Don’t judge all petrol cars by Volvo! Their petrol cars are notoriously off the pace when it comes to fuel economy. They have put all their eggs in the EV basket for years and, as a result, their petrol engines have been left in the doldrums.
We also have a Hyundai (Tucson PHEV) but had a 2.0i petrol BMW before. The BMW averaged 42 mpg over the 3 years that we had it and was every bit as quiet as the Tucson is when running in EV mode, unless you gave it some beans, in which case it was a great sound anyway 😂
Admittedly it’s a PHEV, not an EV, but factoring in charging costs as well as petrol costs, the PHEV is saving me less than £20 a month over the BMW and, frankly, I’d pay that £20 not to have the faff of charging it after every use! One 5 minute refuelling stop every 3 weeks or so was far more convenient!
We had to change the car as we needed a new adaptation and, yes, the standard tech in modern Hyundai’s is very impressive (although all the ruddy bings and bongs drive me to distraction), but I’d go back to the petrol BMW tomorrow if I could.
I fully appreciate that for those who value low running costs above everything else, and can charge at home, an EV is a no brainer. I can charge at home, but put a higher priority on other aspects of car ownership than running costs and, on that basis, I would seriously consider going back to petrol next time.