Fuel Efficient Car

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Oriphix

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#189176 19-Dec-2015 12:18

Hi All,

We have recently bought a house which is a bit further away from the city / where we work.
The general travel is around 150km a day which totals to roughly about 1000km a week.
I am looking for a fuel efficient spaces car as you can imagine filling up every few days gets quite costly.

A few people have told me to look into Toyota Prius, reading there website it does 3.6L/100km (36L tank).
Just wondering how good the battery life is and what it would cost to replace when it does die? Anyone has any experience in this?

http://www.toyota.co.nz/our-range/prius/prius-c/specifications/prius-c-with-steel-wheels/

I was specifically looking at the Prius c s-Tech.

Open to suggestions of other cars that may be fuel efficient.

Thanks

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#1453483 19-Dec-2015 13:42

We took a Fiat Punto from jucy rentals and drove auckland Rotorua napier palmerston and finally to wellington
at a average of 6.3l per 100k
and fiat are selling them for 16000 new
depending on your daily drive you may get better mileage at 50000 k's a year could be a throw away car in
3 years that hasnt cost you a lot.
Will stick with my golf gti but did think about it as a new and cheap car to buy and run around in

Jase2985

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#1453534 19-Dec-2015 15:47

@RUKI he should be able to answer the battery question

Dingbatt

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#1453556 19-Dec-2015 16:24

You may find it of use to google the fuel efficiency test that manufacturers use to get their figures. The urban and open cycles that vehicles are subject to on the dynamometer are very limited and artificial and don't really represent real world driving. What I have been told is to take the figure and add about 30% for a more realistic figure of what you will actually achieve. Where the fuel consumption figures do come into their own is in comparing different cars as they should have all done the same standardised test.
If a lot of your commute is open road driving then a hybrid will be of little advantage over a little turbo-diesel, especially one with some sort of "city stop" technology that turns off the motor at the traffic lights when you do get into town. Any gains from regenerative braking in a hybrid are offset by lugging the extra weight of the battery around. If a Prius could be plugged in at home then it would make more sense to me. But while it continues to derive all its energy from petrol it isn't a player unless you want to use parking spaces reserved for 'green' vehicles close to shopping malls, airport terminals, council buildings, etc.
Plus the fact that they look like the result of a torrid encounter between a photocopier and a golf cart doesn't help. (Admittedly new models not as bad looking).

Edit: Fix Samsung autocorrect.

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Fred99

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#1453585 19-Dec-2015 17:15

150km/day commute, I doubt there'd be anything to compete with Prius for fuel economy and TCO. A diesel might do it on fuel use, but by the time you pay road tax of probably over $3500 PA then probably not, and you'd also run out of warranty inside two years on a vehicle that is inherently expensive to fix. Prius battery life won't be your problem at that rate of mileage.
You'd be a good candidate for a Tesla 3 - when they arrive in NZ - or some other EV with the range and a little spare.

Mark

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#1453631 19-Dec-2015 19:30

Go browse the cars at Fuelly it'll give you a good idea of real world fuel consumption figures.

I live 90km from my work (so about 180km a day), I either ride the motorbike or the Smart (only me in my household does that trip), both are pretty economical, as you can see from my signature :-)

nakedmolerat

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#1453655 19-Dec-2015 20:26

Diesel Diesel Diesel!

If I need to drive that distance, I would prefer diesel car over anything else.

It is still worth it despite the additional RUC.

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Oriphix

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#1453774 20-Dec-2015 09:19

Fred99: 150km/day commute, I doubt there'd be anything to compete with Prius for fuel economy and TCO. A diesel might do it on fuel use, but by the time you pay road tax of probably over $3500 PA then probably not, and you'd also run out of warranty inside two years on a vehicle that is inherently expensive to fix. Prius battery life won't be your problem at that rate of mileage.
You'd be a good candidate for a Tesla 3 - when they arrive in NZ - or some other EV with the range and a little spare.

Yeah I would love a Tesla but would need to sell my house to get one in NZ.
I know someone that has it and its very nice.

Oriphix

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#1453775 20-Dec-2015 09:20

Mark: Go browse the cars at Fuelly it'll give you a good idea of real world fuel consumption figures.

I live 90km from my work (so about 180km a day), I either ride the motorbike or the Smart (only me in my household does that trip), both are pretty economical, as you can see from my signature :-)

Thanks for that I have registered to that website as well would be good to get some stats about my car.

ratsun81

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#1453796 20-Dec-2015 10:42

Im assuming that you will be doing mostly open road driving?

From my understanding, the prius is best suited to around town driving.

