UPDATE after 1 year of driving my Super IV L&K 2020:  (Plug-in)

I've done 7000 miles in total in 13 months, most of which has been during lockdown for covid-19.

About 3000 miles have been all electric, the rest being in hybrid mode, with about 100 miles in sport mode just as a test.

 

In my opinion:

1. If you do not have a home charging capability then a Plug-in Hybrid is a waste of money since you have to pay at least an extra £4000 for a battery that hardly gets used

 - I only have a fixed 13amp outside connection not a £700 fully featured home charging system

- it takes far too long to charge  (0% to 100% takes over 5 hours, this is equivalent to only 7 miles per hour of charging) - which is OK some of the time, but is useless for long trips

- if travelling more than 40 miles round trip I have to use petrol which is not good

- using a public charge point its a bit quicker being about 4 hours to get fully charged (7kw or quicker, about 8 miles per hour)

- the car is designed to be seriously restricted to a very slow speed regardless of how fast the charge point can work, which is a MAJOR drawback

2. The cost of charging at a public charge point is so variable as to be totally stupid - it can be FREE at some supermarkets or up to 25p per mile

- the 25p per mile chargers can charge at a rate of over 600 miles per hour, which is useless for the Superb which cannot benefit from the speed but still costs the same

- running on petrol only cost about 11p a mile (about 48 mpg on average)

- there are  FREE 7kw chargers at places like Tesco and Sainsbury, these will add about 7 miles of range in an hour, which is fine if you can do your shopping and have a meal in a cafe, otherwise it's not much use.

- FREE charges are also very difficult to find when touring the country on holiday, so not really that helpful, and the range added is not worth the time wasted.

3. The average range is too little to be of any real value in terms of reducing cost - I've averaged about 25 miles on a full charge, varying from 18 to 42 miles.

4. The Skoda app for controlling the charging remote is helpful for the 1st year being FREE, but is not worth the £80 for each year thereafter since the advertised map and software updates are not possible online and my car does not have a memory card reader, or CD unit to do it any other way.

5. My best all electric journey was 42 miles on full charge with a bit being added by the regen system. This was done in eco mode on a non-stop drive on a dual carriageway, at a speed of about 45 mph, in 6th gear, with virtually no acceleration, on a warm day with no wind, with no heating or cooling to use power.

- a more normal scenario around home is an average of about 25 miles, being with heating / cooling, stop start etc.

6. Driving in SPORT mode to charge the battery is a waste of fuel and creates more pollution than it saves.

- it better to drive in the driver selected "individual mode", and selecting some but not all of the sport features that stop the car using too much fuel and pollution

7. It's a real pain taking the time to plug in the cable in a public place in bad weather since virtually NONE of the locations are covered

- simply not worth the bother for a view miles of electric range

- in addition most of the FREE charging points are a long way from the door of the place that you want to go to

- plus there are virtually no signs to direct you to where the points are in the car park, so you have to drive around just looking

- many locations are either already in use (for many hours), or are being used by NON-Electric cars (people that can't read maybe

- or you waste 30 mins or so trying the get these things to work using one of dozens of different supplier apps

- or the thing are just faulty

8. Skoda are useless at diagnosing any faults on IV cars, including none IV related features such as map updates / serious SAT NAV issues

9. The setup of all the options in the car are far too complicated

10. The benefits of driving an electric car are lost because of the very limited range and very long charging times

11. Effectively it has been an expensive trial with really an otherwise great car.

12. I have been looking for an all electric car this year but decided that the cost for anything decent (same size as superb) is still far too high

- in part because the silly government decided to cut the grant this year, and will no doubt cut in again next year.

13. The lost luggage space and extra weight make the car less usable, which is common for all plug-in hybrids.

14. my best trip was where I managed 40 miles all electric PLUS another 8 miles from regen over a trip of about 100 miles.

 

Suggestions based on my experience:

1. Plug-in hybrids could be far better if the car makers supplied faster charging, and at least 80 miles of range (which would qualify for a grant)

2. Skoda need to get their act together to properly support IV drivers

3. Voice command needs a massive improvement - the current system is next to useless

4. The skoda SAT NAV system needs a re-think to be more like Tesla, and it MUST have monthly updates for maps including all new charge points

5. The Skoda connect app should be included for free for at least 3 years

6. The skoda app needs to be made more functional and be made reliable (currently fails too often)

7. Skoda needs to get the problems with basic SAT NAV functions sorted, now - I've had faults logged for over 6 months, with no fixes, or any date for a fix.

