A hybrid car has two power sources - a conventional petrol or diesel engine and an electric motor. Both power the car either independently or at the same time, increasing the car's efficiency. Combining the two also allows for the same speed and performance you get from a regular petrol or diesel car, but with much lower CO2 emissions and running costs.
Hybrids produce lower carbon emissions than other cars. This is good for the environment but using less fuel also saves you money, and not just at the pumps. Since hybrids emit less CO2 than conventional cars, company car drivers pay less tax too.
Since hybrids have electric motors they are smooth and silent in traffic, but if you like the sound of a roaring engine some of the popular hybrids like the Lexus have built in speakers which mimic the sound of a conventional engine. They are also automatic so ideal for gliding effortlessly and quietly in our congested streets.
There are three possible ways the power sources interact with each other: Full Hybrid systems are the most common and popular, and can use the combustion and electric engines either in combination or they can each power the car alone. Parallel Hybrid systems have primary power coming from the combustion engine with the electric motor offering assistance and Series Hybrid systems have the vehicle powered by the electric motor alone, with the combustion engine only present to generate power to the electric motor.
The original Hybrid was the Toyota Prius, which dominated the Japanese market in the late 90s, and held the number one selling car spot for 18 months. Since then, the industry has evolved and forced manufacturers to introduce a healthier range of styles ranging from small city cars, such as the Toyota Yaris, through to more lavish executive vehicles, such as the Lexus LS.
Is range anxiety or worrying about somewhere to plug the car in stopping you from hybrid car leasing? Self-charging hybrids, such as the Toyota Corolla, use their petrol engine to re-charge the battery automatically as you're driving so you don't need to worry about plugging anything in.
To help demonstrate how efficient driving a hybrid can be, Toyota invited people to see how far they could travel in electric mode on a test drive. The results were impressive: based on a total of 54,943 test drives totalling over 700,000 miles in a wide variety of weather and driving conditions carried out nationally between 1st April 2017 and 28th February 2019 found that, on average, 50% of journeys are completed in electric mode meaning no fuel was being used. And, because the cars are self-charging, you never have to plug them in - they recharge themselves. You can read more about Toyota's Hybrid Challenge here.
Hybrid leasing is a great way to drive a new car with fixed monthly rental payments that suit your budget. For a little extra, you can add a maintenance plan that conveniently spreads and fixes the cost of your servicing, maintenance, and tyres.
Furthermore - if the car produces less than 75g/km of CO2, it's exempt from the daily London Congestion Charge.
More than 75% of the total environmental impact of your car comes from driving it. In choosing a fuel-efficient hybrid, you'll be making your daily commute greener. Manufacturers are working on the 25% left over too, looking into how they can make the building process as green as possible.
Leading the way, Toyota have sold 7 million hybrids and counting. They calculate this has saved 34 million tonnes of CO2 and 12 billion litres of fuel compared to petrol cars of a similar size.
Our hybrid car lease deals are perfect for a business car driver looking to cut expenditure and save money.
Electric and hybrid cars attract significantly better Benefit in Kind rates, which for the company car driver means more money in your pocket.
To view up-to-date Benefit in Kind data, and use our calculator, please click here
