If you’re lucky enough to be offered a new set of wheels with your job, then these are the best hybrid company cars you should be considering.
We’ve run the rule over the latest crop of petrol-electric contenders to uncover the best options for user-choosers looking to mix business with pleasure, as well as save a few quid on their tax bill.
Of course, fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids are the best for saving large chunks of cash, but not all drivers can plug-in to charge, either at work or home. Yet fleet managers are still keen to cut CO2 emissions and slash fuel bills - which is where traditional hybrids come in. Offering the flexibility and ease of use of a traditional ICE car but with the benefits of electrification, these machines are the perfect compromise for high-mileage company car drivers.
For this list we’ve concentrated on both ‘self-charging’ and mild hybrids. The former usually have a bigger battery and the ability, for short periods at least, to drive in a ‘full EV’ mode thanks to their more powerful electric motors. In the latter, there’s usually a much smaller combined starter-generator unit that can give the petrol engine a boost of acceleration as well recover lost energy and feed it back into the battery when coasting or braking.
More importantly, this set-up helps lower CO2 emissions, which means a more beneficial benefit-in-kind (BIK) rating. It’s this figure that dictates how much a company car driver’s salary will be taxed each month for the pleasure of using their car, so the lower the better.
What’s more, we’ve stuck to the sort of models that best fulfil the traditional company car role of combining business during the week with family-friendly versatility at the weekend.
The best hybrid company cars
Our choice: Skoda Superb 1.5 TSI e-TEC SE Technology
If you're looking for a company car that does exactly what it says on the tin (well, the bootlid), then step forward the Skoda Superb. Handsome, spacious, lavishly equipped, great value and good to drive, the big Czech machine is as much a hit with user-choosers as it is with fleet managers.
A recent update has smartened up the looks and given the vast interior an upmarket upgrade, but under the more aerodynamically slippery skin it retains the familiar MQB Evo platform. There’s a choice of traditional ICE powertrains, plus a plug-in petrol-electric option, but it’s the mild-hybrid 1.5-litre TSI e-TEC that’s the pick of the bunch.
The smooth and refined unit is brisk rather than quick, but combines with the Superb’s poised handling and pliant ride to deliver a satisfying steer. In SE Technology guises it promises 54.1mpg, emits just 119g/km of CO2 and is rated at 28% BiK.
Read our Skoda Superb review
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Sister publication - What Car? - consistenly puts the Lexus NX plug-in at the top of the tree. But no mention of it here. Are your colleagues wrong?