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Diesel versus plug-in hybrid: Test causes disillusionment - "No more cars for foresters and farmers"

2022-02-18T07:31:54.867Z


Diesel versus plug-in hybrid: Test causes disillusionment - "No more cars for foresters and farmers" Created: 02/18/2022, 08:16 Current generation of the Land Rover Defender as a plug-in hybrid off-road vehicle. ©Jaguar Land Rover Diesel cars have a large following. This is especially true for off-roaders. But the triumph of plug-in hybrids does not stop at off-road SUVs - with manageable succe


Diesel versus plug-in hybrid: Test causes disillusionment - "No more cars for foresters and farmers"

Created: 02/18/2022, 08:16

Current generation of the Land Rover Defender as a plug-in hybrid off-road vehicle.

©Jaguar Land Rover

Diesel cars have a large following.

This is especially true for off-roaders.

But the triumph of plug-in hybrids does not stop at off-road SUVs - with manageable success.

Munich - The automotive industry is changing.

However, this does not only apply to drive technology: Increasingly complex electronics, the merging of computers and cars (“connectivity”) and the intention to make autonomous driving suitable for the masses are causing traditional car lovers to feel uneasy rather than optimistic.

Using the Land Rover Defender as an example, the comparison of an electric car portal shows how vehicle construction has changed since the turn of the millennium: The owner of a traditional (diesel) off-road vehicle tested the new generation (L663 series) as a plug-in hybrid.

The report at

Efahrer.chip.de

reveals what has deteriorated.

Modern off-road vehicles: "Rounded design" and seats like in a normal car

First of all - and this is a question of taste - the shapes of the model series have changed significantly: "Everything is so smooth," says the tester about the softer body shape.

After all, the angular design of the forefather of the hybrid Defender P400e is one of the characteristic traits.

The new Land Rover has an air suspension system to adapt to the respective surface.

At least that commands respect from tester Philipp D.: "If you crank it up all the way, it's in pretty good shape." But the off-road driving feeling of the past seems to have gone by now: "You sit here very differently, more like in a normal one Car and not as close to the door as it should be for a Defender.” The author also complains that panels take up space in the trunk: “That’s bad for the adventure conversion.”

He no longer has much in common with the rustic ancestor: Land Rover Defender as a plug-in hybrid at a motor show.

© Michael Debets/Imago

Off-road vehicle comparison: About modern on-board electronics and the lack of engine noise

A point that heats up the spirits: increasing overload due to more and more complex on-board electronics.

Because even if car manufacturers preach the advantages: occupants with a preference for little distraction and analog driving fun are increasingly being nullified.

The tester of the hybrid Land Rover (produced since 2020) explains about the infotainment: "There are far too many screens, buttons and functions.

If I get into a tricky situation off-road, I don't want to have to start looking for the right setting in some menu.”

Even if it seems necessary from an ecological point of view: The missing, roaring engine noise when pressing the start button also causes displeasure among some off-road fans.

"It's completely different from mine," the editor compares the old and new Land Rover Defender.

A crisp circuit that can be used to cope with rustic terrain?

That, too, is a thing of the past given an eight-speed automatic transmission.

With the 404 hp hybrid off-road vehicle, you no longer need a sporty second car.

In return, the Defender produced in Slovakia weighs a ton more than before (around 2700 kg).

The petrol and diesel versions* that are still on offer are hundreds of kilograms lighter.

Land Rover Defender: New hybrid consumption hardly cheaper than the forefather?

The full battery of the Land Rover Defender enables an electric range of around 30 kilometers.

A cost comparison shows, however, that the operating costs are hardly lower than for comparable diesel: According to the report, a charge at the charging station costs around ten euros.

"That's 30 euros per 100 kilometers just for electricity," the tester calculates.

"The diesel is almost cheaper there."

On a mixed stretch of city, country road, dirt road and motorway, consumption leveled off at around eleven liters - plus electricity.

On the Autobahn, consumption at a speed of 130 has increased to over 15 liters.

That definitely seems higher than comparable diesel SUVs of the newer generation.

It goes without saying that the consumption skyrocketed exorbitantly on a section with over 200 km/h.

While voluminous off-road vehicles are frowned upon in Germany for ecological reasons, they set the tone in North America: Pick-up trucks in particular continue to enjoy great popularity in the USA and Canada:

Modern vehicle electronics make repairs difficult - and significantly more expensive

Finally, another important feature of the upheaval in automotive construction* is mentioned in the report: In many (higher-equipped) vehicles, driving assistants are more of a burden than helpful: "The adaptive cruise control cannot drive with foresight, and lane keeping does not work either," the tester stated soberly .

The latter would countersteer only when it is already too late.

However, the 360-degree camera and visual off-road aid are an asset to the new Land Rover Defender: "It's really awesome off-road and in the city."

The technology, which is much more complicated than before, not only causes distraction: It makes it increasingly difficult for hobbyists and even independent car workshops to fix problems themselves or at least to discuss them: Just tighten screws, adjust a bitchy electronics or replace components?

That hardly seems possible in the future.

“New cars all have so much complicated technology.

You can forget that you can do something yourself,” is the tester's thesis.

This downside inevitably shows the downside of the symbiosis between computer and car (connectivity) and the pursuit of autonomous driving: visit expensive (brand) workshops and have the defect repaired by a technician with a special computer, instead of doing it yourself in the garage at home.

New cars from premium manufacturers like Land Rover are aimed more at the well-heeled clientele anyway.

The tested hybrid SUV costs almost 100,000 euros new.

A sobering conclusion: “This is no longer a car for foresters and farmers.

Land Rover should make cars for adventurers again!”

Rival BMW meanwhile vehemently defends itself against a hasty combustion engine end.

(PF)*Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-02-18

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