Hybrid vs. Petrol Cars | Cost of Ownership Comparison

• Ahsan Tahir


• 15 May 2024

In Pakistan, people think of Hybrid cars as a great fuel-saving option. Indeed, they are, but not always. Basically, the term “fuel saver” is dynamic for every person.

There are many dynamics involved, e.g., the daily running of the vehicle, the frequency of long routes, the duration of ownership, the resale of the vehicle, the fuel average difference and price gap between the HEV variant and the non-HEV variant, and the battery pricing of the HEV vehicle.

Pakwheels Overall Verdict

In short, if you have a high daily running, e.g., 50-80 Km/day, and you’re planning to keep the car in possession for 3-8 years, then spending a fortune extra on the HEV variant might make sense for you.

If you’re planning to keep the vehicle for 1-2 years and your daily running is not very long, e.g., 20-40 Km/day, then an HEV might not make sense for you.

It’s important to note that HEV vehicles don’t offer any fuel savings on long rides such as motorways and GT roads. They are primarily designed for fuel efficiency in urban roads with frequent stop-and-go traffic. On highways, an HEV would achieve similar mileage to a non-HEV vehicle.

HEV is a Money Saver Only

If:

• Your daily running is 50+ Km
• You’re buying a brand new HEV vehicle
• You’re planning to sell the car in 3-5 years
• You’re buying a car which has good resale in the market

Then, an HEV can indeed provide you with a low-cost ownership option.

However, if:

• Your daily running is not too much, less than 50 Km
• You’re planning to buy a used JDM vehicle
• You’re planning to keep the car for less than 2 or above than 5 years
• You don’t care about resale and are interested in buying a car that doesn’t have good resale

Then, an HEV cannot provide you with a low-cost ownership option. Even if it does, investing in it wouldn’t make sense.

How?

Here’s a calculation for your understanding:

HEV Ownership Cost For People with High Daily Running and Long Ownership Period

Let’s consider a scenario. Each day, a person uses his car to pick and drop at school commute to the office, and his wife or kids use the same car for home use at night. We estimate that the average total distance covered daily is 70 km.

Now, we take the two scenarios. In Scenario A, he uses an HEV vehicle, and in Scenario B, he uses a non-HEV variant of the same car.

(the tunning cost, parts price, and maintenance cost are the same for both scenarios)

Hence, at 70 Km/day, if you keep the vehicle for 5 years, the HEV variant will save you Rs.1.1 million PKR relative to the non-HEV variant.

HEV Ownership Cost For People with Low Daily Running and Short Ownership Period

Now, if we suppose that you’re a person whose car’s daily running is 30 Km, as you only keep the car for office or kid’s school pick and drop. Moreover, if you keep the car for a short period and plan to sell it after 1.5 years, then the calculation will be:

You do save about Rs.200K compared to a non-HEV vehicle, but does that really matter? The initial investment in an HEV is much higher relative to a non-HEV variant of the same vehicle. In the end, you are saving 200,000 PKR only in 1.5 years (Rs.360 daily), so it might not make sense for the majority of people.

Initial Investment in New HEV Vehicles

On average, an HEV variant costs about 2 million PKR more than a non-HEV variant.

Here are some examples of the Pakistani market:

Used JDM Hybrids | Pakwheels Opinion

Going with used JDM hybrids might not be a value-for-money deal. It’s because they are too used and probably used by more than 2 or 3 owners on the Excise’s file. Most of these cars have either:

• Runout battery
• Even if battery health is good, it’s probably non-genuine, and local 18650 Li-ion cells are installed in the battery pack.

 

We’re not saying all the cars have this issue, but the majority of the JDM hybrids, especially those that are old and have 200,000+ Km on the odometer, have this kind of battery alterations.

If you’re after the JDM car experience, these HEVs could be a good option. But if you’re only concerned about saving on fuel and ownership costs, they might not be the best choice.

Alternatively, you could opt for a brand-new local car with good fuel efficiency, such as the City or Swift, or consider expanding your budget for a Jolion HEV (the cheapest HEV in the locally assembled market).

But note that old JDM HEVs like Aqua and Prius will not be a money-saver in the long run!