8. Skoda should never tell its customers to rely on non-Skoda apps to make up for Skoda failures on a car that costs over £41,000 (ZapMap)

 

Hope this is helpful

 

i've never seen the point of an iv, if i was going electric, it would be fully electric as better range

with an iv the car is always on a charge and if you dont charge it, you might as well have a diesel or petrol as it costs you more to run  as car is heavier.

iv cars are dearer to buy as well, so not for me

1 hour ago, 310golfr said:

i've never seen the point of an iv, if i was going electric, it would be fully electric as better range

with an iv the car is always on a charge and if you dont charge it, you might as well have a diesel or petrol as it costs you more to run  as car is heavier.

iv cars are dearer to buy as well, so not for me

That's pretty much my opinion too.

However it would also be nice if manufacturer's actually delivered 100% working versions of what was promised!

Just to add a slightly different perspective... I went from a 30kw Nissan Leaf to the Skoda Superb iV. I really wanted to stay electric but I also needed/wanted a bigger car for a growing family (height wise not number!). I'm 6ft 4 so not a lot space for someone behind the drivers seat. 

 

For a decent size electric car I was looking at what I considered an unaffordable amount of money. My work commute is 14 miles return journey and most of the family journeys are circa 20 miles with the odd 100/200 mile journey thrown in occasionally. The Superb iV ticked a lot of boxes for me and was a compromise from not going fully electric. I also much prefer the drive in e-mode vs hybrid. 

 

From a pure financial perspective an extra £4k after around 40k miles I would have saved circa £2.5k on the equivulent 2.0l petrol engine (performance wise electric motor in the iV plus the 1.4 petrol provides similar performance to the 2.0l petrol). So at face value on pure financial merit it does not stack up but factor in personal preference for the electric driving experience and the added bonus of zero emissions for approx 50% of my mileage I'm content. 

 

Also, when I bought mine, the iV was pretty much the same price as the 2.0 petrol so I was genuinely going to save £2.5k over the 40,000 miles.  I got an ex demo, 11 month old SEL with VC and reverse camera for £25k. I already had a home charger fitted from the Leaf so charging has been easy. 

11 hours ago, 310golfr said:

i've never seen the point of an iv, if i was going electric, it would be fully electric as better range

with an iv the car is always on a charge and if you dont charge it, you might as well have a diesel or petrol as it costs you more to run  as car is heavier.

iv cars are dearer to buy as well, so not for me

The current crop of PHEVs (plug-ins) COULD be the best of both, but only if car makers can get more all electric capacity.

The extremely high cost of the super fast chargers makes electric running much more expensive than petrol which is really silly, because this is the car makers solution for range anxiety.  For me, it makes electric cars far too costly for anything but small cars, which is no good for me.

Being able to fall back on combustion engine is not great for pollution, but 80 miles of battery with a reasonably fast charge (at maybe 22kwh) would be the best compromise, but this needs battery size / weight / capacity to improve quite a bit.

 

None plug-in hybrids do very little to reduce pollution since the petrol engine is running most of the time, unlike in a PHEV.

 

This is what you get when politics tells you that the pollution problem is caused by cars and you, as a good citizen, want to contribute to the health of the planet.

And let's pretend we don't know that industries can continue to pollute simply by trading emissions on the carbon market.

I'm sure the future will be electric, but today the choice is very limited and it is not within everyone's reach.
Until then, I still enjoy the smell of gasoline every time I start the car in my garage.

It's my opinion that, the current electric cars are NOT the final solution (maybe hydrogen will be better), because electric cars still create too much damage to the planet during production and in disposal. However for the time being, they offer the best solution to an immediate problem, hence my wish to at least do something to help, by going part electric.

What your opinion highlights, is the that our Government has got the whole strategy on saving the planet wrong, if they cannot convince you do to do anything more than knowingly continue to cause unnecessary pollution with your car.

Electric cars will be recycled in exactly the way ICE vehicles are and the batteries will be recycled and the materials recycled.

 

The UK Government know that Plug in Hybrids are a con if they have near no range on electric and many that got and get the Grants and the Tax breaks as Business Users were not charging cars and were still using liquid fuel, and had a higher fuel consumption driving a heavier cars.

 

@ERIK99Did you not realise you were joining in the kidology when getting a plug in hybrid which required rare materials for the battery it has?

Are you a business user getting a tax break to drive this low emission car which really is not low emissions on longer journeys?

Edited 6 October, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

PHEV are not the con that you describe. The concept is sound, it's the implementation that is poor.

