Diesels or Hybrids?

As mentioned, if you drive short distances in stop-and-go city traffic, the hybrid will beat the diesel engine on fuel economy, and then jump up and down on it with feathered pillows for good measure.

For longer distances though, mile-munchers will be better off with a diesel engine under their hoods. That’s because diesel engines are incredibly fuel-efficient – meaning you get more miles per litre than petrol engines.

And don’t forget, hybrids are mostly designed to coast on electric power only at low speeds. When you hit the highways, their petrol engines take over, and whilst being not so efficient as diesel, also have to lug about a ton or so of batteries around too.

While diesel engines produce plenty of torque at low RPMs, they tend to run out of puff at higher RPMs, which means it is harder for diesels to reach the same top end speeds of petrol cars.

A hybrid can go head to head with a diesel in one rather important way – with no gearbox needed, an electric motor can spin up unbelievable torques all the way up to redline – where a regular petrol engine then takes over the work of propelling the car to higher top speeds.

The hybrid definitely takes the crown here. With smaller petrol engines requiring less engine oil, and a maintenance-free electric motor doing most of the driving, you’ll be seeing a workshop a lot less often than you would with a diesel.

However, a hybrid car may take a bigger hit on resale value. The lifespans of batteries are known to be finite, and there’s no way to be sure if the 2nd hand hybrid you are eyeing needs its batteries replaced sooner rather than later. So you might want to find out whether the car you want to buy will hold onto its resale value.

The Prius is the poster-car of its generation, but not everyone fancies its fastback looks. Thankfully the Prius isn’t the only hybrid around. There are hybrid variants of many diesel or petrol powered cars at every price range, such as the Honda Fit, Toyota Camry, Lexus CT200, Lexus LS, Lexus NX, Mercedes S-Class, and even Porsche Cayenne and Panamera, so style is not the limit here.

The more advanced diesel engines come mainly from the German marques such as Volkswagen and Audi. Scandal notwithstanding, they are still the most sporty cars to drive if clean green fun is what you are after, whilst hybrid cars may tend to be slower on the uptake.

Ultimately though, the answer you are looking for lies in your heart. In terms of your head – environmental-friendliness – the results look like a mixed bag at the moment.

So I’m going to repeat advice that you’ll probably hear in the showroom: if you’re planning to go up north often and travel on expressways a lot, a diesel would probably suit you better. But, if you are planning to do lots of short trips locally, like daily school and grocery runs or frequent trips around the CBD, a hybrid will likely be better for you.

Now if only they would come up with a diesel-electric hybrid, we could then have the best of both worlds!

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