The company car tax rate for a car with up to 50g/km CO2 emissions and a pure electric range of 40 to 69 miles is just 6% and for cars with a shorter range (30-39 miles) it’s 10%. Plug-in hybrids are among the most affordable models to run as company cars because the rates of benefit in kind (BiK) tax payable on them are significantly lower than for petrol and diesel alternatives. If you’re not able to charge up cheaply and easily, a diesel-engined model is likely to be the most cost-effective option. If most of your journeys are longer motorway drives, a pure electric car with a long range could be suitable as long as you’re able to replenish its batteries after each long drive. So if most of your journeys are longer than your PHEV’s pure electric range, or if you’re not able to charge up the batteries frequently and end up doing the majority of your driving using the engine, then a plug-in may not be the best option for you. This is because you’re lugging around the additional weight of its electric battery pack. The main downside of owning a PHEV is that it’s likely to have poorer fuel economy than a conventionally-powered alternative when it’s driven using the engine rather than the electric motor. What are the disadvantages of plug-in hybrid cars? The former costs £15 a day and the latter £12.50 a day other cities around the UK are considering introducing charges.Īnother advantage of both conventional hybrids and PHEVs is that they do away with the ‘range anxiety’ associated with electric vehicles: because there’s also a combustion engine, you won’t suddenly run out of range. And, if you live in the city, you could also avoid paying charges for driving your car, such as London’s Congestion Charge (if your car emits less than 75g/km of CO2) and London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone. You’ll also benefit from either a lower or zero rate of road tax (VED) compared with internal-combustion engined cars. On average it costs 12p per mile to drive a petrol-engined car, this drops to just 5p per mile for trips done using electric power if you charge up at home at a rate of 14p per kilowatt hour. The benefits are best if you are able to do shorter journeys using all or mostly electric power, and as long as you remember to charge up the car’s batteries in-between every trip. The main advantage of running any PHEV is that it will have lower CO2 emissions and better fuel economy than a conventional combustion-engined car. This is great for anyone who wants a quick top-up, but it costs around five times more than charging up at home. The latest 350kW ultra-rapid chargers can provide a 10% to 80% charge for a compatible electric car in just 20 minutes. The ageing motorway service station charging network operated by Ecotricity will also be replaced soon as part of a partnership with Gridserve. There are more than 35,000 public charge points at 13,000 locations around the UK, and a growing number of them offer very high rates of charging.
A 7.4kW wall charger, which is commonly installed in homes or workplace car parks, will complete a charge around three hours.Īlternatively, you may be able to get a faster energy fix at a rapid public charging point if your PHEV is able to charge at a higher speed.
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Using a 3kW household plug is the slowest option - a full charge is likely to take five to six hours depending on the size of your car’s battery pack. You can charge a PHEV either with a conventional, household three-pin plug, a wall charger or a public charging point.