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I currently have a Tucson PHEV on 24 hour test and have a few questions for @kezo @JohntheLeg and anyone else who has one.
The car the dealer has given me, whilst brand new, is unfortunately the pre facelift model, so it’s a bit different from what I had researched. They are giving me a facelift one for another 24 hours when I take this one back, but it’s not a PHEV, so my education on PHEVs is right now.
I’ve just been on a decent drive in both EV and Auto (which was mostly EV) and deliberately let the battery run out so that I could then see what it was like on petrol only. All worked fine but I’ve just parked it in the garage with a view to recharging it and the ruddy cable in the car is one that only works in a charging station – not the 3 pin (granny charger) that I expected. This is irritating as tomorrow I wanted to take my wife on our usual ‘local’ journeys on EV mode but now can’t 😡. Two questions;
1) Does the Tucson PHEV come with a charging cable that can be used in a 3 pin plug as standard, or do you have to buy one?
2) There is a third driving mode that I haven’t used yet (Hybrid?), although I think the car may have now been ‘forced’ into it by the battery running out. Is this a mode where the petrol engine charges the battery? If so, if I take it out for a drive tonight (which I intend to do anyway to test the headlights) will I be able to ‘charge’ the battery? Is there a way to do this?
Thanks
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Still deciding on what to order next month. This thread has been helpful in what to expect in the sister PHEV (Sportage) that I probably will be ordering. But, reading through Sportage forums, they only mention using HEV and EV modes, seems like they don’t seem to use Auto. Frustrating that the only car that seems to tick all the boxes is the Sportage. But it’s the first time I feel deflated, rather than excited, when choosing my next car. I’m tempted to wait and see what next quarter brings, but I fear that it will still be the Sportage and with it’s current “low” AP of £2,799, I expect it to rise. My preferred choice would be the Volvo V60, but my wife isn’t confident in parking and manoeuvring in small areas. Plus mpg will be very poor on short trips, which is 85% of our journeys.
Auto mode, leaves the car to decide either EV mode or HEV mode.
On paper the Sportage has a better (nonsense) claimed efficiency figures of 252mpg vs the Tucsons 201.8mpg. The difference is the the Sportage is quoted to travel 44 miles vs 39 miles on EV.
In a more realistic world 75% of my monthly driving is local and as long, as I charge it, its very economical as you’d be able to cover say 40 miles for £2.70 on a standard tariff or if you choose a 2 rate tariff like Eon next drive or Octopus, you can cover those miles from as litte, as a £1
In a month, I do a guaranteed 400 miles local driving , I generally get 38 miles using regen, which costs about £10.50 with my night tariff. Once a month, I travel to see family, which is roughly a 360 mile round trip costs £41.50 (£5.90 gallon) based on charging one leg of the journey. Therefore my local journeys offset, the trip visiting family. I suspect by what you have said, you won’t do regular distance trips and will easily run the Sportage far more economically than me.
To further highlight this, I recently bought a Rover 75 and have been useing that the last couple of months visiting family, making sure all is ok, leaving the Tucson to do the local work ferrying daughter, covering 700miles for less than £20.
@Glos Guy yes, my wife drives 2.5 miles each way to work 4x per week. All close family and majority of any shopping is within 5 mile radius. I have some hospital appointments 165 mile away, but with phone appointments, I usually only go twice per year now. Most of my trips beyond beyond the EV range have been to clear the bloody particulate filter (at least it seems like it) 🙂
Only thing that concerns me is how heavy footed my wife might be on the way to work (steep uphill) especially in winter (engine will be running for heat).
It will be a hassle charging after every journey (no outside charge point), but I’d do it knowing the cost saving.
@Oscarmax Good suggestions. I sat in the Prius and felt visibility wasn’t great and you sit very low, but I might have got used to it. My wife on the other hand, could not get in a position that would be safe in my opinion, never mind comfy.
