Considering buying the phev

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Sutty86
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon May 21, 2018 9:18 am

Post by Sutty86 »

Currently test driving, really like the car,
Not much about this car online also.

Can the car been charged whilst driven has I have limited charging capabilities at home,
I have off road parking with no electricity it's a courtyard and shared system for the lights, don't think they will be happy with me getting a charge point built.
Tested the cord today and can get it too plug in with an 10m extension lead not the best way I suppose but it works.
I can charge at work though for nothing
That's a 30 mile round trip commute
We only ever venture max 30miles from home(family etc)

What are your views on this car

Brianh
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:22 am

Post by Brianh »

Hi, I have a Niro PHEV, think it is an excellent car and would highly recommend it.

I have a home charger but whilst I was waiting for it to be fitted I used the 13a charger in the interim. It worked OK and took around 3.5-4 hours to charge from 0 electric miles. I'm fortunate that I have a carport attached to the house with an external power socket so didnt need to worry too much about extension leads and the weather. The home charger cuts the charge time down to 2.5 hours.

The PHEV battery will give you up to 34 miles on EV once fully charged and in my experience in the current pleasant weather it is feasible to get over 30 miles, although it is rare to drive exclusively on electric power as the petrol engine will cut in to boost acceleration and also to drive the heater in cold weather. Once the battery is down to 15% (0 EV miles) it will automatically switch to HEV (standard Hybrid) mode. The battery will charge with braking and coasting in this mode but not beyond the 15% so you will not generate additional EV miles in this way - it will need to be charged externally.

I think your main consideration is going to be charging the car. In order to get the optimum economy the car needs to be charged regularly. When fully charged you can easily obtain in excess of 300mpg on short journeys and I average around 120mpg on my once per week commute to head office which is 150 mile round trip (my employer has installed chargers so I can re-charge before my return journey). A typical journey without charging the car reduces the overall mpg to less than 60 so you can see the benfit of regular charging.

There are several threads on this and other forums regarding the use of the 13a (granny) charger and opinions range from OK to 'over my dead body' depending on who is posting. My view is that it worked OK for me and would be happy to use it in future if I needed to but a 'proper' charge point is better in the long term. What you need to be sure of is that the extension lead you use is suitable for the purpose, is weather proof and if you are using it on shared property meets basic health and safety (e.g. no-one can trip over it in the dark).

Otherwise consider the standard Niro - there are more versions (PHEV is only available in 3 trim) and it doesnt need to be charged externally.

Hope that helps
AlanHo
Posts: 113
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 10:05 pm

Post by AlanHo »

I toyed with idea of swapping my Niro 2 ADAP for the PHEV model.

I do about 10,000 miles per year, half of which are on an average of 25 x 200 mile long journeys and the other half on urban roads. My current Niro has averaged 60.7 mpg over its first 11300 miles. This is an accurate figure using the actual amount of fuel purchased and the total mileage. The trip computer in my car is far from accurate.

Hence my outlay on fuel has been 194 gallons @ say £5.6/gall = £1086

I estimate - that if I had the PHEV and was able to charge it only from home :-

Each of my long distance journeys would be EV for the first 30 miles = 750 miles free of petrol and the remaining 4250 miles running as an HEV at 60.7 mpg = 70 galls = £392 for petrol

For urban journeys it is difficult to estimate what the consumption might be - during the winter months the engine would be running for a few miles each trip for heating the car and some urban journeys are much longer than 30 miles anyway - so I have assumed that the economy for the urban journeys would average 120 mpg = 42 gallons = £ 235

Hence the total petrol cost for the PHEV would be £392 + £235 = £627

This represents a saving of £459 per year in petrol at current prices. But some of this saving would be eaten up by the cost of electricity used for charging the car - another imponderable but unlikely to be less than £100 per year on my domestic tariff.

