The medium SUV hybrid category. Is there a clear value proposition amongst the Chinese brands right now, or is it splitting hairs? What would be your pick of the base hybrid, no-extras models based on best bang for buck?
Chinese Medium Hybrid SUV Battle
bajillionaire on 30/10/2024 - 09:15
Poll Options
- 9Haval H6 Lux Hybrid
- 156BYD Sealion 6 Dynamic
- 11MG HS Plus EV Excite
Comments
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I think if there is a suitable EV for your needs, you can charge at home and you realistically only travel further than one charge less than 6 times a year youd be daft to keep buying petrol.
Most of (non-ICE) Australian car buyers beg to differ
Hybrids are still outselling straight EVs.
In Australia Hybrids make much more sense as their usefulness and range is far superior to a straight EV
QUOTE:
In the first eight months of 2024, hybrids made up 15.5% of new car sales, while EVs made up 7.6%Maybe the market has been hoodwinked by all the fossil fuel shills plus the market for EVs is still quite limited for choice.
Yes, hybrids are outselling EVs, doesnt mean its not the best choice for cutting fuel costs, service the petrol motor regularly. An EV can have a full tank of sparks every single morning rather than going out of your way to buy a product that is priced at the whim of fuel cartels
As i said, if you only rarely travel more than a charge worth of range and can charge at home then I think youd be mad to get a hybrid.
The Haval is not a fair comparison as it's just a standard hybrid, not a PHEV. It's by far, the best value bang for buck car out of the 3. However, you need to fork out the extra $4k for the Ultra Hybrid at $43k, buying the base model is a huge mistake. By the votes, I can see that people are picking which car they want to own for free (ie. obviously the most expensive one), not which car is best value for money.
The MG HS EV is $49k and the BYD is $52k. If you drive 10,000km/year and you have a mortgage offset account, odds are it'll take you 12 years to recoup your savings in petrol with the MG & 24 years with the BYD vs the Haval H6 Ultra Hybrid at $43k. The downside is that the PHEV will be 50kg (MG)-250kg (BYD) heavier and won't save you any money in petrol before you sell it off & you'll have to constantly plug it in to keep that battery charged up. The upside is that you get to enjoy EV mode more often if you get a kick out of not using petrol.
RAV4.
Hired one recently… Very comfortable for long drives.
Pity hybrids are near useless on long drives.
Why?
Because the fuel consumption increases.
That doesn't make them useless for long drives.
@jv: I drove from Geelong to Wodonga and I was getting the same L/100 as I did with my previous petrol car. My Rav4 Hybrid gets around 5.3L/100 normally. On long drives it's over 6.4L/100 which makes the hybrid useless on long drives. Also, no regenerative braking as you don't really brake on long drives.
which makes the hybrid useless on long drives
How is it useless?
We hired it and it worked fine. It was quite comfortable to drive.
@stuffandthat: Useless for long drives if all you do is long drives - if you commute, drive a lot in city and town with the occasional long drive, they are great.
@stuffandthat: Every time I go for a long drive (holidays), there is roadwork, and coffee breaks in small towns.
Plenty of braking there
@stuffandthat: must be the way you drive, in the same car between same towns i get invariably 4.1, i get around 4.3 zooming in town. Its the work rav4 so its not like i'm afraid of accelerating, I wouldnt buy one because i dont like the vision angles (i still turn my head to park). Maybe check your tyre pressures
@JimmyF: On non stop-start drives? Bollocks! What is the effect of the electric power system on those drives? Nothing- just a boat anchor to carry around.
The advantage is in stop start driving.
On non stop-start drives?
Yeah see https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/15860749/redir
Bollocks! What is the effect of the electric power system on those drives? Nothing- just a boat anchor to carry around.
Tell me you haven't driven a hybrid without telling me.
The advantage is in stop start driving.
Toyota hybrid system is more than just 'start/stop' that some other OEMs slapped on. It shines in start/stop driving, but it also uses less fuel on the highway than the equal non hybrid version.
@JimmyF: tell me you're not smart enough to understand basic laws of physics…. or do you believe your hybrid has a wonderful modern version of peter brock's "economiser"
@jv: Because hybrids are most efficient on short urban trips. Hit the open road for a long drive and you're just lugging around an extra battery. Hybrid may help in coasting downhill or overtaking power but almost all efficiency is lost on long drives.
@MS Paint: i agree in principal but not sure that's 100% correct in reality.
