC Strada added 0.08% of the petrol fumes in the planet's atmosphere all on its own). I have not posted on here for a few days, because I've been working very long days and driving home in the depths of the night, occasionally getting home around 02:00 before setting off early the next morning for the next job. I'm not entirely sure if I could home charge a long range EV fully in the time available, on the odd occasion where I have a very short turnaround. As it happens this week, very late at night, I simply drove to the petrol station near where I live, handed over a promissory note for my internal organs and filled the tank. Filling a car every day is obviously expensive, but it means I didn't need to find a hotel at stupid o'clock in the morning and I could get home, pop my wet weather gear into a tumble drier if needed, make myself some lunch for the next job etc etc. I started this thread as I am considering a Hybrid. See I don't dislike electric motors EVs simply don't work for my lifestyle. Perhaps in 8 years or so when I retire, they will be fine, I certainly expect them to be. Please start another thread though if you guys want to talk about EVs. Lets keep this one to Hybriddiddys Ta

I like the idea of the technology and if hydrogen was to be used in an I.C.E. it would keep my petrolhead heart alive.

I couldn't go electric, mainly because of my job, but partly because I don't like them very much. Nothing against them as a mode of transport, they seem generally excellent at that task, but they don't light my fire. Maybe once I retire or the countries' infrastructure improves I'll be happy to own one, but at the moment it looks like petrol/diesel or possibly hybrid for me. Perhaps someone will produce a car that can guarantee me at least 300 miles range in the middle of a super cold winters night, with all the ancillaries running...and that I can afford....soon. Although I doubt it 😞

One of my first car loves was the Mk3 Cortina (coke bottle) with the 4 headlight setup up GT etc. A lovely shape

It's a chance to bring back the "Maxi" name

I saw this and was surprised he is thinking of selling it. He does like cars that give you a "moment", He even liked rather sudden feature in the old M4. One recent review of the new M4 had a journalist saying he ran the old one for 6 months and it tried to kill him 3 times I miss mine terribly

It's certainly not "mini!" anymore and I dread to think what it weighs 😞

Maybe you can get hydrogenated beer? It would help offset any excess mass? Disclaimer not sure if hydrogenating beer would be the same as hydrogenating fat, but it seemed the right verb at the time.

We don't have much Helium to spare 😞 It's very limited commodity. Besides, floating on air in a ship filled with Voodoo treated seawater and made with windmills, sounds like even more fun than just silly voices. Plus it can lift a little more, so that means I can have a beer fridge and a drinks cabinet on board

Oh come one, who doesn't want an airship?

People often overestimate the casualties of Zeppelins and their like. Hydrogen does 'go up' rather well, but that's one of things about it, it likes to go up. It burns very quickly and upwards, unlike a petrol fire. Around 2/3s of the Hindenburg passengers and crew, survived and it seems to be generally thought, a lot of problems with the fire and it's propagation, was due to the doped fabric used on the airship (It was even said that it would have burned if the airship was full of helium because of this fabric). I'm not worried about hydrogen and my airship exploding. At least no more so than worried that the EV parked next to me is going to burn in an uncontrollable fire that can't easily be extinguished....certain "recently sunk ship" owners, may disagree. I so want an airship now...

I still hope that one day I can own a hydrogen car

I always fill the tank to the brim, I never know when I'll get that call and have to drive 200-250 miles at very short notice. As for topping up PHEV, I think for me, I would want one fully charged when possible. As mentioned above and also when considering my detached duty while working away from home, it would not often be easy, or even possible, to charge up the hybrididddy battery. Certainly, on my regular jobs and using my normal accommodation, I can't see an easy access charger nearby. Also, as I work 12-15 hour days on these specific jobs, charging is a total pain to consider on top of trying to find food and sleep. It's one of the reasons EVs simply wouldn't work for me. But, I've had my eyes opened a little about hybrids and perhaps this is a way forward for me. It's certainly not something that gets my blood flowing, but there again, I'm a dyed in the wool petrol head. 🏎️

