Just been looking through the ford's web site and noticed all the new ford focus's appear to be 1.0ltr Hybrids. Being now in my 60's  I currently have a 1.6 182 bhp Tit x, keep my cars 6-10 years and would expect to have to change the li ion battery in that time. Anyone on here know how much one of these batteries would be?. It is looking like I will have to move from Fords although I will miss my heated windscreen and go to volkswagan.

Plenty of VW's have heated screens as an optional extra, Fords patent ran out years ago!  Sadly for those of us buying used, not many people seem to chose them as an option though.

As for the batteries - no-one knows how long they'll last in the real world yet, or how much the cost will be in ~5+ years time... 

I don't really understand the worry over batteries in hybrid cars, but I'm sure Ford will have some sort of warranty on them what that will be I don't know , but if we look at Toyota we can get an idea of what it should be.

Every Toyota Hybrid vehicle in our range comes with a 5-year 100,000 mile Toyota warranty, which – with an annual hybrid service extends the cover on your battery for up to 15 years, We don't hear load of complaints from Prius owners and they have been around 20 year now.

 

I did look on a USA site too and there Toyota give 150K miles / 8 years warranty on  batteries

Yes VW do heated windscreens, I was undecided between Golf and Focus, the Golf is a £300 option and I understand its a full sheet element in the glass so you don't get the mesh view you sometimes see in a ford in a certain light

Yes, as above I wouldn't be too worried about battery life. I've seen mention of the Honda CRZ, which was one of the early mild hybrids, achieving battery life of 15 years, and many of the early full electric vehicles seem to manage 10+, subject to the usual caveats about proper use, charging etc.

The days of the pure petrol or diesel are very much numbered. VW group are heavily into MHEV - the new Golf features MHEV on most versions other than base, and all manufacturers seem to be going that way as a first step towards full electrification. As Ford and VW now have a technology sharing arrangement we can expect more of the same from both.

 

 

Toyotas hybrid tech is tried and tested...  I'm not sure I'd trust Fords to be as good, especially with the 12v battery issues they're having on the latest Fiesta & Focus.  

However, what happens when the hybrid battery does die?  You'll still be able to drive it on petrol right?  So if it did fail after 10-15 years, it won't be worth the replacement cost anyway.

1 hour ago, Mark-UK said:

Yes VW do heated windscreens, I was undecided between Golf and Focus, the Golf is a £300 option and I understand its a full sheet element in the glass so you don't get the mesh view you sometimes see in a ford in a certain light

I was looking at a T Roc ( R- Line) before we decided to stick with the Focus and IIRC the salesman told me that there wasn't a heated screen option but VW had there own version where it stores the heat from previous usage and thats what defrosts the windscreen on a cold morning but he didnt have an answer when I said but what if the cars not been used for a few days. 🙄

 

As to moving manufacturers, VAG is also moving away from ic-only to hybrid and pure ev.  They will all have to eventually.

4 hours ago, Mark-UK said:

Every Toyota Hybrid vehicle in our range comes with a 5-year 100,000 mile Toyota warranty, which – with an annual hybrid service extends the cover on your battery for up to 15 years,

That's quite impressive, and worth knowing. The only advantage to me that I can see in MHEV is that on Fords (for now) they can be had as a manual, which I prefer. If they go auto only on MHEV  (VW group already have, I believe) I may as well go to a full hybrid anyway.

 

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

However, what happens when the hybrid battery does die?  You'll still be able to drive it on petrol right?  So if it did fail after 10-15 years, it won't be worth the replacement cost anyway.

I wonder if anyone can comment from experience? Afaik, on a full hybrid it would probably just run on the petrol, no doubt with lots of flashing lights and noises to tell you to do something about the battery. A family round the corner from me has had nothing but Toyota hybrids for the last 20 years but afaik nothing's ever gone wrong so I can't ask them!

Dunno about an MHEV, though. As, in theory, the battery is there to help the engine at low revs, I guess it might feel a bit weak until the turbo kicks in?

From SEAT website

"

Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle (mHEV)

In-between a conventional petrol or diesel vehicle and a full hybrid. A mild hybrid uses a smaller battery, and a motor generator that can both create electricity and help boost the engine’s output. Mild hybrid vehicles aren’t capable of all-electric propulsion."