Is a plug-in hybrid worth it? Only if you actually plug it in

Skip the weighted figure on the brochure. A plug-in hybrid has two running costs, one on the battery and one on petrol, and what you pay depends on the split. So I won't give you one cost per 100 km for any plug-in. Nobody honestly can.

I haven't owned one. The real-world figures here come from named studies, and the car figures are rated by the maker. German list prices, checked 2 November 2026; other countries differ.

What the brochure figure means

VW rates the Golf 1.5 eHybrid Life at up to 1.3 l/100 km. Kia rates the Sportage plug-in at 2.9 l/100 km. Both are labelled Euro 6e-bis, so that pair compares. A plain Euro 6e figure may not: BYD's Dutch list prints 0.7 l and 2.2 l for one Seal U, one per stage.

Those numbers assume regular charging. Road data disagrees with the assumption, though the studies give different sizes. The European Commission reported real-world use 3.5 times the lab value for 2021 plug-ins. The ICCT put 2023 cars at about five times on CO2. Fraunhofer ISI and partners, reading meters on about one million cars, got an average of 5.9 l/100 km, with an electric share of 27 to 31%.

The Golf: two prices

On the battery: 19.7 kWh usable, on ADAC's data, over 142 km is 13.9 kWh/100 km. Add the calculator's 25% for real driving and that's 17.3 kWh. At €0.28/kWh at home, it's about €4.86 per 100 km. Battery over range leaves out charging losses, which EVDB NZ, a New Zealand EV data site, puts at typically 7 to 12%, so this runs a little low.

Flat: VW lists up to 5.3 l/100 km on an empty battery. Plus 20%, the gap the Commission reported for petrol and diesel cars, makes 6.4 l. At €1.95 a litre it's €12.48.

Same car. One price is about 2.6 times the other.

The battery figure is the kind one, too. Fraunhofer found the combustion engine averaged about 2.8 l/100 km even in battery-depleting mode, across the fleet, and that more charging never got the average below it. That's a fleet average, so a careful owner may beat it.

The Sportage: a real payback

Kia makes this easy, because one price list holds both cars. The full hybrid 2WD Core is €38,990 on Kia's German price list, and rated at 5.8 l/100 km. The plug-in 2WD Core is €43,100. That's €4,110 extra at the time of checking.

Now the running costs, all at €1.95 a litre and €0.28/kWh:

• Full hybrid: 5.8 l plus 20% is 7.0 l, or €13.65 per 100 km.
• Plug-in on petrol: Kia lists 6.1 l on an empty battery. Plus 20% is 7.3 l, or €14.24.
• Plug-in on the battery: 13.8 kWh over 66 km is 20.9 kWh/100 km. Plus 25% is 26.1 kWh, or about €7.32.

Kia doesn't say whether that battery figure is usable, which could make the last line run high, and battery over range leaves out charging losses, which makes it run low. It also counts no petrol on those kilometres, which Fraunhofer's data says is optimistic.

Each 100 km on the battery saves €6.33 against the full hybrid. Each 100 km on a flat one costs €0.59 more. Over 11,400 km a year:

• 30% electric, about what Fraunhofer's data shows: €169 a year, so about 24 years to cover the €4,110.
• 80% electric: €564 a year, about 7 years.
• 100% electric: €722 a year, about 6 years, and nobody's real car does that.

Grants, company-car tax and dealer offers aren't in those sums. If your employer pays for the car or the tax rules favour plug-ins, you need a different sum, and you'll need your own numbers. Cheaper petrol stretches every payback above.

Who it suits

Think about your week, not your year. Divide the Golf's rated range by 1.25, the same 25%, and it leaves about 114 km; the Sportage's leaves about 53 km. Divide 11,400 km by 365 and you get about 31 km a day. That fits either car, if you can charge where you park every night.

So the honest test is short. Do you have a charger you'd use without thinking? Is most of your driving under that range? And do you take long trips often enough that a pure EV won't do? Three yeses and I'd look at plug-ins with the longest electric range, probably starting with the Golf eHybrid.

Otherwise, I'd skip it. With a charger and no long trips, a pure EV is simpler, and the EV against petrol sum shows why. Without a charger, the Sportage sum above says the full hybrid wins. The running-cost calculator handles that side of it.