Here is a good calculator for working out petrol vs diesel costs.

I would be going for a Diesel, typically a good euro diesel car/station wagon will get you somewhere in the 5L/100km bracket depending on how you drive.

xlinknz

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#1453804 20-Dec-2015 10:57

I applaud you for wanting to save money from having a more fuel efficient car not enough people make the effort

Note in Nz vehicle retailers must display the combined fuel rating e.g. 3.9/L 100kms. I see that is what Toyota nz use on their web site. You should also be aware of two other measurements urban and extra urban. You will see those additional rating on other jurisdictions sites e.g. Australia

The Prius is 3.9 for combined 3.7 for urban and 3.8 for extra urban. Urban is city driving, extra urban is open road and combined is well a combination. As you can see the Prius is very close for all those measurements. It would appear your driving would be extra urban ?

However that is not the case with petrol and diesel cars for example a Peugeot 308 diesel which we have is 3.7 highway [extra urban] 4.8 city [urban] and 4.1 combined so is actually better than the hybrid. So basically highly efficient diesels are as good as Hybrids on open road or extra urban. Personal choice

The eeca have an excellent calculator here that allows you to compare cares based on combined rating and 14K kms per annum but importantly factors in RUCs for diesel vehicles. You can do the math for your own expected kms too.

In regards to batteries for the Prius last I heard is that the Toyota warranty is 8 years but best you check.

Lastly remember you cannot tow with a Prius and would void your warranty if that is a consideration. Best check that too if needed.

tdgeek

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#1453805 20-Dec-2015 11:00

Side topic, steady driving, tyres at correct inflation, keep open road speed down will add greatly to fuel savings.

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Oriphix

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#1453966 20-Dec-2015 16:42

xlinknz: I applaud you for wanting to save money from having a more fuel efficient car not enough people make the effort

Note in Nz vehicle retailers must display the combined fuel rating e.g. 3.9/L 100kms. I see that is what Toyota nz use on their web site. You should also be aware of two other measurements urban and extra urban. You will see those additional rating on other jurisdictions sites e.g. Australia

The Prius is 3.9 for combined 3.7 for urban and 3.8 for extra urban. Urban is city driving, extra urban is open road and combined is well a combination. As you can see the Prius is very close for all those measurements. It would appear your driving would be extra urban ?

However that is not the case with petrol and diesel cars for example a Peugeot 308 diesel which we have is 3.7 highway [extra urban] 4.8 city [urban] and 4.1 combined so is actually better than the hybrid. So basically highly efficient diesels are as good as Hybrids on open road or extra urban. Personal choice

The eeca have an excellent calculator here that allows you to compare cares based on combined rating and 14K kms per annum but importantly factors in RUCs for diesel vehicles. You can do the math for your own expected kms too.

In regards to batteries for the Prius last I heard is that the Toyota warranty is 8 years but best you check.

Lastly remember you cannot tow with a Prius and would void your warranty if that is a consideration. Best check that too if needed.

Thanks for that, the EECA calculator is really good to give me an indication.
I didn't know about the towing but yes I will definitely ask.

nzkiwiman

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#1454288 21-Dec-2015 10:23

Mazda 3 - GLX Model (2 litre)
Quoted efficiency is 5.8l per 100km

Road Trip - 100km or more, mostly at highway speed, averages around 6l per 100km (with the lowest being 5.4l per 100km and highest 6.2l per 100km)
Daily Commute- 15km one way, 80% at highway speed, averaging 8l per 100kg (lowest being 7.4l per 100km and highest so far is 9.2l per 100km)

When I was looking at the car, I thought (based on efficiency and fuel tank size) that getting around 700km per tank was reasonable.
On a road trip - that is possible (but I normally stop around 650km) and I am lucky to get 500km with the daily commute - though the low fuel light comes on pretty early and I know from experience that when "empty" I still have 5l or more

ockel

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#1454315 21-Dec-2015 10:40

I see that Armstrong Motor Group are dropping $20,000 off their 2015 Peugeot 508 hybrid.
And their 2015 3008 hybrid is down plenty too.

Both have the claimed mileage around 4.0L/100km.

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Coil

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#1454317 21-Dec-2015 10:42

A diesel VW golf/jetta will run on the smell of an oily rag.
Go European diesel and you will get the best economy.

My Audi was very efficient, I got about 26L per 100KM.
Open road low boost setting and less fuel was around 16L per 100KM

Best economy i had was a 550I BMW, 6.5L per 100Km on the Whangarei to Auckland road. (cruise control the whole way @ 90)

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