With many of the east coast hwys being hilly terrain, i believe the hybrids even at 110kph gain efficiencies over their pure ICE counterparts.
I rented a hybrid RAV4 for a Bris-Syd trip and had cruise at 110 the whole way and averaged 5.3l/100km (and did the whole stretch in one tank), which is something my equivalent Subaru Outback has never achieved (being the effectively the same displacement & weight, but full-time AWD it's gotten 6.5l which is considerable bit higher than the RAV4)Because hybrids are most efficient on short urban trips
I had no issues driving one on a very long drive.
Because hybrids are most efficient on short urban trips. Hit the open road for a long drive and you're just lugging around an extra battery
As a Camry hybrid owner myself, I can tell you that is totally incorrect.
My Hybrid Camry gets better fuel economy on the open road than a no hybrid Camry, sure not hugely better like around the city, but still better.
@MS Paint: Your about 15 years behind in your thoughts. Name a non-hybrid SUV that will better the Toyota hybrids on the open road? Not even the Toyota non-hybrid suv is better on the open road.
The BYD Sealion 6 has a (advertised) 1000km+ range? Not enough for you?
I guess you never drove one on a long drive. I go 40 km on freeway to work and back daily sitting slightly over 100km/h when I can, and no other medium SUV (non-hybrid) comes close to my fuel consumption of 5.3 average for a 163 kw medium suv.
If thats useless - what is the Mazda? Subaru ? etc…@ytthr: TO WORK AND BACK… is your workplace on the side of the freeway, or do you travel on urban roads as well?
Except no one has pointed out
Standard petrol - 2.0L
Hybrid - 2.5LHybrid has more power and torque, which is obviously better on the open highway for overtaking etc. Hybrid also has the option of AWD, standard petrol is only 2WD
(unless you consider the Edge 2.5L, but it's design is polarising, with orange highlights on the interior)
hybrids are near useless on long drives
Makes cents. Next family road trip we'll be hitting the highway on a push bike. Cheers
Makes sense to save cents and avoid making scents completing a census while burning incense if you are innocent.
terrible noise insulation though
Didn't realize Toyota was a Chinese brand now. How long has that been going on for?
They've been making cars there for years now.
Everyone's been making everything in China for years now. That doesn't make everything a Chinese brand.
Which Toyotas on Australian roads are built in China? As far as I knew, the Hilux is built in Thailand and cars are built in Japan.
Who cares. Proven hybrid vs some garbage.
I have one. They are the fridge of cars. Inoffensive, bland and unremarkable, if reliable. The interior is mean for the price in my view.
LOL.
I just bought one myself and when I get asked about it, I reply with "a bit ordinary but reliable… much like the owner at this stage in life".
Of course, I just upgraded from a car that had no infotainment screen, or android auto, or even bluetooth so everything does feel fresh to me. I'm not happy that I cannot have both my phone plugged in for Android Auto, AND have a USB stick with mp3s plugged in at the same time. So now I need to put my driving music on my phone and lose storage space.
Do you sing a chorus of 'first world problems' when you do that? :)
@dan2k: No but I will. First world problems are the best kind of problems. Would gladly take more of them vs all the other crap I've dealt with over the past decade.
interior is mean for the price
Not sure what this means. If the only thing you're looking at is a hybrid, having one from a company that's been making quality hybrids for years would be the pick. Not some random Chinese thing that has colourful lights inside and a stupid name.
Yeah, I wasn't sure if it was a good 'mean' or a bad 'mean'.
Much like if the word 'phoney' been used.
I am saying the interior uses cheaper materials and has fewer quality of life features than I would expect for the price point.
Lots of hard scratchy plastic surfaces. Not great storage options either. I just don't get why this is one of the most popular cars in Australia. I guess because it enjoys Toyota's almost mystical status as bullet proof?
@Shoocat: It's a Toyota so people pay more. People buy them because Toyota make a great hybrid, it just works, and they've been doing it for ages. Getting anything else is a gamble as to whether it will work as intended. I personally wouldn't buy one, but if you want a hybrid SUV, that's pretty much it, or a lexus at an even higher price point.
Use to have one, the 30% price increase in 4 years is to much. No way I'm paying 65k for a Rav4 and the base models are so damn basic you might aswell buy a 5 year old non hybrid and save yaself 20k.
Agree. I bought myself a 2yo non-hybrid and saved $15k.
