All the car manufacturers now offer some sort of fuel efficient variant of their models. Of course everyone would like to pay less for their fuel but is it worth paying a premium for the car to achieve this saving?
To achieve these fuel saving targets manufacturers have two options:
- Engine optimization for fuel efficiency, aerodynamic modification and other new developments (like stop-start or brake energy regeneration)
- Hybrid engine (normally includes the above modifications too)
The problem with hybrid cars is that they are really expensive and as the batteries wear down become less efficient so will suffer more depreciation than other vehicles.
So the only alternative will be to buy a car with a smaller engine. As you can see below a VW Polo BlueMotion average fuel consumption is 17% better than a Toyota Prius Hybrid.
To see these fuel saver options is worth the extra dough we compared the the VW Polo BlueMotion with his other brothers and the Toyota Prius with the similar non-hybrid Toyota Verso.
(all amounts in ZAR and Petrol/Diesel saving calculated at R10 per liter)
So in the first table we have two similar spec’d VW Polo’s and as you can see the BlueMotion certainly looks worth the few extra bucks.
One thing to take into account here is the BlueMotion does take a second longer to get to 100km/h but if you’re reading here you probably not looking for a performance car.
In the second table we compare the BlueMotion with the Polo 1.4 Trendline. Here you can see that if you’re willing to sacrifice a few luxuries it will take long to justify the extra money spend on the car price.
Lastly we take a look at the Toyota Verso vs Prius. Both cars are similarly spec’d and as you can see the consumption for the hybrid is considerably less than the 1.8 liter petrol engine in the Verso.
But the years it take to save the extra cash spend on the car price is a long time and probably longer than you anticipate on keeping the vehicle. Add the additional depreciation on a hybrid since the second hand market will be a bit cautious and the picture for hybrids starts fading fast.
So to conclude if you want to do your bit for the environment and your pocket it’s best to go for a car with a smaller engine than a hybrid and on lot of the efficient options available at manufacturers you’ll get you investment back within a few years.