I picked a good week to drive a new plug-in hybrid (PHEV).
As I zig-zagged my way around town in the latest, brand-new Audi A6 plug-in saloon, my radio was filled with talk and analysis of cars like my test vehicle.
The airwaves and social media were buzzing. And it all had to do with a report from the EU-wide non-government agency, Transport and the Environment (T&E).
Maybe you heard it. If you did sorry, but here’s a quick for those who didn’t.
It highlighted how unreliable emission and fuel consumption tests can be when measured by the official WLTP (worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedure) test.
WLTP is the global standard for testing and measuring fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, pollutant levels.
Its analysis on thousands of PHEVs in so-called ‘real-world driving’ conditions can, in fact, use up to EIGHT times more fuel in what we will call ‘our real-world conditions’.
The report pulls no punches. Its spokesman calls PHEVs are a ‘con job’.
If that is the case then the likes of our government is being conned. Are we all being conned?
WLTP uses ludicrously low fuel consumption and emission figures to determine the price of new cars.
Fuel consumption is directly linked to emissions. Our car taxation regime here is based on a car’s emissions. So, the lower WLTP figures are applied.
Now these can be quite low: I have tested cars with WLTP official consumption under one litre per 100kms. That translates into 282.5 miles per gallon. Unbelievable? Well they must get them from somewhere.
WLTP claim they carry out realistic driving simulation based on a wider range of driving data, including urban, suburban, and highway driving.
They say identical test cycle makes it easier for buyers to compare efficiency and emissions.
It’s important to know that the tests are undertaken in laboratory conditions.
Against that backdrop, then, I took to the highways and byways.
I started with a near-full battery and tank. And, over the course of a few days, I soaked up the kilometres on motorways, well-tarred secondary roads, some narrow streets around Belfast, Lisburn, Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Rathfarnham, Bray, Wicklow, Lucan and more.
My car was in S line trim, with S-tronic 7spd transmission, 299 PS, quattro all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering, upholstery black-steel grey/black and delivery and related charges of €1,350) costs just a few notes off the €100,000 grand mark.
The total retail price (excluding €1,300 delivery charge) is €98,360. Add the delivery charge and you’ll have small change in your pocket.
But you don’t have to pay that much. The entry-level retail price is €73,700. And diesel models kick-off at €66,290.
Audi have, simply, packed this S line motor to the gills with options and the price rattles upwards.
Two comments on that. Some of them should be on the entry-level package. I mean what executive car hopes to get away without electric front seats as standard. Here, they cost you €1,001.
Good thing: sport suspension is part of the overall package.
The rear-wheel-steering is a great fun. More anon.
Here’s most of the optional extras and their cost: S line Pack €3,016, 21ins alloys in black €4,304, Tech Plus €5,927, those electric front seats I mentioned €1,001, memory function for driver’s seat €269, phone box with LTE support €392, trailer hitch prep €262, acoustic glass (side, rear) on windows €654, tinted rear windows €590, ambient lighting package €1,157; seats in Dinamica/leather combination €4,673, inlays in carbon fibre €988 and anti-theft wheel bolts €52.
It adds up to a serious wobble of money.
So what do you get for it? Well, I could be cynical and say I got one of the darkest looking cars I’ve come across for some time inside and out.
But that was to become an unfair initial assessment even if they all but obliterated the grille.
Yet as the days slipped by I have to say this smoothie decked in Firmament Blue wrung a hot ‘like’ from me. It has such a flowing profile, and the front is the epitome of minimalist design, the only real intricacies being the low-lying inlet skirts.
Adding to that streamlined look, the car sits low on the tarmac. I have seldom been seated as low in a car for a long time. The downside of that, for me, was getting any sort of height in my seating.
I needed more height. I would have been more comfortable if I had 10cms to better see the corners of the bonnet and I struggled to place it better on more twisty roads.
Like everything I got used to it but it probably would be a deal breaker for me.
Going without the triple-screen stretch across the dash certainly would be a deal breaker. I think it’s a great piece of kit.
To my extreme left on the dash was the passenger’s screen, whereby that seat’s occupant can change and choose lots of what a driver would have in front of them (audio, nav, ventilation etc) and, if they wish, there’s video.
Then there is the large central infotainment screen which worked well, one or two strange Voice control calls aside.
And then there is the screen in front of the driver had plenty of info (perhaps the amount of charge and petrol might be magnified).
I’m a big fan of Audi interiors and this one is all about design and relevancy of what is placed where.
But the tunnel running through centre of the rear, means the middle seat will not be a comfort zone for too many. It leaves little enough leg room.
I found the buttons on, and around, the small, squarish steering wheel a bit cumbersome. I wonder would they get to put two or three of those functions on the dash below the infotainment screen.
Don’t hold your breath for boot space; it is disappointing.
But, these criticisms aside, I was enjoying myself over a variety of routes.
All the new PHEVs are powered by a 2-litre petrol engine and electric motor, and have a 20.7kWh rechargeable battery that is 45pc bigger than in the old A6 hybrid. Road tax is €150 by the way.
The new hybrid system will cover around 106kms in ‘pure electric drive mode’ according to official tests.
Using a commercial charging point can replenish the battery in two-and-a-half hours; doing so from a domestic ‘wallbox’ could take a bit longer.
I enjoyed the benefits of the suspension. With different driving modes and a decent chassis it kept me interested; though the BMW 5-series still clings to the gong for tautness and sportiness of drive. The A6 is, nonetheless an enjoyable good drive.
And I loved the way the rear-wheel-steer system worked to give a little bit more help around bends. The S line’s output is 299kW
And now to the number crunching. The S line fuel consumption ranges from 2.7 litres per 100kms to 2.3litres depending on spec, wheels etc, according to official figures. Yes, that’s low. And emissions range from 62g/km to 53g/km (depending on spec etc). That’s low too.
Audi reckon their revised recouping system could be a player in 90pc of all slowdowns – braking etc – and that did put a few kilometres back in the ‘tank’.
The on-board calculator, tallied quite well with my mine as I went through the hoops of short-term and long-term consumption.
At 5.8 litres per 100kms it was nearly double the official figure. I expected it to be heavier. I could have added another litre or two (or five!) if I had driven it harder. But to be fair, I drove smoother than usual.
It’s still a long way off the WLTP figures. I think my results are real-world reflective. I don’t know what to call the WLTP figures.
