There’s nothing better than knowing there are some solutions to helping the British car drivers in making savings on running costs as car owners. One such cost-saving to be made is through hybrid cars. More and more people in the UK are buying used electric cars and used hybrid cars because of the amazing benefits they have, not only for the environment but also for your pockets too. The savings to be made can be as much as half that of a petrol or diesel car.
As we all know, the terms electric cars and hybrid cars have been floating around for some time but have only recently been taking off big time after it was announced by the UK government that certain climate change targets had to be met, and in order to do so many countries had to put bans on the manufacturing of new fossil fuel cars such as petrol and diesel.
To help you decide on dipping your toes with hybrid, it’s handy to know what the various types of hybrid cars are and what would suit you best.
First, of all let’s quickly look at electric cars with a quick overview.
Electric cars
An electric car (EV) only runs on electric power alone and is classified as a zero emissions (ZE) vehicle which gets all its power from just electric sources, such as charging points at homes, public, and rapid charging stations across the country. In the near future, there are plans made for wireless charging points. The electric power inside the car is stored in batteries.
Hybrid cars
There are various types of hybrid cars. When hybrid cars are mentioned, it usually means a combination of a petrol engine and an electric motor. Meaning the car uses both electricity stored in the batteries, and the fuel in the tank to run the car. There are hybrid cars where the petrol engine is only used to recharge the batteries which in turn power the electric motors.
In other hybrid cars, the petrol engine powers the wheels directly, but it’s possible to achieve zero-emissions driving using the battery and motor combined.
Mild hybrid
A term commonly used to describe a hybrid system that is powerful enough to drive the wheels on its own steam, but instead works in conjunction with the engine, so it assists the engine if harder acceleration is required, also makes the stop-start system a lot smoother. In other makes, like the Audi, the mild hybrid system works by letting the car’s engine turn off for short periods of time and just coast, the system turns back on and starts again when you press the accelerator pedal. There are also hybrids out there that shut down the engine as soon as the car has come to a halt, braked, or is coasting.
Bear in mind that, this system means you can’t run the car on electric alone, so CO2 emissions won’t be as low as a plug-in hybrid or obviously a zero-emission electric car.
Parallel hybrid
A prime example of one of the best-known and most popular hybrid cars has to be the Toyota Prius, this hybrid car uses the parallel hybrid system. The car can either be powered directly by the electric motor alone, by the engine solely or by a combination of the two working parallel together. What the Prius also does is. It uses its electric motor at low speeds up to 15mph, and while pulling away from a stationary position. The clever system in this car actually uses braking or deceleration as a form of producing power which is then stored back for later use. The range when driving electric only is approximately 1.5 miles.
Plug-in hybrid
This system is basically what it says on the tin, a hybrid car that you plug in to recharge its batteries. This system can also use regenerative braking which produces electricity to recharge the batteries. Plug-in hybrid cars have a ‘normal’ engine and batteries but have the ability to travel longer distances powered by electric alone. The average distance is around 15 to 30 miles.
Range extender hybrid
This is primarily a hybrid car with both a small petrol engine and a battery. In this case, the engine is only used as a generator that produces energy to continually recharge the battery, rather than to power the wheels. A prime example of this type of system is a car made by BMW called the i3S. The small petrol engine enables the car to travel an extra 90 miles compared to the BMW i3 model.
Where can you buy a quality used hybrid car?
At WOO Carz in Southampton, we pride ourselves on being one of the best family-run used car dealerships in the country. Why you may ask. Mainly because we were one of the first to offer free deliveries throughout the UK, and this was even before the likes of lockdowns and quarantines were imposed. We have been offering a full contactless service through our website, enabling our customers to view all our stocks, plus finding quality used cars, used hybrids, and used electric cars which need to be sourced through our national network of partners and contacts in the industry.
As authorised and regulated by the FCA, (626798) we work with a number of carefully selected credit providers who may be able to offer you car finance, in some cases regardless of your credit file status. We can even settle your current finance on your old car and help you to upgrade to a newer used car, a used hybrid car or a used electric car.
To find out more about our current offers and best deals, call us on 02380225666 and speak to one of our friendly advisors. Or to apply now for a quick decision on car finance, click here now to see if you get approved on the same day.