VW says "In the year 2026, the last product based on a combustion platform will be started."
Autocar say: "Volkswagen to launch its last combustion engine in 2026"

The two organisations are not saying the same thing and I presume we have to believe VW. The premise is the same but the timescales vastly different given how long it takes to deliver a "combustion platform" to market.

Huwrhys wrote:

I also don't think until it is, we will have a viable design from any manufacturer.

(However, currently 90% of charging happens either at home or work, so for commuting, they are brilliant)


Which is all very well if you have a driveway / garage at home with a charging point or a work car park with charging points.
What about all the multitude of people who live in blocks of flats / houses with no off road facility and have to park in the street whilst at work?
Will there be a spiders web of cables from windows across footpaths?
Until the infrastructure is in place to facilitate the large scale charging of electric vehicles it will remain a technology only suited to a small percentage of people.

I don't think it's a viable transport option if it can't be relied upon to get me from A to B (wherever B is) in comparison to what we have at present. I'm a bit of a sceptic regards environmental issues and see the the one hot year being jumped on by the greenies as proof of GW. They didn't do it in 1976.They were talking of the world freezing back then or have we forgotten that. The BBC were saying last year that the temperatures hadn't shown any upward movement for 11 years and the IPCC had to readdress their crystal ball because of it. Now that 2018 has been hot and suddenly the focus is back on again. No one can get their hands on the raw data as it's all been "adjusted".
Humbug!
I don't want or need to get into a slanging match as most are convinced I'm wrong by having listened to too many people who have a vested interest.
Even with this issue with the "truth" I still don't care what powers my car so long as it makes it possible to do what I do now. Electric vehicles may well be the way forward but a lot of stuff has to happen before it becomes a real alternative.

Huwrhys, i agree with you, if an electric vehicle suits others then all well and good for them. It would make sense if you do less than 20 - 30 miles a day and could stay on electric. As others have said , they enjoy the silence and a V8 makes noise, not much but at the same time if your that sensitive to noise then fair enough.

Electirc is the way forward but imho it has a ways to go.

And for myself and my needs , a 4.4 V8 diesel is perfect ( with a remap) 2015 4.4 AB
GSXR 1000 K5
R1 1998

IMHO it's nearly there

I do several long runs a year and a Tesla comes close, but doesn't quite work - my stops would have to be too long - and if one charger wasn't available, i'd likely be screwed. Mid trip recharging is still too scary.

For our other car, I'd happily switch - I'm renovating a house right now & have run a 6mm 32A cable to the front ready for a charging point - but until then I'm in a rented apartment with no facility to charge.

We recently looked at some new apartments - still being built - and even though there were allocated parking spaces, there were no charging facilities.

Hi Alister, i think you made my point about it not being there yet, distance is still an issue, recharging can be an issue, etc. I do believe electric is the way forward but for myself its not pratical. I do a 100 kilometre commute daily but some days , like today , unexpectedly i had to cover an extra 250 kilometres with a chance ( didnt happen) to drive another 450+.

In my world an electric car would be impratical. Also the FFRR version seems to me to be largely exclusive to those with lots of short journeys.

Again just my humble opinion. And if LR are reading this i will accept one on long term loan to be persuaded otherwise. ( keeping my V8, obviously) 2015 4.4 AB
GSXR 1000 K5
R1 1998

MJGH wrote:

Which is all very well if you have a driveway / garage at home with a charging point or a work car park with charging points.
What about all the multitude of people who live in blocks of flats / houses with no off road facility and have to park in the street whilst at work?
Until the infrastructure is in place to facilitate the large scale charging of electric vehicles it will remain a technology only suited to a small percentage of people.

The title of this thread is “Owners Reviews’. The point here being owners have made a choice based on their personal circumstances. It would be very naive to think a RR phev is all things to all men. Owners will have made a choice based on their usage and for some it makes absolute good sense, here and now regardless of what may or may not happen in the future.

For me, I have done 7500 miles in mine since July. It’s a no contribution company car so a great way to ‘own’ a RR with a massive BiK advantage over any other RR available, just compare the numbers to a petrol with equivalent performance!! 90% of my miles are a 90 mile round trip commute (2 x 45 mile journeys with 2 x full batteries) with charging capability at each end so consistently returns 50+ mpg on those journeys. Yes the consumption doubles on a long run so I’ll take something else diesel powered or more ‘enthusiastic’ if that’s the plan.

So from an ‘Owners Review’ prospective it is perfect for me, but I recognise I did the research to ensure it fits my lifestyle. It won’t for a lot of others on this thread!!!

It's horses for courses. Someone living in London who does not tow would find the PHEV an excellent choice, whereas a farmer wanting to tow large trailers on a regular basis would prefer the 4.4 SDV8. IMHO the Government(s) (Scotland is even more "ambitious" on eliminating combustion engined cars (even though it seems not to be a devolved matter)) ought to put incentives in place so that people choose the right car for the driving they do, so no diesels for inner city commuters, but still available for users like the farmer. The lack of flexibility is disappointing, but I expect the charging infrastructure to lag behind the political will, so who knows what will happen.

A technician at the dealer's recently was just back from the PHEV course and said how nice it was to drive, fast enough and not that noisy/strained sounding. He did say the Ingenium range was being developed, so maybe power units that are more attractive will be available before too long. The Ford deal does run out in 2020 I think, so they will need something soon. I'm glad to say he thought the 5.0SC was nicer than the PHEV. Maybe just as well as notwithstanding almost 30 years of RRs, I've never had a driveway...  Only Range Rovers since 1988

I was close to buying a diesel in the autumn but given all the dpf issues have put on hold. I currently do very short commutes (long walking distance if I wasn’t lazy) but the nature of my job means I could change to be doing 100 miles a day. My current vehicle is not euro 6 compliant and will be banned from my town centre within a couple of years (Edinburgh). Do not want an electric or hybrid, I would consider petrol but what I really want is a diesel without a dpf! So in do nothing mode until things become clearer or my current car gives up or is banned.

Not a review but a question. What is the situation now and in the future regarding towing, I have seen it mentioned a couple of times as currently a big no no. 90% of my miles are with c.3 Tonnes on the back. From 20 mile to 800 mile round trips. Will this ever be achievable in my lifetime? (at a guess I have 30 years). I am all for this electrickery malarkey but feel it's not going to meet my requirements anytime soon. Thanks

I think it's just because of where the batteries are that the tow bar can't be fitted ?

It's possible that the fact that drains the batteries faster is also a factor...... the range whist towing is likely very low for the FFRR

However, towing is entirely possible as this Tesla video shows

If I only towed 1/4 of a mile it would suit me too.

Tesla's can (and do) have tow bars fitted. The PHEV Range Rovers can't have a deployable towbar but can have a fixed one (or so I was told).

Electric cars, with their huge low torque are in some ways ideal for towing.

However, towing obviously kills the range. Most reports on Teslas talk about halving it or worse when driving with a tin tent hitched on the back. I would imagine that long journeys would become tedious if you need to stop for an hour every 125 miles ratter than every 250.