Kia EV6 or Sorento plug in hybrid ?

yes i would also like to read what they had to say and what issues they came across that's made them turn back to a diesel, i guess i am going to after buy the magazine though 

I did read your Very Long Post and found it quite informative obviously everyone's journeys are going to be different and the various routes we take with flat roads and hills will make them all different but its definitely given me a good idea of what i could expect.    

I don't have any specific knowledge of the Kia but before you purchase any PHEV for towing, double and triple check a tow bar can be fitted to the vehicle.  I'm currently stuck with a Peugeot 3008 Hybrid, which is perfectly capable of towing my caravan but I cannot get a tow bar fitted due to the placement of the batteries in the boot.

I'm currently looking for a seasonal spot for my caravan and somebody else to take it there 

Thats not great for you at all hope you get sorted soon, if i was ordering a PHEV it was one of three which were Kia Sorento , Toyota Rav 4 or the Ford Kuga all of which can be ordered with a factory fit tow bar some deployable some detachable so i am covered there and i am sure the EV6 comes as factory fit too but would need to check.

Indeed - and keep that in mind. Each and every journey is different. One terrible outing (or one successful one) does not prove a case either way.

I had an awful journey up to the lakes towing the caravan in the XC90 one year. Some MDF fell off an open transit tipper on the M1 just before the A50 Junction. There was no avoiding it with a truck on the inside and cars on the outside, so we went over it. As we got onto the A50, the engine lost power and died, fortunately as I passed a refuge under J1. The MDF had hit the diesel filter and sheared its mount off. We were recovered by Mayday / Greenflag to Derby, where they managed to get a part same day, and got us on our way - 7 hours later! 

There you go.

We tow around circa 5000 miles in a normal season and this year have planned trips including 450 miles each way to Inverness, 350 each way to Cornwall and about 1,000 each way to Austria. Next year we are planning CZ Republic with the caravan, a country which has about 80 charging points….. The Inverness trip we will do in a single days haul with an anticipated 200 ish miles between 5 minute refills (the tank is only 10gals) that do not require the caravan detaching. it will be a long time before EV works for me but each to their own. 

I'm not sure why Ross Baker was that surprised that the range of the leccy eTron was halved with a caravan on the back, my diseasal ML350 isn't far off that. I can eek it out to 35/36mpg if I drive it carefully on a run on the motorway but with my large caravan on the back it's 21/22mpg

As ED says, the drop in range is fully to be expected. The problem Mr Baker had was believing the salesman. However, I think he does have valid concerns. Whenever we stop with in an MSA (with EV or pre-EV) we would never leave it completely unattended, and carry that strategy forward. Having dedicated EV + Caravan charging bays would be ideal, but I am under no illusion that EV + Caravan is way off the priority list at the moment, so un-hithcing is what we have. 

And Flatcoat - I agree with you - for 5K towed miles a year, an EV is not yet ready for what you do, especially if you are doing > 340/350 miles in a day. On our 258 mile trip to the lakes we could have done one more charge and an extra 90 miles but, it makes for a long day. Having said that, years ago ,after our first 8 hour tow from South Northants to Bamburgh, and then 8 more hours to Kyle the next day, I vowed never to tow for that long in one day again. 

In the article - I agree with Ian, the editor, that there is lots to be done, and I think he takes a positive stance. I would be very interested to hear if he gets any feedback from the charging operators. 

ok so taking all the points made since i started this post i have made a list of my typical year 

• solo driving 6000 miles about 4000 of them are just around town driving
• towing driving about 2000 miles most weekend rips are 75 miles each way 1 long trip 380 miles each way
• i can have a charging box on the side of the house so can charge on my driveway

i average 44mpg solo driving on a mix of roads and can easily get 56mpg on a run and with the caravan on the back i average around 32 mpg which is 1448 fully laden.

looking at what i have learned from peoples experience which does vary depending on distance they want to travel which in turn will dictate how many stops will need to be made for charging i was swaying more towards a PHEV mainly because of my 4000 miles of town driving which is never over 40mph however my gut feeling is telling me to buy another diesel and wait a few more years to see how our EV charging infostructure grows and if caravaners are given dedicated charge points in motorway services, i would imagine that over that time we may see better range when towing as the technology develops.

it would also be interesting to see how these EV cars fair when they are 5 / 6 years old with say 60k of miles on and any effect on the EVmotors after towing caravans after 10k or more i am sure this will all be fine but its not yet a proven,

As a comparison experiment, I thought I would put together a quick spreadsheet to figure out the fuel costs on EV vs PHEV (petrol) vs Diesel just see how they each fair. Of course this is just the fuel costs. You have to figure in capital,  VED, servicing, depreciation etc. But it gives a rough idea based on the mileage and MPG from above. Take it with a very large pinch of salt!

Mitsubishi Outlander 2.4 PHEV June 2020, we do approximately 2,000 miles a year towing total running costs 11,081 miles £852.50