I have done many inspections on hybrid cars and I am very impressed so far and it really is a “no brainer “ for people who drive mainly in the city.

A single person living in the city really only needs a two door petrol car but most single people will buy 4 or 5 door diesels. Hybrids carry no street cred at all so I don’t believe they even replace the big diesel BMW. But, hey, you can buy a hybrid BMW and take the badges off. All the big manufacturers make hybrids now amd Mercedes make a hybrid diesel with a big engine that drives really well.

The initial cost of these hybrids puts a lot of people off, but used cars can be bought in the UK and imported at very realistic money and, because they are hybrids, the VRT is much lower. Another factor is build quality. All manufacturers are in competition with each other, even BMW and Renault, so build is the same quality for the petrol and diesel models, but, because they are trying to “prove” hybrids, the build quality is seriously increased. A Toyota Prius will do 400,000 miles without serious issues, try doing that in a BMW diesel.