Isn't it simply that it takes considerably more energy to start a diesel engine that a petrol one, probably negating any saving or making the savings not that great?

 

My Passat 130TDI is averaging 55mpg including some keeping up with the traffic driving on the M40, M25 crawl and urban as well as the cold start etc. so I am perhaps mistaken with regard to your Prius but certainly not with regard to fact that its no better than a diesel (again negating this recent and hopefully short term price differential) and my diesel is a proper car with a proper comfortable interior. The prius I looked at had a fairly poor interior and was pretty noisy as well.

Best real world car around? I have to disagree, certainly for my real world.

Thanks for your input though, what are you driving now BTW?

 

By real-world I mean practical, economical, reliable.

I would admit to the Prius being noisy - relatively speaking - when thrashed, but that really is missing the point about the car. It isn't something to be thrashed.

In 85K miles, nothing, but nothing ever went wrong with it. Dealers were excellent too. The servicing costs were a fraction of a previous daily driver - an A-Class CDi.

The car is a massive five seater - rear leg room amazed most people. The boot was adequate too. Being an auto it was completely relaxing to drive - and there were plenty of toys in it to make being stuck in jams interesting.

The interior wasn't anything special - although mine had the full Alcantara so was better than the standard trim - but it was serviceable and functional - it did exactly what it says on the tin.

I contract hired the car and its residual was good so the monthly cost was low - and being a petrol hybrid the BIK tax was only 15%. For my real-world motoring there was nothing that came (or comes) close.

My current daily driver is a fully-loaded Mini Cooper Clubman. Overall MPG this week is 48.3 - not massively worse than the Prius and admittedly it's a much better drive, but the build quality, the irritating dealers and niggling faults make me wish I had gone for another Prius .

And the good thing about driving any mundane daily driver is that it makes the S so much more special when one gets into it.

 

Cannot disagree with you there!

I'll still maintain that there could be even more gains in MPG (and therefore reduction in CO2 output) from a diesel hybrid.

Starting a diesel requires a larger starter due to the compression I guess. It doesnt seem that big an issue though?
Also if you consider all the aero tweaks and weight saving that has gone into the petrol hybrids, consider how similar approaches might increase the fuel efficiency of a hybrid diesel?

 

The thing is, I can't see what you get over a diesel except weight and batteries with a presumably limited lifespan (if the ones in my laptop are anything to go by) whereupon they need changing after so many cycles.

So at least some of the economy they have over a standard petrol is negated by having to replace batteries at, I suspect a not insubstantial cost. I know yours was leased, so not so much of a consideration, but I imagine when the cars get to 5 years old or so, the owners suddenly finding themselves with a

 

BMW Efficient Dynamic diesels have auto stop-start.

 

but no battery only mode for tomn, low diesel efficiency, driving.

 

No of course not, but people were conjecturing on whether or not stop/starting a diesel was efficient.

Frankly I have absolutely no idea but I assume Mr BMW knows best

 

Sorry that wasn't meant as a dig, I have had some marketing gumph (technical term) for an Efficient Dynamics open day. did anyone on here go?

 

I had 75+ MPG from a Civic IMA doing motorway journeys with a speed hovering around 90mph most of the way. (Not saying which country this was in)

It's all to do with driving technique as well as the technology.