Motoring Discussion > PHEV? Car Deals
Thread Author: sherlock47 Replies: 34

 PHEV? - sherlock47
On second thoughts I have started a new thread!

Lygonos

IIRC that you had a MG before, what was the spares situation like? Come to that what was the whole MG experience like? I am just a little wary of potential for China supply line issues. Particularly if Taiwan kicks off.

I am possibly tempted to go down the PHEV route, but much of what is available to order is over 40k!

Does your other post (in 23 plates) mean there is a new MG waiting for a customer?

Any other input welcome. The Mitsubishi PHEV would have looked a possibility, but there confusion of "will we wont we will we" sell in the UK is somewhat confusing! many of the original dealers seem to have gone.
 PHEV? - zippy
>>Particularly if Taiwan kicks off...

I think we will all have more to worry about if it kicks off.
 PHEV? - smokie
I've had an MG5 EV (since Dec 21) and it's been fine so far, touch wood.

I've done about 11k miles in it - it was sufficiently low to qualify for the cheaper service (think I paid less than £50, and that included renewal of the MG AA membership).

The forums do have horror stories of long leadtimes for parts, and people unhappy with customer service, both in their local garage and at MG UK, but although they make a lot of noise I'd say most people of the forums are more than happy with their car.

The electric vehicle driving experience is so much better than ICE cars, once you are used to it, and if you can get the boy racer out of your system (they are very quick off the mark, which can be a lot of fun, when some £80k Audi tries to race you away!!).

I would say that a home charger is pretty essential these days to keep the cost low. I pay 7.5p per kWh overnight, each of which which takes me somewhere between 3 and 4 miles, depending on how I drive and he time of year...

You may remember I previously had a Vx Ampera which had a fully electric range of 30 - 40 miles or thereabouts which is adequate for much of the local driving I do these days, and wanted to shift that due to potential parts difficulties in the fullness of time. I didn't expect to be able to afford a new EV but the MG was cheap enough - even though it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of those costing tens of thousands more, which I can live without. It is still a pretty decent spec.

EDIT: there is a facelift MG5 but it's more than £8k above what I paid so I'm not about to change! It does have a few of the things people get excited about these days, like an app and LED headlights, which mine doesn't. I think there are dealerships with ready-to-drive away stock. If you decide to go for one and can't find one I have contact with a couple of MG dealers so let me know.
Last edited by: smokie on Fri 10 Mar 23 at 13:59
 PHEV? - Lygonos
Have done 37k miles in a 69-plate ZS EV 44kWh (2 services, no repairs), and 10k in a 22-plate ZS EV 73kWh since July - no issues.

From the Facebook page (9000+ members) there can be delays in some parts especially after smashes, but nothing more than I'd expect from other makes.


The FRV is getting a bit tatty (155k miles and needed a weld at last MOT) so we thought about a replacement - missus wants to drive electric* but I CBA recharging on a drive to Cambridge or S'hampton so decided to try the PHEV route (we had a BMW 225xe PHEV on lease for a couple of years which was fine but only had 15-20 mile EV range).

HS EV is a slightly bigger and better made version of the ZS. Good for 30-35 miles electric.

Haven't seen any reports of significant faults so pulled the trigger especially as there was almost immediate supply available (even if the wrong colour....)

Price was about a grand cheaper a month ago - www.new-car-discount.com/car/mg-motor-uk/hs-hatchback/hatchback/petrol-plugin-elec-hybrid/automatic/1.5-t-gdi-phev-exclusive-5dr-auto/20/


* - since Tesla dropped their prices closer to £40k the base Model Y seems more tempting with access to superchargers but insurance group 50 is a bit nippy.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Fri 10 Mar 23 at 14:27
 PHEV? - smokie
Dunno why I've wittered on about an EV when the question was about PHEVs. Still, some is relevant...
 PHEV? - Falkirk Bairn
A son replaced his Taycan at under 18 months.

1 week old - AC broken - loan car for 3 weeks awaiting parts
Minor niggles and waiting for parts

6 months - battery replaced after recall
12 months - battery replaced after it went in for a software upgrade - 2 weeks off road awaiting parts

December, January & February - trailered off roadside

He loved the car but unreliability made him change

Bought a Cayenne - 24mpg rather than 8p per KWh charging at home.
 PHEV? - Bobby
Just had a look at that HS. In theory it ticks most of my boxes for my next car ie. SUV phev , plenty room for the dog (why are all SUVs not supplied with concertina parcel shelf) electric range enough that would take care of 90% of my journeys but the option of the ICE there for the other 10%.
My problem is coming from a fully loaded BMW X1, the interior and kit seems sparse. I think this will be a challenge I will find no matter what my next car is.
Sunroof I could live without I guess, but BMW is the first car I have had with Heads Up Display and I would definitely miss that.
And I see the HS mentions 360 degree camera parking, but it doesn’t seem to have front parking sensors (I am old fashioned that I like to park using my eyes on mirrors etc and listening to beeps with my ears, rather than staring at a screen in middle of dashboard).
And also old fashioned that I always want a spare wheel of sorts, is there room for one?
 PHEV? - Mr Moo
Do BMW not do an X1 PHEV?
 PHEV? - Lygonos
>>the interior and kit seems sparse

For under 30 grand it's as loaded as you can find. Full suite of safety crap including rear cross-traffic warning.