I wondered how the sales were going with the Prius as people consider them taxis, but this car wasn’t that easy to get in out from and rear headroom is low. I was shocked when the salesman told me that they’d got the first one in about a year ago and only sold 2 (not to Motability).The CHR is still a possibility. But when I compare it to the Sportage, with it’s £1,596 lower AP (I’d have to get Excel trim), I’m struggling to see where it betters the Sportage. Maybe slightly more fun to drive, but not sure if the seats would be as comfy. Also MUCH better mpg when battery is empty, by the sounds of it. But as I plan to charge car each day, I’d guess I wouldn’t use the engine to much anyway……although the CHR does have electric heat which means engine should stay off during winter.
Hmm think I need to organise a test drive.@Oscarmax the new 2026 Rav4 looks nice.
Only thing that concerns me is how heavy footed my wife might be on the way to work (steep uphill) especially in winter (engine will be running for heat). It will be a hassle charging after every journey (no outside charge point), but I’d do it knowing the cost saving.
The engine provides heat at 1100rpm, the car still drives in EV.
Your wife will have to plant it, for the engine to come going up the hill.
A cheap outside socket is all you need for charging.
Thanks @Kezo, that’s good to hear about it being very unlikely the engine will need to propel the car uphill.
The sensible choice is the Sportage PHEV. It does tick every box except for it being quite boring to drive.
I do have a test drive booked for the Cupra Formentor as I do like an engaging drive. But engaging drives often comes at the expense of comfort. Plus, realistically I can only afford the 150PS Formentor which seems a bit underpowered for an exciting drive.Thanks @Kezo, that’s good to hear about it being very unlikely the engine will need to propel the car uphill. The sensible choice is the Sportage PHEV. It does tick every box except for it being quite boring to drive. I do have a test drive booked for the Cupra Formentor as I do like an engaging drive. But engaging drives often comes at the expense of comfort. Plus, realistically I can only afford the 150PS Formentor which seems a bit underpowered for an exciting drive.
For the AP, the Sportage is a no brainer considering all the kit you get on the GTS. Its also a different beast, to the MHEV or the ICE, its more powerful and being AWD you can throw it about alot more than you think and of course no PPF issues.
Charging and driving economically 85% of the time, it will be a cheap car over 3yrs.
The other question given most of your journeys are local, have you considered EV?
@Oscarmax the new 2026 Rav4 looks nice.
The new RAV4 PHEV has 2 option a slightly lower powered 2wd, a more powerful 4wd, 20% larger battery and a more advanced electronic.
Still happy with the 306 bhp Suzuki Across amazing EV range nearly 60 miles in the summer and 40 miles in the depth of winter, easily achieving over 50 mpg even in the winter with a depleted battery, I expect the new RAV4 to be more efficient especially the 2wd version.
The only thing which lets it down is the huge £6995 AP, with the new model coming out AP for the RAV4 and Suzuki Across may drop to a resonable level.
Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.
@kezo the BMW EVs are too expensive as I need electric memory seats and Adaptive/Active cruise control. I’d also much prefer 36o cam on SUVs (especially ones that don’t have auto nearside wing mirror dip when reversing).
The only 2 I were considering are Ioniq 5 and Ford Explorer.
The Ford seems to suffer from the VAG groups spongy, inconsistent brakes, mostly during the regen to mechanical braking, which feels like there’s not much stopping power, then too much stopping power. Not that I’ve actually driven one yet.
I also don’t like having the majority of functions done through a screen. Also those steering wheel buttons look like they’re touch sesitive, which I’d hate.The Hyundai 5 seemed very promising when we sat in one. Seats were comfy and there was plenty of buttons for all the commonly used things.
I started watching reviews and 3 seperate reviewers had issues with power “being limited”, I guess Tortoise mode had been enabled. Tried to convince myself that they probably had resolved these issues by now, but reading forums suggests that despite Hyundai doing updates, the problem still exists and only goes away when the ICCU is replaced, but even the replacements seem to suffer.
