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4 months with the Superb iV - skidpan

Had the car 4 months now and done about 1700 miles.

Compared to the previous Superb its refreshingly the same but at the same time refreshingly different. It a higher spec trim level for starters, had dynamic chassis control (not tried it yet - "normal" is just fine) and an auto box.

The DSG box is the best example of this type I have ever tried. Previous DSG's have always seemed a bit dumb to me especially away from junctions and lights but with the aid of the plug in bit there is no such dithering, it just goes. The boost you get from the electric is noticeable at all speeds as well even when the battery shows 0 miles since its keeps some back, have read its 10%.

As for economy calculations show that so far based on petrol used its averaging 71 mpg. But since we charge it and try to get the most out of the cheaper electric especially on supermarket trips and since we have to pay for our electric that is not the real figure. So I created a simple spreadsheet that converts the electric used to gallon equivalent and when that is included the average so far is 55 mpg. At the same mileage the TSi Superb was averaging about 42.5 mpg so its clear that the technology works (at a cost of course).

The quoted electric only range range is 37 miles but the most we have seen on the dash after a full charge is 34 miles. That was during the milder days of early November, during the recent cold snap it would show 27 miles. A full charge on Friday showed 32 miles. On freezing cold days when you have the heater on and the wife has the electric seat on the range falls alarmingly quickly while the car heats up but it does stabilise, on milder days you can use a couple of miles up getting out of the garage, off the drive and to the junction, about 1/2 a mile and after that it stabilises.

With regards to charging we have not tried any public places yet, not been anywhere that has one (other than the local Hospital which has one free spot but we always walk). At home we use the 3 pin socket which takes about 5 1/2 hours to 6 1/4 hours at 10 amps depending on the temperature. According to the smart meter display back in November a 5 3/4 hour charge cost about £1.50 at our 14p a unit tariff.

Problem is the display packed in back in early January and the replacement they sent did not work either. Apparently we need an engineer since the meter itself is faulty and because of Covid we cannot have one despite all the work required being outside. Our contract is up for renewal in early April and we want to get onto a tariff that gets us cheaper charging, the EDF 98 one looks the best for us (98 hours cheap rate a week) but without a suitable meter (our is only single rate) we are a bit scuppered so its wait and see time. If we were on the cheaper rate the combined mpg would increase to approx 59.8 mpg, a useful improvement.

So far its all good, look forward to seeing how it does on a long holiday trip in "hybrid" mode all the way. A full battery should give some help for about 300km (less than 1/2 way there) based on the dash so will it beat the 1.4 TSi's 53 mpg over a week. If rules allow travel we will see later in the year. Problem is there is no chance of charging at the lodge and whilst there are a few free points locally I would bet they are in use when we get there.

4 months with the Superb iV - Avant

Many thanks Skidpan. Running reports are always interesting.

Time will tell whether I have been right to order a 'full' EV (Kia E-Niro) rather than a PHEV. Your Superb is a bit bigger than we need but the Octavia IV looks good. I'm not convinced that the extra cost of a PHEV is compensated for enough by the greater economy: as you rightly show, you have to factor in the cost of the electricity as well.

I suppose that main thing that has swung it for me is that we also have the petrol A3, and as it's a convertible we'd probably take it on long summer trips anyway.

4 months with the Superb iV - skidpan

I'm not convinced that the extra cost of a PHEV is compensated for enough by the greater economy: as you rightly show, you have to factor in the cost of the electricity as well.

Neither am I but when I did a comparison between the Superb TSi 190 (the 2 litre one with DSG which was top of my list) and the iV it was remarkably close when you factored in the predicted depreciation rates and fuel savings. The depreciation of the TSi 190 was predicted to be quite a bit higher than the iV which closed the gap considerably. I also seem to be getting a bit more mpg than I predicted thus the gap between it and the thirsty 190 closes a bit more. Factor in a cheaper rate charging (when we get it sorted) and it closes a bit more.

But the biggest factor that made it look workable was the price we got it for as a 3 week old pre-reg cancelled order. Pretty sure it will cost less over 3-4 years than the 190TSi would have bought from a broker.

Even if it costs a bit more over 3 or 4 years it will still be worth it since the drive is way better than any petrol/diesel DSG I have driven previously. All the dim witted reactions have either gone or more likely masked by the electric boost.

Your Superb is a bit bigger than we need

The Superb is bigger than we need but bigger is not an issue, it still fits in either garage. And don't forget that the iV's loose some boot space, the Superb is still OK, just.

but the Octavia IV looks good.

I recently specced up an Octavia iV SE-L up just to see what it would cost us now. Just as when we bought the first Superb the Octavia misses lots of kit the Superb gets as standard, kit we would want. Add those and just as before the Octavia would have cost us more than the Superb.

Then there was the poor experiences we have had in the past when we drove 4 Octavias which makes me never want to waste my time even considering one. They look good value but are built cheaper and appear cheaper in the brochures (unless you look at a Superb).

4 months with the Superb iV - _

Interesting..

On an equivalent model to model, How much mote was the hybrid option?

If say £2000 how do you work out the extra cost per mile for the extra equipment against savings.?