I use mine for 3 things:
- Weekly grocery shopping run
- 1hr drive to my parents every 1 or 2 months
- a longer domestic trip with my wife and pug once or twice a year
And I do 5000 km per year. In 10yrs time, I dunno if this car will have done 100,000km. Here's hoping it doesn't encounter any serious issues and lasts a while.
I found that the RAV4 hybrid doesn't drive as well as the Haval H6 Ultra hybrid and has inferior features & technology. The OP's question is regarding bang for buck which makes the RAV4 cruzier hybrid a bad option, it's $13k worse off than the top of the range Haval H6 Ultra Hybrid. After 8 years of driving 10,000km/year with a mortgage, you'll be $20k poorer than owning a Haval H6 Ultra hybrid instead.
But bang for buck should take into account exceptional poor resale value from Chinese cars. You take out a lot of the population who won't buy a Chinese car when you go to sell. Ownership experience is also much lower in industry ratings.
It's not just about the cheapest price to purchase, or even run. There are so many factors to add to the value of owning one. You have to be happy sitting in a Chinese car and not worry about what many others think of you is another factor (I know some that own the cars won't like that but it is a factor).
Being relative unknowns and not accessible for incidental trial via rental fleets, would come down to road tests for me. And sitting in them to assess the quality of the interiors. Apparently MG (10-year 250K warranty) has been making huge leaps with each successive generation.
Good food for thought. I hear the same things about BYD making huge improvements too.
All three have tyre repair kits, no space for spare tyres. You'd want to be largely driving in the city.
best bang for buck?
The MG will likely make the biggest bang.
Granted the OP did ask for best bang for buck, it's also the worst car on the list in terms of driving enjoyment.
Kia Sportage SX Hybrid
Didn't know this was made in china?
I agree, but a much much better car. Shouldn't hurt to think outside the box, especially when it is so ugly.
MG is nasty…..
Haval is ok
BYD would be the winner here, with the PHEV option.
MG is nasty…..
Has the best reviews of the 3 though…
They're all paid off
So it's an 'even playing field' then…
Has the best reviews of the 3 though…
Who cares what the paid reviews say.
I do
I do
But I never asked what you cared about. You're like a vegan, telling me things I didn't ask about.
But I never asked what you cared about.
Yes you did…
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/15861386/redir
You asked me directly.
You asked me directly.
LOL ok sure…. after you already 'vegan' me by spamming me your thoughts that I didn't ask for.
I agree with your sentiment because it's the most expensive car, odds are it'll be the best car (you get what you pay for). However, as a result, the BYD will take 24 years to recoup the petrol savings vs buying a Haval H6 Ultra hybrid which you'll never have to plug in. Odds are, the car will be sold off or written off well before 24 years is up which means that it's definitely not the best bang for buck car.
Anyone that purchases a new car on the advice of motoring journalists are nuts.
Anyone that purchases a brand new first released vehicle in the first year, is also nuts.
Remember the Leyland P76 and Holden Camira, both car of the year voted by, yep, motoring journalists.
Not much choice but to buy the P76. They had the market cornered if you needed to carry a 44 gallon drum in the boot.
Had my MG PHEV for 3 years and been nothing but excellent. It certainly doesn't feel like the cheap nasty MGs like the MG3; they're worlds apart and the hybrid engine has oodles of torque.
Having said that, the BYD is a compelling option and had it been available when I needed a new vehicle it would have been very likely chosen instead.
Why would you buy any of them? These are really just shit cheap new cars for people too impatient to find a used Japanese or Korean car.
These are really just shit cheap new cars
People used to say that about Korean cars not that long ago…
Yes, when Hyundai came to the market and was selling stuff like the Excel. Then they stepped up their game and the equivalent now, an i30, is more comparable to a corolla in terms of reliability.
It will happen to Chinese cars eventually but for now (the cheap ones) are still really in their infancy stage, at least with sales support in this market.
Then they stepped up their game
As will these in the very near future…
To be fair, the Excel was a great little car.
https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/hyundai-excel-australia-h…
Korea and Japan were enemies of Australia in military combat
"Korea" was never an "enemy" of Australia, unless you mean North Korea during the Korean War.
While Korea was annexed by Japan, they had no autonomy / drafted to fight for the Japanese etc.
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I am leaning toward BYD > MG > Haval. Though it is a toss up between the big BYD range where I don't have to change my current refuelling behaviour, vs the MG's reasonable battery-only daily commute range with a small change to recharging behaviour. Laziness slightly winning out.