Kia EV6 or Sorento plug in hybrid ?

Good to have real numbers Oscarmax - I assume that is pre-energy crisis numbers? (i.e. 5p/kwh Go, or 20p/kwh normal rate, and more like 130p/l unleaded?

 

Thank you for that its very helpful C T 

i thought i would keep looking before making my mind up on what to buy next so i went for a 2hour test drive in a Ford Kuga PHEV it was a top spec model and the sales guy had fully charged it for me, i after say this drove beautifully so quite and smooth the ev side on things works really well and as plenty of pull don’t get me wrong its not a Tesla but still pulls very well at first i had it in EV only and then changed it to HEV so it could call on the 2.5 litre petrol engine if it need it which it did kick in a couple of times throughout the 50 miles we drove however when it does you don’t know unless you look at the display its really seamless when it cuts in and out.

also the mpg was a real eye opener so when we set off we had 35miles of ev only range however when we returned back to the dealership we still had 9 miles left and we had driven 32m miles of EV only miles and the rest petrol so we did actually gain some EV miles and the total drive resulted in an average MPG of 156mpg wow that’s amazing.

i was really taken back by how good the Kuga PHEV was but still I don’t know what it would be like as a tow car however it does give me more confidence than i had originally thought. We hope to test drive the Kia EV6 next so will see how that fairs against the Kuga PHEV.

Hi all so just a quick update, i test drove the EV6 yesterday and oh Wow what a car its absolutely stunning the interior is up there with some of the best in this class and higher class imho and the drive is beautiful i couldn't believe how good it was i mean seriously good the power comes in three different modes Eco , Normal and Sport now Eco is really good for around town as you can pull away very smoothly and not gain to much on the car in front and with the regen braking you hardly use the brake pedal, the Normal mode is good for everything else with plenty of power on tap when you need it however the sport should be labelled lunatic mode i mean this is crazy fast  so all in all the car is fantastic and the build quality is too with an amazing amount of kit on all models, i test drove the GT Line S model but would probably go for the GT Line as i dont really need all the extra kit. The only issue we had with the car is the size of the boot now i dont mean its small for this size car but we have a German Shepard and because the boot is sloped we are unsure if its big enough for her to stand and move around a little so will be returning with the dog to see what shes like in there.

whilst we was there the sales guy introduced us to a Sportage 1.6 T GDi auto GT Line S FHEV and again this was well kitted out with everything you could ever want in a car and some, the big gain for us here was the boot size which is as much more room for the dog and is now also a serious contender for our next car however the only issue we have here is that will that 1.6 petrol engine be enough to tow a 1500kg caravan when the batteries are flat ?????????? yes it can tow 1650kg but how would that 1.6 petrol engine cope with lugging the caravan where as the EV6 feels like it could pull a train but i do realise this will reduce my range from 300 to 120 towing 

Unfortunately I am a very sad person I have kept a very detailed Excel spreadsheet from when we picked up the PHEV 22 months ago, it includes the current fuel prices.

We are still on the Octopus Go fixed tariff until 03/03/2023 5p off peak/13.72 peak and 25p a day rate. I am considering in the near future a Tesla battery bank, Octopus tesla has a fixed 12p kW rate for both import and export ?

 

I strongly recommend you try a RAV4 PHEV before committing. The real world EV range is much better than the Ford or Kia/Hyindai offerings and the battery has decent buffer zones, something many manufacturers save money on. 

this was my first choice when i first looked at changing my car last which was placed on hold due to a family bereavement, i had the self charging hybrid on test drive and i thought is was great although a couple of things did bother me such as the fixed rear seat most others slide forward and backwards and the backs tilt no such joy with the Rav 4 and the infotainment  system is not great either and feels very dated compared to its rivals that said i drove really well and the MPG i got was also good although again unlike the Kia it would stay in EV for long and seem to spend more time in Hev mode where as the Kia spent more time in EV mode and on my test run the trip showed better MPG.

Like i said back then i really liked it and the new Kia wasn't out then so i did do some research into the car as i couldn't find any towing reviews with the hybrid they were all the older diesel model, i did find a guy whilst on a dog walk that had one with the tow bar system fitted so knocked on his door and asked him for his thoughts i wasn't quite taken back when he said shocking Toyota have proper screwed a perfectly good car he had only used it to tow a 1400kg car twice and he said both times the engine screamed for help as soon as he entered any hills, on the flat it was fine but any incline it was very loud in the cabin and on his last trip out his 140 mile round trip averaged a shocking 19mpg.

At that time he was looking to either change the car or stop caravanning and sell up.

it wasn't long after this we had our family bereavement so i never looked any further unit recently and still couldn't find any towing reviews for the Rav 4 so ruled it out

 

19mpg?

I manage more than that with a dirty 3.0 diseasal towing a far heavier caravan... infact I used to get simar to that when I towed with 3.0 petrol. So much for EVs/hybrids saving the planet.

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So after lots more test drives and also great advice whilst at Blackshaw moor club site of Easter i have ruled out the following 

• Toyota Rav4 FHEV loved the test drive but dealership have 3 customer all with towing issues and advised me against 
• Ford Kuga FHEV advised by an owner who tows a trailer tent not to bother its fine on the flat but rubbish on the hills 
• BMW X3  30e again great test drive and advised its fantastic solo and towing but very expensive and out of my budget

so i have my final three cars that i have test drove and loved all three and all three are very different 

• Kia EV6 absolutely stunning car inside and out and drives beautiful its not cheap but it is great value compared to others in this class just not sure about 110 max towing miles 
• Kia Sportage FHEV awd in GT LINE S spec again a great car with more kit than you ca believe drives great although not as good as the EV6 but for just short of 40k with 7 years warranty is hard to find better value.
• Land Rover Discovery Sport D200 yes i know its a diesel but its around the same cost to buy as the other two and its a great car inside and out compared to the EV6 it will go all the way to Cornwall without stopping once although solo its more expensive to run and compared to the Sportage well that's a bit of an unknown with a 1.6 petrol engine which is why i looked at the Disco Sport with its 2.0 Diesel i know for sure i will be good on any hills when towing.

when looking at it from a cost point the Kia Sportage FHEV is better as its short of 40k so you pay the normal road tax and the running cost are low compared to the discovery thats just over 40K so an extra £355 a year road tax on top of normal plus higher running cost.

the EV6 is obviously the winner on running costs with no road tax and cheaper charging costs than petrol or diesel but feel the range will stress me out especially when towing.

i think i have given myself an headache  

What specific towing problems with the RAV4 PHEV?