Ds5 Hybrid Without A Battery

[qman3428]

I am considering buying the DS5 hybrid but have a query, if the hybrid battery is dead can the car be run on the diesel engine only. I understand the car starts on the electric motor and only once a certain speed is achieved does the diesel start.So if the hybrid battery gets old and costs to much to replace can the car still be run?

One for the experts out there!

[paul.h]

This does not answer your question, but one of our neigbours is a rep and had a company car Honda hybrid with electric and petrol motors which saved a lot in tax. From memory the petrol was about 1.4 litres and only helped at higher speeds, so when the car came along the street on the electric motor it could not be heard. I am not sure about the batteries but they may have been on a lease arrangement which may complicate things. The petrol also charged the batteries. Oddly, it did not give as many mpg as our C4 diesel so its main money saving would be the taxable benefit. The boot was not that big since it was full of batteries. He has since replaced it with a BMW.

[AJS_2010]

The honda will def still work if the hybrid battery dies but obviously you won't get the same performance out of it. With the Insight, being a heavy car with a 1.3 engine, the fuel consumption will will drastically ger worse.

[paul.h]

Just a thought, who would want to buy a used hybrid, particularly if the batteries needed replacing ? Could you end up with a car that nobody would want once you wished to change it for something different ? Any potential fuel economy savings could be minimal compared to ownership costs including buying/selling.

[AJS_2010]

Question. If you buy a DS5, let's say used, 1 year old.Wouldn't you get the remaing warranty left on the car and batteries?

[paul.h]

You should get the remainder of the 3 year warranty if the conditions of it were met. Once 3 years old though, if from a Citroen dealer (and not a large Citroen national dealership which seem to be different) you should get the approved used 1 year warranty - elsewhere may be a few months. But once out of warranty would the average motorist want a hybrid - hence my thoughts on resale.

[qman3428]

All very valid comments but I am comming up to retirement and this would be my retirement car. I therefore expect it to be the last car I would buy. Fuel consumption is listed as 73 mpg which is not to be sniffed at, however the battery has a guaranteed life of 8 years, so expecting the 8 year old car would need a new battery, even if it is not high mileage, I want to be able to do the sums to see if this car is justified or I should just go with the less efficient versions.

Taking in to account the issues of getting older i will be going for an automatic, so the 20.hdi DS5 only gives 46 mpg.

The research I have been doing has possibly given me the answer in that the car can be used in 4 wheel drive mode where the front wheels are deisel and the rear are electric, so in this mode, even with a dead battery I would still have a diesel engine and could pull away.

One of the things to consider is depreciation as an old hybrid, which might need a battery, is diesel so could need a DPF and at 100k will need a cam belt, the value of the car will be very poor. If this is reflected in the early years then a low mileage 2 year old car could be a bargain.

[coastline taxis]

owner of a local buisness i was talking to had a prius and the waranty for the battery was subject to regular dealer servicing and  electrical check on the battery. So youl need to factor that in. think you would be better off just getting a c3 4 or 5 then theres no worry about the battery. Also knowing present and past governments there will be a squad of people sitting in a room as we speak trying to figure out how to put  a tax on electric cars

[paul.h]

Depending on circumstances, on retirement annual mileage is often a fraction of that when working. As a result, actual mpg figures become less important in the financial calcs. Say a 1.6 hdi manual C4 will be about 11 p/mile on fuel, getting the hybrid may save say 2 p/mile and over 3000 miles only about £60 a year. The C4 car tax is only £30 so nothing to save there either. I am not sure, but I have read the DS5 is based on the C4 so may not be much bigger.

 

On retirement and your last car, there are many over 80 year olds still driving so chances are with a bit of luck, you may be into a couple of cars at least.