New Research Reveals How Much Cardiff Residents Can Save By Driving A Hybrid Car
A new study has calculated the distance an average petrol, diesel and hybrid car can travel on £10. Comparing the average cost of fuel in 32 major cities, the report has found the savings residents across the UK can expect if they make the switch to hybrid.
- A quarter (27%) of drivers plan to buy a hybrid car
- 41% of respondents believe that hybrid cars are the future of the automotive industry
- The overall yearly running savings of driving a hybrid over a diesel or petrol car is £386 – More than the average cost of a UK car insurance premium for renewed policies*.
- Cardiff residents will save an average of up to £383 on car running costs if they swap from a petrol or diesel car to a hybrid car
Southampton has been revealed as the city that will save the highest (£382) by making the swap to a hybrid car while Bradford residents will save the least (£374).
Automotive manufacturer Suzuki has analysed how far £10 will take you in a diesel or petrol car in comparison to our hypothetical hybrid car**, as well as surveying 2,000 drivers to understand their attitudes towards hybrid cars.
Drivers can save up to £400 a year on running costs by switching to a hybrid car
The study reveals more than a quarter (27%) of respondents would like to buy a hybrid car with almost half (46%) confessing their main reason to buy a hybrid car would be due to the lower running cost. Surprisingly, only 2% of the population correctly identified what the average savings for running it would be, with nearly two thirds (60%) estimating a lower saving on just £1 – £300. In fact, the in-depth analysis shows that drivers could save up to £386 per year.
Spokesperson at Suzuki adds: “There is a lot of misunderstanding about Hybrid Vehicles; mostly because there are many variants. Suzuki has hybrid technology included as standard across the entire passenger car range, offering Mild, Full, and Plug-In Hybrid technology. To some this might appear a little confusing, but we do this so there is a model for everyone. Hybrid technology works by combining a conventional petrol or diesel engine with an electric motor. This electric motor, along with a hybrid battery works together to support the engine – or in some cases, power it on its own. The level of power varies by hybrid type, this is why you’ll see variations of Hybrids.”
Potential running cost savings in the UK’s top cities:
- Birmingham – £10 of petrol in Birmingham will take citizens around 50 miles and £10 of diesel will take them up to 52 miles. However, with a hybrid car they will go as far as 69 miles! This is a saving of almost 35%.
- Coventry – People living in Coventry that make the switch to a hybrid car will save up to 35.26% which is an average of £379 a year.
- Manchester – Mancunians topping up the tank with £10 will see that a petrol car will take them around 50 miles, a diesel car around 53 miles and a hybrid car 70 miles! This is 35% saving compared to a conventional car.
- London – Londoners that make the switch to a hybrid car will be able to save 35.3% on running costs which equals to around £378 per year.
- Edinburgh – People topping up their car with £10 will be able to go up to 49 miles with a petrol car, 50 miles with a diesel and 67 with a hybrid car.
- Glasgow – Glasgow residents making the switch to a hybrid car will be able to save on running cost up to £382 which is around 35.3%.
- Cardiff – Drivers in Cardiff could save up to £383 if they were to switch to a hybrid car. Cardiff residents topping up their car with £10 will see a petrol and a diesel car going as far as 49 and 51 miles respectively. However, a hybrid car will drive them for 68 miles!
Hybrid cars are the future of the automotive industry
Hybrid cars are here to stay with two fifths (41%) of respondents believing that hybrid cars are the future of the automotive industry and it’s the millennial and Gen Y age group, aged 24 – 42, who are the strongest advocates (44%) with more than one in ten already owning a hybrid car (13%).
Greater London is the region with the most hybrid car owners (15%), followed by the West Midlands (11%) and the North East (11%). Wales has the lowest ownership at 3%.
Nearly a fifth of drivers (16%) say that they will make the switch to a hybrid car in the next 5 years. The key reasons for respondents to move away from conventional cars include:
- Lower running cost (46%)
- Eco-responsible (41%)
- Reduce noise pollution (26%)
- No congestion charge** (24%)
What’s holding people back?
The research also unveiled some common misconceptions around hybrid cars with 39% of respondents claiming that they believe the National Grid is not able to handle the increasing demand despite many hybrid vehicles being self-charging.
And one in five (20%) thinking that hybrid cars are slower than petrol and diesel cars.
Spokesperson at Suzuki adds: “We’re big believers that Hybrid Cars are right for the here and now. With genuine concerns over charging infrastructure and range ability in Electric Vehicles, we’re confident that our Hybrid range can offer drivers the convenience they’re needing. In the meantime, we’re continuing to invest into Electric for when the time is right, with our first EV coming in 2025.”
The full study can be found here: https://cars.suzuki.co.uk/hybrid/how-much-does-it-cost-to-run-a-hybrid-car/
Methodology
Survey of 2,000 people who had to own a driving licences conducted by Censuswide in December 2022.
To identify the savings, we looked at:
The average cost of petrol and diesel across the UK to determine the amount that can be bought with £10. Source: https://www.confused.com/petrol-prices (figures were converted from litres to gallons)
Distances calculated based on the average mile per gallon of average diesel (43 mpg) and petrol (36 mpg) cars. Source: https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/largest-car-insurance-companies/average-cost-petrol-car
And for hybrid cars, we found it by determining the average mpg of mild and full hybrid Suzuki cars (53.1 mpg).
The average yearly mileage of an average UK car (7,400 miles per year) and the mileage travelled with £10 to determine yearly savings. Source: https://www.caranalytics.co.uk/guides/average-car-mileage/
Car insurance was not considered as part of the running cost.
* Association of British Insurers (ABI) – https://www.abi.org.uk/news/news-articles/2022/08/higher-costs-for-insurers-put-the-squeeze-on-the-price-of-motor-insurance/
**EV only
**^Hypothetical Hybrid mpg is the average of Suzuki Full and Mild hybrid models’ mpg (HEVs and MHEVs). We looked at mild and full hybrid Suzuki models for our £10 of fuel calculations in our research. Both the mild and full hybrid have an electric motor working alongside a petrol engine. How does it work? Well, the hybrid motor provides electrical assistance, working in tandem with the petrol engine when it’s under strain, like during acceleration. Full hybrid models have the capability to drive on electric power alone for short distances when accelerating steadily from standstill, to moderate speeds, or when cruising through slow-moving traffic.
Image of Suzuki S-Cross Hybrid: © 2023 Copyright Suzuki Automotive