Radar cruise control with MG's autopilot style lane control.

Infotainment is not brilliant but comes with AA/Apple Carplay which makes it much more useful if you have to play with tech.

The stock linked above have pano tilt/slide roof - I think MG has stopped fitting sunroofs to all of their cars currently being built though including ZS EV.

No room for a spare wheel unlike ZS EV as the PHEV has gubbins under the boot floor (inc 12V battery)

No front sensors but the camera is ok and if you scrape the front you should hang your keys up :-)

Handful of reviews out there - all say much the same: not brilliant but better than expected.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_tSDvrYsmI
 PHEV? - Bobby
Does the key for the keyless entry stop transmitting or do you need faraday pouches??
 PHEV? - Lygonos
You need to be within a metre or two of the car for it to work.

Not sure how many people steal MGs to be fair )
 PHEV? - Crankcase
I have a Skoda Superb PHEV. L&K so all the toys.

With our usage pattern I go about 1000 miles between petrol fill ups.

When the battery finally gets completely flat on a long journey (takes about 200 miles for that if you let it manage it itself) so you are on petrol only, it returns about 55 to 60mpg for the petrol only bit.

When there is still some battery, expect 80 to 150.

If you are only travelling about 25 to 40 miles depending on winter or summer, then it's all battery and no petrol. It then reports, for some reason, 313mpg.

It harvests electric miles amazingly. Went to Scotland last week. Cold, so it told me at the start I would get 25 miles of battery. After 330 miles, it told me I'd actually got 72.

As to the MG cars, I got rid of my Huawei phone when I found how much stuff was being "secretly" sent to China and Russia over my WiFi.

I looked briefly to see if MG are sending stuff to China. First Google surfaced an article about poor security in IT terms in the cars, but I didn't look hard or for others.

Are there any real concerns the car is "snooping", given, I imagine, it also has access to your phone?
 PHEV? - Bobby
Crankcase, that’s interesting stats.

Friend of a friend has a Kuga PHEV. Think it has a range of about 40 but had claimed to get far more than that on a long journey and I assumed they were talking nonsense. Obviously from what you are saying there is some sort of regeneration or whatever goes on to extend it. Actually the Kuga might tick my boxes as well.

After your comment on the Superb I looked up the Octavia estate- that would work out to be a great vehicle for the dog. But my wife hates the Octavia from the days that every taxi was one!
 PHEV? - smokie
The Ampera had some KERS regeneration but really it was negligible in the scheme of things. You could force a half empty battery to recharge some by putting it in mountain mode but again I don;t think it was a very efficient use of petrol.

the mpg was pretty good when in petrol alone, maybe there was some assistance from the electric all the time but I don't think so.

SWMBO has a hybrid Yaris which was our first dip into electric powered cars and I expected it to run for a (very) few miles on electric only but it does about four yards from standing before the engine kicks in. The mpg isn't too bad so I suppose they'd say the electricity was providing assistance all the time. No plug in so the electricity is solely what it generates itself.
 PHEV? - bathtub tom
>> SWMBO has a hybrid Yaris which was our first dip into electric powered cars and
>> I expected it to run for a (very) few miles on electric only but it
>> does about four yards from standing before the engine kicks in.

Is that so the engine's warmed up in case you want to give it some welly and it doesn't have to deliver it with a cold engine?
 PHEV? - smokie
Dunno, I wsas quite disappointed when we got it that it didn't work on electric only.
 PHEV? - bathtub tom
>> Dunno, I wsas quite disappointed when we got it that it didn't work on electric
>> only.

I think you'll find that it will, just not from cold due to the reason above and also to ensure the batteries (particularly the troublesome 12V AGM, have sufficient charge).
I'm getting this from the Yaris forum, although mine's pure petrol.
 PHEV? - smokie
Had it years now (16 reg, we got it at about a year old, new 12v last year) and it's never really done it. At first I assumed a fault but then I lost interest :-)
 PHEV? - Dog
All ewe ever wanted to know about hybrids, but were a faraday to ask;

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-11844255/Hybrid-cars-need-know-run-road.html
 PHEV? - Crankcase
To give a flavour of reality:

Just did a 32 mile journey. I had 26 miles EV range at the start.

My choice was either do 26 miles of battery, then it would switch to petrol for seven miles

Or push the auto button so let it manage the run. I did that.

So it decided to run the engine for six miles on the motorway, used electricity through all the villages, scavenged miles back, and on my drive I now still have ten miles of battery range left.


If you use the nav, as I did, it knows the route so can plan and switch power sources appropriately.
 PHEV? - smokie
That's come on a bit since my (2011 designed) Ampera - which didn't even have satnav let alone a method of managing itself.