Hence keeping the car for 5 years would save me 5 x £359 = £1800 in fuel but the part exchange cost of trading in my current Niro HEV for a PHEV would be significantly greater - hence I keep the HEV


Even if I was buying my first Niro - the extra list price for the PHEV compared with the HEV would outweigh any fuel saving I would achieve - so the HEV remains the car of choice for my circumstances. Further considerations for me would be that the PHEV has less luggage space and this would be even further reduced by carrying a space-saver spare wheel in lieu of the gunge injector.
Currently Sept 2021 Niro 3 HEV in Ocean Blue
Brianh
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:22 am

Post by Brianh »

I think you hit the nail on the head with "the HEV remains the car of choice for my circumstances" which is what I was alluding to in my reply to the OP.

In my current circumstances your maths would also make the HEV more suitable for me, however as I plan to retire at the end of the year my regular car journeys will become much shorter - typically less than 20 mile round trips - so hopefully I will see the benefit of the EV miles.

As it happens I didnt set out to buy the PHEV, I test drove the Ioniq HEV and looked at the Niro to compare. Although the boot space is bigger in the Ioniq my opinion was that the fit & finish of the Niro was much better and the interior a much nicer place to be. in both cases i was looking at buying an ex demonstrator and a Niro PHEV ex demo became available at exactly the same price as the Ioniq i was looking at and not much more than a HEV Niro ex demo so for me it became a no-brainer. if I was looking at brand new then maybe it may have been different.

I do agree the point about a spare wheel, although this is not the first car I've had without one i would rather it was there than not but fingers crossed I will be able to manage without .
derson
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2018 5:53 pm

Post by derson »

Not sure. Very often if you have salary sacrifice program in your workplace PHEV are much cheaper.
I had choice for HEV NIRO 2 and PHEV niro 3.
HEV was 300 per month, PHEV was 260 per month in both option included full service, road tax, full insurance, wind screen, tyres and battery replacement.
Topicalcat
Posts: 49
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 12:43 pm

Post by Topicalcat »

I had a quote from CarWow back in May for a PHEV at a really good discount but the dealereship was rubbish. Today with the offer valid until end of June I went into my local dealer to see if they would price match. The dealer showed me a release from Kia to say all sales of PHEV suspended, pending release of the new 120 mile range PHEV! So it looks from that, thst only cars already on the boat will get supplied and that is why the deal was so good.

Dilema, do I wait for the new improved version, news release apparently due in next fortnight. It will no doubt cost more and hopefully sorts out some of the minor niggles that are reported currently.

OR do I wait for prices of the old model to eventually drop?

Dealer has promised to email me with details once the press release is out. Any one else picked up on this development, I see a pure electric version is due out but I can find no mention of this uprated PHEV, Where will they stuff all the batteries? Looks like I will be running around in my trusty old banger for a while longer.
🚙
derson
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2018 5:53 pm

Post by derson »

Some people like me can't use pure electric car (few times per month longer or emergency journey - IT job). I'm pretty sure dealer showed that one, it is not a hybrid.
Rando
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2018 4:07 pm

Post by Rando »

Topicalcat wrote: Fri Jun 29, 2018 1:05 pm I had a quote from CarWow back in May for a PHEV at a really good discount but the dealereship was rubbish. Today with the offer valid until end of June I went into my local dealer to see if they would price match. The dealer showed me a release from Kia to say all sales of PHEV suspended, pending release of the new 120 mile range PHEV! So it looks from that, thst only cars already on the boat will get supplied and that is why the deal was so good.

Dilema, do I wait for the new improved version, news release apparently due in next fortnight. It will no doubt cost more and hopefully sorts out some of the minor niggles that are reported currently.

OR do I wait for prices of the old model to eventually drop?

Dealer has promised to email me with details once the press release is out. Any one else picked up on this development, I see a pure electric version is due out but I can find no mention of this uprated PHEV, Where will they stuff all the batteries? Looks like I will be running around in my trusty old banger for a while longer.
This bit about a PHEV with 120 mile range is conflicting to what my dealer has stated in that the only new Niro PHEV coming out is the ALL electric version but this will just be alongside the current models.
I have been quoted a delivery time of December 2018 for a current Niro PHEV through our company leasing partner.
Topicalcat
Posts: 49
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 12:43 pm

Post by Topicalcat »

Interesting! I saw the message from Kia on the dealers screen and have no reason to doubt its authenticity, saying that dealers are not to take orders for PHEV versions pending a news release in July.

Hopefully whatever comes out in the next press release will clarify.
🚙
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