Being a Motability customer, there is the reassurance that we’d never be left without a car (although people don’t seem to be happy with the company that provides the hire cars), but I could do without the hassle and potentially dangerous situations I’ve read about. (I mentioned this on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 thread).The final nail in the coffin for these 2 EVs was the fact that they are rear wheel drive and my wife doesn’t want RWD in winter conditions.
BTW you mentioned the new Rav4. If I was to leave the scheme, I’d be very interested in a used Rav4 as I’d expect them to drop in value when the new one is released. The one on Motability is the lower trim which isn’t suitable. The Suzuki Across would be an option, but at £6,999 AP it would be silly to get that over the Sportage.
Have you considered the Mazda CX60? Only PHEV available on MB and was heavily criticised on release, as described by Glos guy. Now heavily revised, with spring and damper rates adopted from big brother cx80, new EV/ gearbox integration etc. not perfect, but made in Japan build quality, no touchy feely bs buttons and Toyota tech hybrid engine. A lot of car from £3999 ap. the long bonnet is there to accommodate a straight six 3.3 diesel here and petrol in the USA. Tests say it achieves 50 mpg with ease for a big torquey lump and makes you wonder why a 1.5/1.6 PHEV cannot get close on a run.
@clappedout thanks for the suggestion. It’s another that I had considered but it wouldn’t fit on our drive. Looks like it should be a very comfy car.
morning Glos-Guy
Car went for it’s first service Friday, as part of an upgrade was also performed to improve the ECU DCU however, something went wrong when flashing,so they ended up reflashing both modules, which seems to have made the car more responsive.
Interesting. Ours is only at 5,500 miles and won’t have its first service until August (assuming it’s every 12 months).
How are you finding your EV range now that it’s warmer? I know that my driving mix is very different to yours, as within 3 miles of the house I’m on a motorway, but I’m only getting low 30s miles in EV only. I think I’m experiencing the EV issue of range dropping notably as speed increases. I tend to be in the mid 70s speed range, as I just cannot be arsed plodding along with the HGVs in order to eek a few more miles range out of it, but that sort of speed seems to eat the EV range very quickly.
Yes 10k or 12 months whichever comes first.
Taking daughter school and back 34 miles, due to climbing back up valley 4 times a day.
On runs with more flatter ground 37-39 miles
Travelling back from mums, most I got was 42 miles on A roads with level 1 regen and using the padals as brakes to slow down for junctions.
Motorway, drive in EV mode to and swith to HEV on motoraway (back to EV if roadworks etc) and closer to home judge when to go back into EV.
@kezo Since your service, has your music media connectivity improved? I use Amazon Music from my iPhone 12 mini and have pretty much given up on it. The connection is so unstable and fails to work more than it does. Another irritant is when, on occasions, the system keeps switching from the radio (which I now leave it on) to media without me asking it to. I switch it back to radio and it does it again – countless time 🤬
I so miss the system that I had in my 5 Series – a CD player with a 20GB hard disc that I could save my CDs to. Completely reliable and none of the reliability problems that I have now. A friend suggested playing music from a USB stick but I wouldn’t know where to start. My home computer (Mac) has no disc drive to load CDs and not all my CDs will be on the basic Amazon music package. Listening to music was a real pleasure in my 5 Series. In the Tucson it’s a ruddy chore. Sadly, I suspect that it’s the same in all modern cars. I mourn the loss of in car CD players 😭
I’m Android, so not like comparing apples to apples and also use windows PC. I use USB, loaded with MP3 albums. The wife uses the cars Bluetooth media player, in which she sends music straight from her phone.
Do you have iTunes, which would be the easiest way to create USB playlists and can advice on how to ?
I vaguely remember, part of the upgrades were media related, but exactly what I don’t know.
Ended up ordering the PHEV Sportage. Over 3 years I think I’ll save around £2,500 vs the Volvo V60, so whenever I get envious seeing a V60 on the road, I’ll remind myself that the £2,500 will go towards completing some more sections of Route66.
