Hybrid cars for sale

Hybrid cars are a great solution if you want to save fuel but don’t want to commit to driving an electric car. Combining a conventional petrol or diesel engine with the silent running of an electric motor ensures lower running costs without new technology to adapt to. Use BuyaCar to find your perfect hybrid car, arrange finance online and have it delivered to your door at no extra cost.

What are the best hybrid cars?

Hybrid cars are very popular as they offer fuel-saving and periods of silent running like an electric car, but you still have the reassurance of a familiar conventional engine. There are lots of hybrid cars to choose from, from small cars and family-sized SUVs, to saloons and estate cars, so most people will be able to find a hybrid that suits their needs.

Toyota was a pioneer of hybrid cars and has been selling them in the UK since 2000. Today, its best-selling Yaris, Corolla and RAV4 models are all hybrid-only, such is the popularity of Toyota’s hybrid system. As ever, the best hybrid car for you will depend on your budget and your needs.

Are there different types of hybrid car?

There are three main types of hybrid system, but all combine a combustion engine with an electric motor and a high-voltage battery to store the charge. The smallest motors and batteries are found in mild hybrid electric vehicles, usually shortened to MHEV. Here the electric motor plays a supporting role to the engine, saving fuel by giving an electrical boost when accelerating and turning the engine off at very low speeds.

Sometimes called self-charging hybrids, full hybrid electric vehicles, abbreviated to HEV, use the engine and electric motor in combination, or the electric motor on its own for short periods of a few miles. Both mild and full hybrids add power to their batteries by using the motor as a generator as well as recovering energy from the braking system.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) also generate charge in those ways, but with the added function of being – as the name suggests – plugged in like a fully electric car. Plug-in hybrids have even bigger batteries, allowing many models equipped with this technology to travel over 50 miles without the conventional engine sparking into life.

Are hybrid cars automatic?

Almost all hybrid cars are automatic so that the car can more easily control how the petrol or diesel engine will work most efficiently with the electric motor and level of charge in the battery pack. Although most hybrids are automatic, many feature sports driving modes for the gearbox or physical paddles on the steering wheel that still allow the driver to change gear when they want to. Of course, as with conventional engine-only cars, the faster you drive a hybrid, the less efficient it is.

What are the advantages of driving a hybrid car?

Hybrid cars offer a great balance of convenience and economy and are very popular as a result. As they still have a conventional engine, you simply fill the fuel tank as you normally would, but this is boosted by the fuel-saving capabilities of the electric motor. Hybrids are becoming even more efficient too, operating for greater distances on electric power alone, and requiring you to stop to refuel even less frequently. Due to consumer demand, hybrid cars generally have strong residual values and are very reliable, as the technology is well proven.

Are there any drawbacks to driving a hybrid car?

As hybrid cars carry heavy electric motors and batteries, plus electronics to control how they work with the conventional engine, they tend to cost a little more to buy or finance in the first place. A plug-in hybrid can prove to be particularly inefficient if you choose to drain the battery and are forced to run it solely using the combustion engine until you can recharge it.

However, used sensibly, you can claw that investment back with lower running costs and decent residual values. Some hybrid cars are a little less practical, as batteries tend to live under the boot floor where extra stowage or a spare wheel might otherwise reside, but overall the drawbacks are largely insignificant.