All attempts to encourage NON-ICE vehicles should be made.

I accept that a PHEV for a business user may mean that they make no attempt to use the battery, and that maybe most of these car are sold to fleet buyer to be used as a "company" car, HOWEVER, that is still better than an ICE car without any scope for teaching drivers about the benefit of electric cars.

I am annoyed that the grant was removed on PHEV, which I did not get as a NON_Business user.

I'm using my own money to teach myself about the good and bad things about electric cars, before deciding when to convert to all electric.

No Electric car is pollution free over it's life cycle. They all suffer the same basic issues as ICE cars, but batteries will create a new problem, and cannot be fully recycled, however it is still a better solution than ICE only vehicles.

 

Absolutely they are a con that UK tax payers are helping to fund in many cases.  This is why the Grant was scrapped.  Mitsubishi Plug ins are a total disgrace and so are many other big fat inefficient hybrids currently on sale.     Batteries are being reused and have 2nd and 3rd lives after being used in EV,s.  Everything will eventually be economically recycled.  If they are stored back in the ground where the materials first came from there are smart people maybe not yet born that will achieve marvelous things.    Driving a Hybrid might give you as clue about public charging and the crazy differences but really not that much other than how various conditions affect power usage and getting efficient use of electricity that has to be generated someplace and currently that is expensive generation. 

Edited 6 October, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

Glad that you acknowledge my reasons for buying a reasonably good IV.

My comments relate to CURRENT plugin-hybrids.

Older version were dreadful at supplying battery only driving, however the current models provide a clear indication of what you get and I have found that mine delivers close to what I was led to believe and therefore is NOT a con.

My experience is limited to SKODA, however the idea is sound and should be developed to offset the serious issue of range anxiety that is preventing people like me from converting to all electric.

I have had my Superb IV for almost two months, and 2000 km.

I have reached an average fuel consumption of 200mpg/ 1.3litres/100km recently.

 

I bought this car, as I needed something “new” as my old car was not long for this world, and the wife wanted me to get a hybrid. I also wanted to avoid a diesel. For my use it is perfect. I have a 40km total commute, with a few more on top running around locally. This is achieved 100% electric. Of course, as colder weather comes, I may burn a little bit of fuel.

 

Yes, a faster charge rate would be nice, but I charge my car overnight. I researched the car before, and new that fast charging was not possible, so I am not disappointed. It charges happily from a 16A domestic socket, so there was no need for an expensive home charger.

 

The reasons I bought a PHEV?

The infrastructure is not fully in place to go 100% electric just yet, especially for my usual destinations.

I want the convenience of an ICE car for longer runs, with an EV for local travels. The superb gives me this.

A bit more range would be nice in electric mode, but I knew what to expect when I bought the car.

 

I have no misconception about this being a “green” car. It’s not. Am I saving the world by driving it? No. If I wanted to do that, I would not drive a car.

 

Mine was an ex-demonstrator, just over a year old when I got it, and I managed to get a reasonable deal on it, trading in my dead E46 320D with a government grant to sweeten the deal. I got mine for a similar price to a 2 litre petrol, and in some cases a diesel. The IV let’s me go into the low emissions zones, so it is convenient. It’s also quiet, and comfortable. That is all that I want.
 

Completely agree! 

So the 200mpg includes charging with paid electricity from the mains?

 

Why can't you or they not simply state how many mpg the vehicle is doing whilst it is actually running on the internal combustion engine?

 

If it was recharging free overnight from solar power (I know, I know!) or from the battery fairy then I could accept the 200mpg as a valid measure.

For the brief moments the ICE is working for me? Probably about 5 to 5.5 l/100km.

I did an 80km total trip at the weekend, and got average consumption of 2.7 l/100km and 3l/100km on the two 40 km sections.

If you have no battery power left, expect the economy to be similar to a 1.4/1.5 litre petrol car.

 

I did my calculations, and the car is slightly cheaper to run electric rather than petrol, assuming you can offset the higher purchase cost.

 

On the plus side, the instant torque available in sport mode is just silly.

 

My quick and dirty calculation against my E46 320D showed that a daily commute cost me between €3.50 and €4. The same commute in the Superb costs me €2. 

Edited 6 October, 20214 yr by CageyH

Off Peak electric in the UK can be as low as 5 pence a kWh. 

Even if charging at 17- 20 pence a kWh that is OK if a kWh takes you say 3.5 miles.  8kWh x 18 pence £1.44.   