Though I'd be a bit tee'd off to have spent on petrol when there were still 6 miles of leccy left when I got home :-)
 PHEV? - Boxsterboy
I thought these PHEVs only made sense for company car tax-dodgers? When you’re driving using the ICE you’re lugging round a heavy battery with the economy and packaging penalties that entails. Yes the electric motor is helpful for what, 30 miles or so? But if you only drive shortish distances surely an EV would make more sense for the money?

I remember reading about the buyer of a used E-class hybrid that needed a new battery after 4 years. Not covered under warranty and the cost rendered it an economic write-off.
 PHEV? - zippy
>>I thought these PHEVs only made sense for company car tax-dodgers?

Only slightly. The real tax winners are the pure EVs which have a ridiculously low BIK rate.
 PHEV? - bathtub tom
>> When you’re driving using the ICE you’re lugging round a heavy battery with the economy >> and packaging penalties that entails.

That used to bother me, but I understand Toyota use the 'Atkinson cycle' for the ICE. Lower power output than 'Otto cycle', but better economy. I'm sure there must be more tricks up their sleeve other than just brake regeneration to achieve such high figures.
 PHEV? - Bobby
>>Not sure how many people steal MGs to be fair )

With the comments further up, Pretty sure there will be demand for the parts.

 PHEV? - legacylad
This thread has made me more determined than ever to own an old 911 before I croak.
They say never meet your heroes but that’s a chance I’m willing to take.
Now..if only the second hand price collapsed..
 PHEV? - Zero
>> This thread has made me more determined than ever to own an old 911 before
>> I croak.
>> They say never meet your heroes but that’s a chance I’m willing to take.

That was the kind of thinking that prompted me to get a big 6cyl petrol engine car. It wasnt the sensible choice by any means, but he writing was on the wall for fast petrol cars, so I looked at the future, and decided it would be a an enjoyable last hurrah until the new technology and infrastructure was ready to be convenient and practical. Its not yet.

 PHEV? - Lygonos

HS has just arrived.

Called Direct Line to switch the insurance from a 13yr old tatty FRV to a brand new 30 grand car.

No extra charge (still about 5 months to go on policy).

First impressions: wow the front seats are good.

Will take it for a decent run later.
 PHEV? - Zero
www.saicmotor.com/e/latest_news/mg/50958.shtml

I'd have though all those Hormones would have made it a bit more of a risk.....
 PHEV? - legacylad
www.autoexpress.co.uk/vauxhall/104945/vauxhall-chevette-2300-hs-and-hsr-buying-guide-and-review-1978-1981?amp

My kind of HS …
 PHEV? - Dog
'ope it's not an automatic, guv.

"hampered by a horrible automatic gearbox: it’s so sluggish that you could brew a cup of tea in the time it takes to change gears"

www.carwow.co.uk/mg/hs
 PHEV? - Videodoctor
I drive a Kia Xceed PHEV same as this one.

www.autoexpress.co.uk/kia/ceed/107781/kia-xceed-plug-in-hybrid

34 miles of pure electric charge costing me 70p for the 2-3 hour charge overnight.
Once the petrol engine kicks in I have seen 60-70 MPG so carrying heavy batteries doesn't seem to impact the economy.

It a fantastic car to drive and with a 7 year warranty it has peace of mind as well.
Highly recommended.
 PHEV? - sherlock47

>>
>> First impressions: wow the front seats are good.
>>
>> Will take it for a decent run later.
>>

How were your impression after a longish run?

I had a quick look at one on a forecourt, the problem for me is headroom on getting in. Long body short legs :) Requires more neck bend than even the old Panda!

Nobody bit on my original question about wtf are Mitsubishi upto?

There has been some press comment in the last few days that PHEVs are having an upsurge in sales this year. That was denied by both MG, Kia and Hyundai salesmen, they all said that they sold very few cf Hybrids.
 PHEV? - Lygonos
Mitsubishi are pulling out of the UK I thought.

Further impressions: seats are only average and took a while to get comfy (6'5", long of limb)

Plenty of headroom as long as seat toward lower level of travel, but seat squab doesn't tilt, simply goes up and down.

Drives well, plenty of shove. Handling is average. Infotainment is clunky and slow but works with AA and Carplay.

Build quality is as good as anything from Japan or lower echelon Germans, and Euro NCAP shows a pretty safe car. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyGD3atT3kU

Heating is done via the ICE rather than an electric element so the engine fires up on starting if you want to demist/heat the cabin. Once warmed up it shuts off, and can be kept off using the EV button.

The electric motor is 110bhp or so, so can propel the car perfectly well - add in the 160bhp ICE and overtaking is brisk even at motorway speeds.

Bottom line: Decent car, reasonable EV range. If you don't need the ICE backup, the ZS EV is a superior drive (mine does 200 winter and 250+ summer miles so for bopping around Scotland is perfectly adequate).

I thought the 225xe was a better execution of PHEV albeit with lower electric range but they're still very pricey and the newest ones are well over £40k.
 PHEV? - Zero
>> Mitsubishi are pulling out of the UK I thought.

Have pulled out, a wee while back now. Used cars only and servicing / support (good luck with finding a service centre near you, wherever you are)
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