Well today I did a car swap with my friend and got to drive the hybriddy a bit more than I'd expected It's always nice driving something new, as the sensations are all strange to you, the steering feels different, the acceleration too as well as the noise, handling and doodads to play with. Anyhoo, I did come to a few minor conclusions about it. Firstly, it's super comfy. Almost in the way cars used to be, before the Nürburgring turned everyone's family car in into an overdamped circuit star. It is also quiet and well screwed together, which surprised me as it's a Peugeot. No insult intended, but I did sell them for a short while and they weren't the best things on the block. The economy round town is pretty good if you use the hybrid mode and seems even better if you program up the satnav as I believe it then works out where best to share it's meagre electrical resources. Also, the turning circle is amazing for an SUV, it's more like a micra in that respect, the only let-down is the steering is super light. But the weird shape of the wheel wasn't a problem and I can see over it fine, which is useful for not crashing as well as seeing the high up dashboard. It's a novel concept that seems to work reasonably well in this SUV. The charging is an odd one though. It's super slow charge rates mean even when on a 16amp supply, it takes nearly 4 hours from flat to full (I think typically at home you would rarely go from entirely flat to full so your standard 8/10amp charger would probably still do a charge in around 4 hours - the battery has a little over 10kWh that you can use out of around 13kWhs in total) and that only gives a max of 39 miles range, which at the moment in the cold weather seems like 20 miles at best and even less, as the temperature drops further. I'm not sure about the 2nd 12V battery thing though. I guess it's there for running the general electrics while the car is running in EV mode and once it drops below a certain level the car defaults back to petrol mode permanently until the 2nd battery hits a certain charge %. I think I might have seen this happen, but I can't say for certain, as I don't know what the car is thinking. Probably, familiarity over a long time would give clues to its methodology? Overall it's a nice place to spend time, comfy, quiet and in sports mode, quite brisk, which it should be for it's total of 296bhp and 383lb/ft even though it's a bit chunky in weight thanks to its battery mass - or it just eats a lot of pies when nobody is looking? I buy one I reckon and suffer the dirty looks from the EV boys and girls at the charge stations with my thickened skin.

I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked for me. If I was driving something sporty I would lie a lot flatter, but in an SUV it seems perfectly natural to sit reasonably upright. Certainly wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me.

The spark option is already deep in my thoughts, as is a suitable bribe. Not sure if I could get away with a full EV charge though

So I've been out in the Hybridddiddy and even had a go in it. The steering is a bit mad, super light and you look over the top of it to see the dashboard. Weird, but it works well as the steering wheel is flat on top and bottom. But anyhoo the drive is very smooth. It's hard to tell when the petrol engine kicks in and joins or takes over from the electric engines. Super well implemented. Not sure about the economy of it all yet, as it wasn't really that sort of drive and the trip computer also reflected my friends drive down to my house, but I must say the engineering of the hybrid system seems beautifully integrated. I'd like more control over whether you wanted to purely drive on the petrol engine, but I think there might be a setting for this in a sub menu, my friend has no idea Another thing that came to light is how comfortable the car is. It's a little bit old school. You forget about comfort a bit these days, as cars tend to firmly sprung with a serious weapons grade dampers, the 3008, with its extra mass, seems to flatten bumps without being too bouncy, even if there is a little roll in the corners. It made a pleasant change from the modern uber hatch with its Nürburgring honed suspension.

I've just been looking at charge points I could use if I had a hybrid and it was used for work. For one day jobs, charging at home is a no-brainer, probably about £2.80 for 10kWh with new tariffs (approx correct I think ,as I gather the batteries retain around 25% of charge at all times, or at least the Peugeot/Vauxhall one does). But I do longer jobs where I work away from home and there are currently no chargers at the hotels/digs I use, or on site at the places I work (this includes nearby car parks). So running between accommodation and work would be a petrol only affair after a few days, except for a slight braking recharge facility. I don't know if that meagre amount would make much difference in town driving?? Certainly, full EV would be a nightmare for me.