THE SWITCHBACK

​After Toyota's Le Mans success with their TS050 Hybrid I had a look at their hybrid road technology, and was left trying to figure out what the advantage is.

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With my Skoda Fabia's deal up next summer, I've been looking around for its replacement. After watching Toyota's Le Mans triumph at the weekend using their hybrid powered TS050 LMP1 car, I realised I haven't even considered the Yaris, and in particular it's hybrid option .

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After test driving the Ford Fiesta, Citroen C3, Hyundai i20, Seat Ibiza and having experienced enough of the Vauxhall Corsa to know its not for me, only the Ibiza has challenged my Fabia. I thought a step into hybrid motoring might be something worth a look and the Yaris provides the best opportunity for that at this end of the market.

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However, after running the numbers on how much it would save me versus the cost of the car, I am left feeling confused as to what the point is.

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First up, the Yaris does not benefit from the Government's grant scheme for plug in hybrids and electric cars. Unable to fall into the minimum category of the three tiers the government lay out, which require a car to produce a maximum of 75 g/km of CO2 and drive 20 miles while producing 0 g/km of CO2 (in other words, in fully electric mode), the Yaris is something the customer must pay for fully.

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I will break this next part up into segments. I compared the Yaris Hybrid to both my 1.2 TSI Fabia (an engine no longer offered by VW Group) and the new 1.0 TSI Fabia (which produces near identical figures to it's sisters, the VW Polo and Seat Ibiza).

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Miles per tank:

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I calculated that the Toyota Yaris, with it's 36 litre fuel tank and at it's claimed 76.3 mpg, can do a maximum of 604.2 miles per tank.

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When compared to my 1.2 Fabia, this looks good. Despite the 45 litre tank in my car, it can only complete 594.9 miles per tank due to it's claimed 60.1 mpg. This is where the good news ends however, as when compared with the 1.0 Fabia it falls short. The 1.0 Fabia, running at it's claimed 64.2 mpg, can run for 635.5 miles on one tank, meaning you'll spend more time at the pump if you opt for the Hybrid offering.

 

Cost per mile:

 

The fewer miles to a tank look like a small price to pay, especially when teamed with the figures I'm about to show you. The cost per mile is based on the current UK average of £1.28 per litre of petrol.

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The Yaris costs 8p per mile to run, beating out the 1.2 Fabia, which costs 10p per mile, by 2p and the 1.0 Fabia, which costs 9p per mile, by 1p.

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This all looks immaterial, until you look over the long term. Based on the time period of a PCP offer similar to mine, that runs at a max of 10,000 miles per year for three years (36 months), the seemingly small gap starts to look appealing. Over the 30,000 miles, the Yaris costs a total of £2,400 in petrol based on current prices. Meanwhile, the 1.2 Fabia costs £3,000 and the 1.0 amounts to £2,700.

 

So as we have worked out so far, despite fewer miles to a tank, the Yaris offers a £300 saving over three years, when compared to the currently available 1.0 Fabia.

 

Price of the Car:

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This is where the Yaris falls flat on it's face however. A completely standard, bottom of the range ('S' trim level) Fabia 1.0 TSI costs £12,985. Meanwhile, a completely standard, bottom of the range 1.5 petrol hybrid (which, just for the record, is not even equipped with a touchscreen) costs a rather hefty £15,995, £3,010 more than the better equipped Fabia.

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It doesn't get much better with the removal of a final payment of a PCP offer (that many won't pay at the end of a PCP as they often opt to take a new car). With removal of the final payment and not taking into account interest rates, the Fabia will cost £8,215.90, while the Yaris still costs £1,704.10 more, at £9,920.

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This means, if my maths is correct, the Yaris Hybrid would need to be driven 301,000 miles before it bridged the £3,010 gap in price between itself and the Fabia with it's lower running costs. At the UK average for miles per year of 7,900 miles, this would take 38.1 years to achieve. Even at my personal average of 10,000 miles a year, this would take 30.1 years to complete.

 

The averages continue to work against the Yaris, with cars only owned for an average of four years, and on average they are scrapped after 16.

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CO2 Emissions:

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The only area that I think makes the Yaris a worth while prospect are in it's CO2 emissions, and you'd have to be an avid environmentalist for this to be a deal maker. The Yaris Hybrid emits 84 grams per kilometer (52.1 grams per mile) of CO2. Meanwhile the Fabia 1.0 emits 101 g/km (62 grams per mile) of CO2. However, while this is an advantage, it's one that most people buying a car in this segment won't be prepared to pay for.

 

Conclusion:

 

I can't speak of the driving experience that the Yaris offers, as I am yet to have a go myself. But, as a Fabia owner and having driven a Seat Ibiza, it would be tough for the Yaris to better either of the VW offerings. I've also heard bad things about the CVT gearbox that you're forced to take with the hybrid powertrain, although, each to their own on that one.

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Also, the above figure in respects to mpg are based on the claimed figures being fact, something which is highly unlikely. In Motor1 UK's long term test of the Yaris Hybrid, it returned only a 49.5 mpg average, a figure I can get from my 1.2 Fabia with relative ease, and the VW engines have become more economical since.

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So, in my opinion, you'd need to find a brilliant deal for a second hand Yaris Hybrid for it to make any sense. A brand new one would just be a waste of money, unless the driving experience is near perfect.

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It's a shame because, as much as I hate to say it as a petrol head, the future is electric, and the Yaris had a brilliant opportunity to ease skeptics towards electric vehicles.

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However, I do believe it is only a matter of time before we have at least a hybrid that can offer enough of an improvement over petrol and diesel to fully justify it.

 

*All figures correct as of 21 June 2018