Ended up ordering the PHEV Sportage. Over 3 years I think I’ll save around £2,500 vs the Volvo V60, so whenever I get envious seeing a V60 on the road, I’ll remind myself that the £2,500 will go towards completing some more sections of Route66.
Even though the Sportage is due to recieve an update it’s still more modern inside compared to the Volvo, unless it was the T8 of course. I had 2010 proper polestar engineered V60, which was sadly the last performance inspired car before finally joining the scheme.
You will be happy with the Sportage, having had one previously and of course no more PPF issues and added bit of grunt to go with it, whils’t saving a few bob.
@kezo Talking of dpf / ppf issues, can I just pick your brains as I know that you understand these things (and I don’t)? Like you, I’m considering getting a second (private) car. Ideally I’d like a BMW X5 (always wanted one – even have the perfect private plate for one 😂), although the awkward split tailgate may make it problematic with the wheelchair (I could avoid that problem if it was a ‘me’ car and we kept the Motability car for when my wife needed to go anywhere).
As you probably know, the engine options are 3.0 litre diesels (30d, 40d, 50d), 3.0 litre petrol (40i), 4.4 litre V8 (50i) and a PHEV (45e with a 3.0 litre petrol). We are down to just 8,000 miles or so a year now and if it’s a second car it would probably be closer to just 5,000 miles a year. Would a mileage that low make a diesel problematic, or would it be OK given that the shortest journey I ever make is about 30 miles round trip, including motorway driving? There could be weeks when I’d only use it once though. There are lots of the PHEVs for sale, but my experience of our Motability PHEV is making me think that might not be right for me. I’d value your thoughts. Cheers mate.
@Glos_Guy, it’s not so much the mileage per year but per journey. If your 5,000 miles are on relatively longer trips where the engine gets good and warm and at speeds where you can blow through the filters, it’ll be good. However, for trips to the shop and back I’d expect all to have issues. If you can have a good blowout once a month on that mileage, you should be ok. If anything starts running rough, another I rev run should help. I was having a chat with our neighbour who’s a mechanic as I was saying an EV for continuously short runs was less problematic and he actually agreed as these filters were causing all sorts of trouble for a number of customers who do the shopping and doctors runs and little else.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
Thanks @MFillingham I appreciate your thoughts. As I said, the shortest car journey I ever make is around 20-30 miles round trip and almost all journeys involve the motorway. They won’t be frequent though. Some weeks it might only be once.
Thanks @MFillingham I appreciate your thoughts. As I said, the shortest car journey I ever make is around 20-30 miles round trip and almost all journeys involve the motorway. They won’t be frequent though. Some weeks it might only be once.
As far as I understand it, that should be fine.
My personal understanding is incredibly limited but the mechanic (who usually gives me limited grief about the EV) was talking about the limitations of the filters. However, he gave me the impression once it all warmed up and was going at speed, everything worked to plan. You should be fine.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
I agree with @MFillingham . The filter won’t get blocked when not in use, so it’s all down to how many short (cold engine) trips you do between the long (hot engine) trips. Love BMW 3 series, X3s (last gen) and X5s, but with very little included as standard, the price soon rises with option packs, meaning the second hand market doesn’t have many with memory seats, adaptive cruise and to a lesser degree, 360cam. All the things I’m now used to.
I agree with @MFillingham . The filter won’t get blocked when not in use, so it’s all down to how many short (cold engine) trips you do between the long (hot engine) trips. Love BMW 3 series, X3s (last gen) and X5s, but with very little included as standard, the price soon rises with option packs, meaning the second hand market doesn’t have many with memory seats, adaptive cruise and to a lesser degree, 360cam. All the things I’m now used to.
X5s have electric front seats with memory as standard, and have done for many years. Same with reversing camera and sensors all round. Personally, I prefer standard cruise control to adaptive, so that would be a positive for me! The advantage of buying used is that most new X5 buyers add a lot of options, so any car I get would have everything I would want, and a lot more, but no CD player 🙄
You will be fine with both, as your journeys types will see sufficient exhaust temperatures for passive regeneration.
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