My new car is an electric one, but not wholly electric; it is a self-charging hybrid. The most attractive thing about the Toyota Yaris Cross is the excellent fuel economy. There are other features that are not entirely beneficial; for example a couple of weeks ago my window stopped winding down. My wife could still operate it from the driving position, but not me. This is a completely redundant ability; in all the years have occupied the passenger seat in a car I have never required the window not to work. I can imagine this being a useful facility with a young child, but I do not think children are suppose to ride in the front seats of cars today. There are other things that are available, just because they are easily provided, rather than that they are useful features.
I did not want an electric car specifically, just an automatic. We had toyed with possibility of hiring a Mini which is a normal petrol car but automatic. The fact was that my wife (who now does all the driving) had never driven an automatic before, and I wanted her to be familiar with not having to worry about a clutch; I can remember when driving my mother’s automatic depressing the brake hard instead of declutching, and the resulting emergency stop. In the end we went for this hybrid, which also introduces us to electric driving. The car always starts in electric mode, and it moves off silently. The petrol engine not only charges the battery but cuts in to drive when we are travelling at higher speeds. Unlike a conventional car the hybrid is most economical at low speeds and urban driving.
The quality of the build of the Toyota is not as solid as the previous types of car which we have owned, that have belonged to the Volkswagen group. This slightly disconcerting, just as when leaning against the door and feeling it “oil caning”. The lac of close fit on some of the bodywork is noticeable too. None of these defects are important to the running of the car however.
Series-hybrid were an early version of this type of drive system, where the petrol engine was only used to power the batteries an there was no connection between the engine and the wheels. Now the petrol engine is used to charge the batteries and to drive the road wheels when this is the most efficient use of energy. These are known as self-charging hybrids. Plug-in hybrids are plugged in to to a power source like a pure electric car, but when they run low on charge the petrol or diesel engine kicks in to recharge the batteries without the need to plug in. There are many other kinds of hybrid vehicles like vans, trucks, railcars, ferries and aircraft.
JOSEPH MASON
joemasonspage 