4 months with the Superb iV - Avant

Using list prices for an SEL, the Superb IV is about £5,000 more than the 2.0 petrol and £9,000 more than the 1.5 petrol - which is why I would query whether it's good value.

But I think Skidpan got a good deal on a cancelled order.

(Edit - I see he's just answered that question. Lower depreciation also narrows the gap. And one could add in the Superb's favour that so far it hasn't gone down the everything-by-touchscreen route that the new octavia has.)

Edited by Avant on 01/03/2021 at 12:03

4 months with the Superb iV - skidpan

Interesting..

On an equivalent model to model, How much mote was the hybrid option?

If say £2000 how do you work out the extra cost per mile for the extra equipment against savings.?

Stick with me, its a bit complicated but at my end simplified by the magic of the spreadsheet, just need to describe it so its easy to understand what I did. Note that I have not included servicing, insurance, VED, tyres etc since they would be the same for all the cars.

Over 3 years using HJ's "real" mpg figures and a 40% residual value buying from Carfile the 190 SE-L appeared to have a 3 year cost of £15477.

Over 3 years using the 45 mpg I got from the 1.4TSi and a 48% residual value buying from Carfile the iV appeared to have a 3 year cost of £17294 so not really viable. But experience so far suggest the actual mpg we are getting (including electricity cost) is closer to 60 mpg thus the 3 years cost would reduce to about £16700, closer but still £1200 more.

The pre reg we bought using the same figures we used for the above example had a 3 year cost of £15287 so a bit less than a new broker supplied 190. It looked a winner to me and we bought it. Factor in the better mpg and that comes down to about £14700 thus a suggested saving of about £700 over the broker supplied 190.

Another 150 TSi but this time with a DSG would have a predicted cost of £13911 over 3 years, a saving of about £800 but as with previous DSG's we have tried it was horrid, would not have bought one to hate it.

But have just spotted an error with my figures/spreadsheet. The costs for broker prices are all for cars with no extras, we don't need any, but we would have specified was metallic @ £500 and its not included. The cost for the pre-reg iV we bought includes metallic so the suggested saving between the 190 and iV grows to £1200.

Will know when we sell it if I was right but to me based on the drive alone it was worth it. To add DCC (dynamic chassis control) to the 190 and 150 would cost another £900 (its standard on the iV) and it does add a good deal of extra comfort and body control over the standard suspension but not experimented yet, probably more surprises to come. And I said above the drive of the iV is magic (don't want to use the word superb).

4 months with the Superb iV - bazza

Very interesting thanks for the posting. To add to your variables, I think it also depends on the type of driving and journeys you make, as if you always drove say up to 30 miles or so daily on battery, you will save about £2 to £3 daily, if your 30 mile batterycharge is costing roughly £1.50. that adds up to a tidy annual saving but only if your journey profile is like that. But there are the other factors that can't be costed, such as better driving characteristics, smooth rapid acceleration etc that are important and seem to be found in most of the phevs and EVs.

4 months with the Superb iV - skidpan

Very interesting thanks for the posting. To add to your variables, I think it also depends on the type of driving and journeys you make, as if you always drove say up to 30 miles or so daily on battery, you will save about £2 to £3 daily, if your 30 mile batterycharge is costing roughly £1.50. that adds up to a tidy annual saving but only if your journey profile is like that. But there are the other factors that can't be costed, such as better driving characteristics, smooth rapid acceleration etc that are important and seem to be found in most of the phevs and EVs.

Been charging twice a week so far but that will drop to probably once most weeks now until travel restrictions ease. Being retired its basically shopping trips only now.

Always try to drive as smoothly as possible and anticipate what others ahead are going to do. With regenerative braking its possible to avoid using the brake pedal for all but the last few meters. Problem is with so many aggressive drivers on the road wanting to get to the next set of red lights before you many attempts to be smooth are difficult when others cut across you at the last moment.

Once we are able to get about we will probably be back to 2 charges a week as we have been doing but that will probably be the maximum and doing that our "real" mpg should be around 60mpg like we have managed so far. As I said above that is well above the 45 mpg I predicted which was based on a colleagues experience with an Auris hybrid (non plug in of course) which was supposed to be brilliant on fuel but driving it like a parson he could not better my Leon TSi.

Very happy so far.

4 months with the Superb iV - craig-pd130

Glad you like it, and that you've overcome your scepticism about PHEVs ;-)

As mentioned elsewhere, my 225xe averaged a 'combined' consumption (factoring in petrol and electricity costs) of exactly 50mpg in my 3 years of ownership. This was better than any of the turbo-diesel family barges I'd owned previously, and the 225 was also a better drive.

I miss the (literally) electric throttle response.

4 months with the Superb iV - Wee Willie Winkie

I moved our electricity supply to Octopus and their 'Go' tariff in preparation for the delivery of my Tesla Model 3. It gives a cheap rate of 5 per kw between 0030 and 0430, meaning I can charge around 28kw for £1.40. Not bad at all. Outside those times it's 14.5p per kw with a standing charge of 25p a day. Octopus seem to be the go to supplier amongst the Tesla forums.

I do have a referral code if anyone is interested - gives you (and me) a £50 credit on signing up.