With the growth in enquiries and demand for alternative fuelled cars, a common question we get is, what is the difference between hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
A great many more people are enquiring about electric leasing and hybrid leasing for their next vehicle, whether this be a car, or van and whether it be for personal, or business use. There is a lot of detailed information to get your head around.
So, what is a hybrid vehicle? A hybrid vehicle is one that has two sources of power. A petrol engine and an electric motor. The electric motor gives you around 30 miles of range. Most people who are considering hybrid vehicles have travel patterns which blend short local journeys with longer journeys. You might drive just a few miles to the local supermarket, or into town. But maybe drive more miles to get to work or visit relatives. (A mild hybrid only uses the electric battery to support the petrol engine during acceleration and cruising)
When you use up the battery charge held by a hybrid vehicle, the petrol engine recharges the battery as you drive.
A plug-in hybrid also has a petrol engine and an electric motor. It also has a range of around 30 miles when driven with the electric motor. But the difference is that you can plug-in your car to recharge the battery. It does not rely on the petrol engine to recharge the electric motor. You literally have a cable that goes from the vehicle to a plug-in electric socket.
So why does this matter?
If your travel needs require you to do multiple short journeys and only occasional long journeys, the plug-in hybrid will probably work better for you than the hybrid. That’s because after one or two short journeys you will need to plug-in to recharge. But if you don’t have that function on your car, that is, no ability to plug-in, you will have to go for a long drive to recharge the battery.
If most of your travel is local with just an occasional long journey the plug-in hybrid is probably going to work better for you.
Where can you plug-in?
This is a big topic of debate amongst consumers, industry bodies and government at all levels. We’ll discuss this more fully in another blog, but suffice to say most supermarkets, car parks, venue parking areas have places to plug in. If you have a drive of any size outside your home, you can install an electric plug-in socket. There are more street parking plug-in devices being installed all the time with plans to put in many more over the next year.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the choices of hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles available, please don’t hesitate to contact our team, who are here to help. We get questions about electric leasing as well as on all types of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, so please call or email anytime.
Read more abouyt plug-in hybrids here
Read more about hybrids here