Toyota Prius
Toyota’s Prius was one of the originals and has evolved as a standard among the hybrid petrol models on the Irish market. Toyota claims that the hybrid options offer equal economy to diesel power.
Some drivers may not agree as they struggle to achieve the economy figures that they had become used to with diesel engines in the Toyota ranges. There is no doubt that driving a hybrid car is very different to driving a diesel engine version.
Driving styles have to change and that means slower and more considerate driving, especially when on motorways where diesel-powered cars can cruise at 2,000rpm on the engine and still reach the legal limit of 120km/hr. You will not achieve that economy with a hybrid car.
This latest Prius brings CO2 emission levels to a new low for Toyota at 70g/km. That’s possibly the lowest CO2 rating of any car, other than a full electric model.
The Prius is impressively smooth, without the fear of range anxiety. The car’s suspension has been improved and it handles smaller rural roads with ease.
This new Prius comes with an economy rating of 33km/litre (3.0l/100km or 94mpg), which is hugely impressive. The entry price is €32,250 or £23,295 in Northern Ireland. The new Prius is a diesel car competitor, but not when it comes to towing ability.
The new Nissan Leaf is attractive, spacious and great to drive despite a shortage of charging points.
Nissan Leaf
I took the Nissan Leaf for a lengthy driving challenge when I had it this time last year and clocked up over 1,200km in one week behind the wheel of this all-electric car.
The car’s performance is impressive as the new electric drive system delivers 150bhp (110kW) of power and 320Nm of torque, a match for most cars in this size category. With this comes improved acceleration performance where you get a 7.9 second from 0km/hr to 100 km/hr acceleration. The Nissan Leaf claims to deliver a range of up to 378km on a single charge; a 50% increase over the previous generation Leaf. Charging time is about 7.5 hours from alert to 100% with a 7Kw wall-box, one of which I have at home.
This new Nissan Leaf comes with lots of other Intelligent Mobility technology, including ProPILOT which is very effective on motorway driving as it automatically adjusts the speed to match that of the traffic ahead.
The entry prices start at €28,690 after the Government grant of €5,000. This is a real car with good comfort, great handling and a decent boot. Running costs are minimal; an overnight home charge will cost you no more than €3 for a 400km-plus driving range.
The new Volkswagen e-Golf offers impressive driving ability.
Volkswagen e-Golf
Volkswagen’s e-Golf, fully electric car comes at a price premium over the diesel cars. The e-Golf offers mainstream styling to an electric power.
Volkswagen has put a large electric-powered unit that develops 136bhp under the bonnet. I was impressed with the rated range of over 240km, making it an accessible option for most cross-country drives.
The e-Golf handled the rural roads with the same ease as its combustion engine counterparts.
The e-Golf has all of the driving attributes of the petrol or diesel models, apart from the towing ability. Acceleration is impressively fast and smooth.
Volkswagen has neatly packaged the e-Golf which loses about 40 litres of boot space over the standard Golf, while it is marginally longer and sits on a similar wheelbase.
The Volkswagen e-Golf entry prices start at €36,770 (€45,995 before grants) or £28,230 (£32,730 before grants) in Northern Ireland. There is about a €5,000 buying price difference between a 1.6-litre Golf turbo-diesel and its electric counterpart.
Volkswagen claims that running costs from the e-Golf are almost half those of a Golf diesel.
The new Ford Mondeo Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is a very impressive car to drive, with new levels of economy, lower emissions and comparable value with a diesel version.
Ford Mondeo
Ford has stepped up to the hybrid car challenge with the big Mondeo. The car is the first of a number of new hybrid and electric-drive cars and vans that Ford has in its pipeline of models up to 2020.
The Ford Mondeo Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is a big car. For the Mondeo, HEV Ford has merged a 2.0-litre petrol engine with an electric-drive system that uses two electric motors.
One of these motor drives the wheels to support the smooth petrol engine, while the other provides regenerative charging to the 1.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack in the boot area.
Ford claims that the Mondeo HEV is capable of driving at up to 135km/h in electric mode. The automatic gearbox and hybrid drive combination gives very smooth driving.
Ford claims that this hybrid gives the Mondeo HEV a fuel consumption rate of 24km/litre (4.2l/100km or 67mpg). With the Mondeo HEV Ford has provided all of the benefits of lower emissions in a big car that’s affordable to run compared with traditional diesels. The Mondeo space is retained apart from the battery storage intrusion in the boot area.
The hybrid drive Mondeo is only available in four-door format and in either Titanium or Vignale specification.
The entry price is €34,080 and you get a lot of car in the Mondeo HEV for that price.
