Ever since Toyota set the ball rolling with the Prius in 1997, hybrid cars have grown in popularity to the point that you can’t go half a mile without seeing one of these part-electric cars.
Every carmaker from Kia to Porsche offers a hybrid these days, but with so much choice, how do you know which are any good? Fear not, we’re about to tell you…
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
Fitting a plug-in petrol-electric powertrain to the Outlander was a masterstroke from Mitsubishi.
The five-seat, five-door SUV can cover up to 32 miles on electric power alone and with the help of a two-litre petrol engine, it boasts a total hybrid range of 541 miles. It is super efficient too, returning 156mpg combined and emitting just 42g/km of CO2, which means no road tax (at least until new rules take effect from April 2017).
The car has been a runaway success with more than 100,000 sold worldwide and a quarter of those have ended up in Britain. This makes the PHEV by far the nation’s most popular plug-in vehicle, representing half of Mitsubishi Motors’ UK sales and half of all plug-in hybrids on UK roads.
Toyota Prius
Some would argue that without the Prius, none of the cars on this list would exist. Perhaps that’s a tad extreme but they have a point; the Prius was the car that lit the torch for hybrids and it stuck to its guns when many sneered and mocked its eco-approach.
Four generations and almost 20 years on, the Prius is still leading the way. With 94.2mpg, 70g/km, it is currently the most efficient standalone hybrid on the market.
Don’t let its green credentials overshadow the fact that it drives and looks better than ever too.
Check out what we think are the five best electric cars on sale right now
BMW i3
Many mistakenly assume that the i3 is a pure electric car, which it is, but there is also a ‘Range Extender’ model which adds a petrol engine to the mix in the interest of eking out as many miles as possible.
This means that rather than 195 miles, the i3 can drive for up to 276 miles with barely-there CO2 emissions of 12g/km.
Audi A3 Sportback e-tron
You may remember that advert with the breakdancing robots from a few years back, but it seems that most people have forgotten about Audi’s one-and-only plug-in hybrid. Which is a shame, because it’s a well-accomplished all-rounder.
Twinning a 1.4 TFSI petrol engine with electric motors unlocks a 7.6 second 0-62mph time and on 17-inch wheels, the A3 e-tron emits just 37g/km of CO2, reports 176mpg combined and does everything else the A3 does so well.
Volkswagen Passat GTE
VW’s plug-in Passat was recently listed as one of our favourite alternative fuel cars along with the Prius so humour us while we recap its magnificence once again.
Along with the usual high-level practicality, the Passat GTE uses the same powertrain as the aforementioned A3 e-tron for almost identical results.
The larger frame and heavier car means that it returns 166mpg and emits 39g/km of CO2 but still manages to hit 62mph as quick as the A3.
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[…] recently handpicked the fourth-generation Prius as one of our favourite hybrids on sale right now and the CotY judges have clearly recognised its brilliance […]