The Toyota Corolla hybrid is South Africa’s best-selling new hybrid car.
How fuel-efficient is a self-charging hybrid with its combination of fuel and electric power? And what distance can be travelled on one tank?
AutoTrader sought to answer these questions by including a hybrid in the 2023 Annual SA #ElectricCarChallenge Battery Test. It was the first time a hybrid had been included and the intention was to test fuel-efficiency and the benefit that the fuel/electric motor and regenerative braking offers to a closed loop (self-charging) hybrid.
Hybrid vehicles are considered an intermediate step toward full electric vehicle (EV) adoption and interest in them continues to rise. The AutoTrader 2023 Hybrid Car Buyers Survey shows a 64% increase year-on-year in hybrid enquiries by consumers while 88.4% of respondents considered improved fuel-efficiency as the biggest advantage of owning a hybrid vehicle.
South Africa’s best-selling new hybrid car, the Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 Hybrid, was the car tested. The Corolla Cross hybrid has an 1.8-litre petrol engine coupled to an electric motor and a 36-litre fuel tank.
“The Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid was also the most sold used hybrid car in 2023. As a closed-loop or self-charging hybrid it does not require external charging, adding to its attraction. The car’s electric battery is charged by regenerative braking where electricity is produced during deceleration and braking. While plug-in hybrids provide superior performance and fuel-efficiency to that of a mild hybrid, as well as a longer range of electric-only driving, they are more costly,” explains George Mienie, CEO of AutoTrader.
The test took place at the Gerotek Oval track in Pretoria on a typically hot day in South Africa with the Corolla Cross Hybrid’s air conditioner set to 21°C. The tests conducted were designed to mimic the typical daily commute – 44km of highway driving at national speed limit, and 44km of stop-start city style driving.
The petrol/electric hybrid produced consumption of 6.7-litres/100km for highway driving, equating to a range of 537km from its 36-litre tank.
City driving favours cars with electric motors and in this driving scenario the self-charging hybrid posted 4.6-litres/100km, equivalent to a travel distance of 782km.
Combining the two consumption figures yields a travel distance of 659km, or 5.65-litres/100km. While not quite the manufacturer’s claimed combined consumption of 4.3-litres/100km (or 837km range), the hybrid meets what over 41% of surveyed respondents expect the average fuel efficiency for a hybrid to be; and that’s between 4 and 5.9-litres/100km.
Bottom line? A typical holiday journey (with Johannesburg to Durban the benchmark) on one tank appears to be achievable in the Toyota Corolla Cross hybrid.
Article Provided
