I personally think the i3 is hideous. And I like BMWs.

BMW also do a 3-series saloon and the 2-series active tourer as plug-in hybrids, both have had good reviews but I've no idea what the finance deals are like. Both are priced around £35K.

The other plug-in hybrid options in a car that's roughly the same size as your 120d are the Golf GTe and Audi A3.

VW is also introducing a Passat estate plug-in hybrid which I will be test-driving when it's available. I've had company cars for years, and plug-in hybrids are stupidly cheap in terms of benefit-in-kind tax at the moment.

As an alternative, look at the upcoming Kia Niro hybrid crossover (if you can wait a couple of months).

The French prices were released yesterday:

Motion €26,990 (£20,959)

Active €28,990 (£22,500)

Premium €32,990 (£25,600)

7 year warranty

On sale there in July

www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/kia/niro-2016/

Also fairly positve reviews available in the varius magazines this week, and a dual-clutch gearbox rather than the Toyota e-CVT boxes

P.S. Check deliveries of RAV4s - there are rumours of problems caused by recent earthquakes in Japan

Edited by colinh on 02/06/2016 at 12:28

The BMW i3 is Auris size so a lot smaller than a RAV-4. It's also a different type of car - I wouldn't really call it a hybrid - in that it's sold as two models, pure electric or 'range extender' which has a small 2-cylinder petrol engine added to the main electric motor.

Whether a hybrid suits you depends on your type of motoring and style of driving. If it's going to be mainly in the city, a hybrid is at its best. But if you also do a lot of open-road driving, you'll find a hybrid lacking in performance compared with your 120D. If you often need a healthy burst of acceleration, such as in overtaking or joining a motorway, a hybrid with CVT, like the RAV-4, will make a lot of high-revving noise with not much to show for it.

So it's horses for courses. But I can say that Toyotas are indeed well screwed together and will last a long time. There are also petrol and diesel versions of the RAV-4: don't go for the diesel if your driving is mostly in the city.

It does seem that the VW Group have managed to avoid the frenetic noise on acceleration that Toyota hybrids have (see HJ's link to the Passat road test above). If a Passat is bigger than you need, the VW Golf GTE and Audi A3 e-tron will be well worth a look.

Edited by Avant on 03/06/2016 at 01:50