► We live with a Dacia Jogger
► Room for seven, in theory
► Read month 1
I mentioned after my first month with the Dacia that I was suspicious of the Jogger’s generous tallying up of the number of miles it claims I’ve driven on electric power. Of the first 1000 miles covered, I’m told 375 have been driven in EV mode. So 37.5 per cent of the time I’m driving around without burning fuel? Surely not.
Hawk-eyed observation of the dash over the past 1000 miles tells me the Jogger starts counting the ‘EV miles’ the moment you let off the accelerator and start to coast or brake.
Call me a pedant, but as no forward propulsion is taking place at this time, I’m not sure this can strictly be counted as electric motoring, otherwise any and every internal combustion car is capable of this feat.
Secondly, and this the real issue with hybrid vehicles, if 375 of the past 1000 miles have been electric-powered, then the 22 gallons (100-ish litres) of fuel I’ve put into the car have only contributed towards 675 miles of internal-combustion driving. So while I’ve achieved a pleasant 50.3mpg so far overall, the 1.6-litre 16v petrol motor is running at a disappointing 28.7mpg.
Why so low? Because it’s lugging around a heavy battery, and siphoning off power to keep it topped up, of course. Not that I’m displeased with the Jogger’s powertrain. The switch between EV and petrol power is handled incredibly well most of the time, save for the occasional moment when it sounds like someone slipping the clutch.
This happens when the battery gets a bit low and needs a top-up. The rest of the time it’s seamless, starting up in EV mode, allowing you to pull off smoothly (and pretty quickly) in near silence before the petrol motor kicks in.
This really comes into its own around town, where I find myself hypermiling trying to keep it in EV mode for as long as possible. Is this novelty enough to keep me from considering the buzzy turbocharged three-cylinder 999cc non-hybrid alternative that Dacia offers, and pocketing a £3500 saving? Probably not.
Logbook: Dacia Jogger Extreme TCe 140 Hybrid (Month 2)
Price £24,645 (£25,295 as tested)
Performance 1598cc four-cylinder, 140bhp, 10.0sec 0-62mph, 103mph
Efficiency 57.6mpg (official), 50.3mpg (tested), 109g/km CO2
Energy cost 11.9p per mile
Miles this month 466
Total miles 3949