Toyota Prius
Toyota’s Prius was one of the originals and has evolved as a standard among the hybrid petrol models on the Irish market. Toyota claims that the hybrid options offer equal economy to diesel power.
Some drivers may not agree as they struggle to achieve the economy figures that they had become used to with diesel engines in the Toyota ranges. There is no doubt that driving a hybrid car is very different to driving a diesel engine version.
Driving styles have to change and that means slower and more considerate driving, especially when on motorways where diesel-powered cars can cruise at 2,000rpm on the engine and still reach the legal limit of 120km/hr. You will not achieve that economy with a hybrid car.
This latest Prius brings CO2 emission levels to a new low for Toyota at 70g/km. That’s possibly the lowest CO2 rating of any car, other than a full electric model.
The Prius is impressively smooth, without the fear of range anxiety. The car’s suspension has been improved and it handles smaller rural roads with ease.
This new Prius comes with an economy rating of 33km/litre (3.0l/100km or 94mpg), which is hugely impressive. The entry price is €32,250 or £23,295 in Northern Ireland. The new Prius is a diesel car competitor, but not when it comes to towing ability.
The new Nissan Leaf is attractive, spacious and great to drive despite a shortage of charging points.
Nissan Leaf
I took the Nissan Leaf for a lengthy driving challenge when I had it this time last year and clocked up over 1,200km in one week behind the wheel of this all-electric car.
The car’s performance is impressive as the new electric drive system delivers 150bhp (110kW) of power and 320Nm of torque, a match for most cars in this size category. With this comes improved acceleration performance where you get a 7.9 second from 0km/hr to 100 km/hr acceleration. The Nissan Leaf claims to deliver a range of up to 378km on a single charge; a 50% increase over the previous generation Leaf. Charging time is about 7.5 hours from alert to 100% with a 7Kw wall-box, one of which I have at home.
This new Nissan Leaf comes with lots of other Intelligent Mobility technology, including ProPILOT which is very effective on motorway driving as it automatically adjusts the speed to match that of the traffic ahead.
The entry prices start at €28,690 after the Government grant of €5,000. This is a real car with good comfort, great handling and a decent boot. Running costs are minimal; an overnight home charge will cost you no more than €3 for a 400km-plus driving range.
The new Volkswagen e-Golf offers impressive driving ability.
Volkswagen e-Golf
Volkswagen’s e-Golf, fully electric car comes at a price premium over the diesel cars. The e-Golf offers mainstream styling to an electric power.
Volkswagen has put a large electric-powered unit that develops 136bhp under the bonnet. I was impressed with the rated range of over 240km, making it an accessible option for most cross-country drives.
The e-Golf handled the rural roads with the same ease as its combustion engine counterparts.
The e-Golf has all of the driving attributes of the petrol or diesel models, apart from the towing ability. Acceleration is impressively fast and smooth.
Volkswagen has neatly packaged the e-Golf which loses about 40 litres of boot space over the standard Golf, while it is marginally longer and sits on a similar wheelbase.
The Volkswagen e-Golf entry prices start at €36,770 (€45,995 before grants) or £28,230 (£32,730 before grants) in Northern Ireland. There is about a €5,000 buying price difference between a 1.6-litre Golf turbo-diesel and its electric counterpart.
Volkswagen claims that running costs from the e-Golf are almost half those of a Golf diesel.
The new Ford Mondeo Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is a very impressive car to drive, with new levels of economy, lower emissions and comparable value with a diesel version.
Ford Mondeo
Ford has stepped up to the hybrid car challenge with the big Mondeo. The car is the first of a number of new hybrid and electric-drive cars and vans that Ford has in its pipeline of models up to 2020.
The Ford Mondeo Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is a big car. For the Mondeo, HEV Ford has merged a 2.0-litre petrol engine with an electric-drive system that uses two electric motors.
One of these motor drives the wheels to support the smooth petrol engine, while the other provides regenerative charging to the 1.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack in the boot area.
Ford claims that the Mondeo HEV is capable of driving at up to 135km/h in electric mode. The automatic gearbox and hybrid drive combination gives very smooth driving.
Ford claims that this hybrid gives the Mondeo HEV a fuel consumption rate of 24km/litre (4.2l/100km or 67mpg). With the Mondeo HEV Ford has provided all of the benefits of lower emissions in a big car that’s affordable to run compared with traditional diesels. The Mondeo space is retained apart from the battery storage intrusion in the boot area.
The hybrid drive Mondeo is only available in four-door format and in either Titanium or Vignale specification.
The entry price is €34,080 and you get a lot of car in the Mondeo HEV for that price.
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