  8 x 3.5 miles 28 miles.     That is for less than a litre of petrol.

 

We will see how long the price of Electric stays low,  but then the price of Petrol or Diesel is not staying as it is now.

Edited 6 October, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

So calculating the overall fuel cost for my 2141 km driven, I have spent €43.14 on SP95 and €49.85 on electrons. So about €93 for 2141 km driven in my ownership, so about €4.30 per 100km, compared to €7.75 on SP95 at an estimated 5l/100km.

 

This is based on the actual consumption of my car, and the prices of today.

Edited 6 October, 20214 yr by CageyH

@ERIK99 I know you say you like it and chose it for the right reasons but that doesn't come across in your review.  Just sounds like you should have bought an EV. I think you are expecting too much from the charging capability of the car.

 

For me the benefits are EV features like preheating and EV (less expensive) driving. Plus then you can chuck in some Dino juice (if you can find it) and drive further afield.

When I got home from work yesterday I had done 955 miles on the current fill and still had half a tank.

 

Embrace the benefits, not criticise the downfalls.

MarkyG82

To be able get what I wanted from an EV 2 years ago, I needed to know more than just he hype about the low cost running of an EV, which I now know is hype since it still costs more to run an EV for 3 years than the equivalent petrol car.

2 years ago what was on offer for a car the size of a Superb cost over £50,000 - silly money, hence buying the PHEV from Skoda since I knew and liked the Superb in diesels already.

What I have now, Superb IV L&K is a great car (apart from some software bugs) since it has convinced me that the UK is not yet a good place to rely on electric only in a car the size I need, especially since the grant has now been removed from all the cars that can do over 300 miles which is the minimum I will accept as viable given the cost and poor availability of charging points away from home. 

The PHEV allows me to do lots of small trips all electric when at home which is compromise that I have accepted since it has saved me a lot of pain (and money) buying the wrong EV.

My current view is that I need to wait another few years until true cost of an EV of the size I need gets to be about the same as a petrol car, and the charging network is far more reliable and available in locations other than motorways and main trunk roads.

Another new problem though, is that if electricity prices keep going up, the main financial benefit will be substantially reduced.

 

 

PHEVs do work with caveats.  

 

If you have a quite consistent commute within the EV range or a bit above, you win. If you do a lot of multiple short trips like school runs, you win. 

 

Both above assumes you also need a car for longer journeys during the weekends and can only afford one car. Also assumes you can charge at home on the cheap. 

So yes, lots of caveats but certainly within a lot of people's use case. Ability to preheat in winter is a bonus I guess. 

 

I would do well with one but then, I drive maybe 3-4k max a year so I rather bomb around in my 4x4 280 while I can. 

@ERIK99 I think what encouraged me to respond initially was that you seem to be coming at it from an EV point of view and concentrating on the public charging network.  A PHEV isn't really the car to be testing that setup.

Your initial review feels very negative that's all.  Agree that EVs are still very expensive for the size/mileage.  I was looking at the Enyaq which would have suited me fine but ended up spending half the cost on a Passat GTE which is giving me 85% of the benefits for much less outlay in a package that I was more familiar with.

Hi MarkyG82.

 

Thks for the explanation.

 

I didn't note above that I also hired an ID4 for 8 days so my comments also reflected that usage as well as m PHEV.

 

However, for someone wanting a safe introduction to EVs, without the risk and much higher cost, a PHEV is perfect, since you can experience almost all of the same issues that you might have with an EV, without being too worried to go a long distance and get stuck at a charge point with no battery only to find that it's not working, which I almost had with the ID4 in Cornwall.  I had to wait for 2 hours to get someone to get the only charge point for 20 miles to be made operational.

And how long did you have to wait for the battery to charge?

The charger was a 50KW unit so quite quick compared to my car which can only do 3kw per hour.

 

We only needed another 50 miles to get to our holiday site so it only too about another hour to get what we needed.

 

When we got to the caravan we were able to use a slow speed cable on a 13amp plug to charge up overnight.

 

 

5 hours ago, ERIK99 said:

Hi MarkyG82.

 

Thks for the explanation.

 

I didn't note above that I also hired an ID4 for 8 days so my comments also reflected that usage as well as m PHEV.

 

However, for someone wanting a safe introduction to EVs, without the risk and much higher cost, a PHEV is perfect, since you can experience almost all of the same issues that you might have with an EV, 

 

You also get to experience a lot of the benefits. Cheap running, EV torque, not running out of fuel in a shortage.