(Dan Tri) – Hybrid cars often cost significantly more than pure gasoline versions, but in return, the potential for savings promises to become a long-term economic problem.
Hybrid cars or `gasoline hybrid electric` cars are no longer a strange concept to Vietnamese customers.
Unlike electric cars, hybrid cars do not require users to change their usage habits and do not depend on the public charging station system but have better fuel economy than pure internal combustion engine cars.
The proliferation of hybrid cars
In this field, Toyota is a pioneer in Vietnam when it first introduced hybrid cars in the popular segment with the Corolla Cross model in 2020. To date, the Japanese automaker’s product range in our country has
Hybrid cars are often the highest version of a car line in Vietnam (Photo: Le Thanh).
Not letting hybrid cars become Toyota’s `private playground`, many car companies choose to `join the fight`.
In 2023, Honda Vietnam will launch a hybrid car for the first time: Honda CR-V e:HEV, adding new options for users who love this car model (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
The fact that many hybrid models have been launched on the market shows that car manufacturers recognize the feasibility and potential of `gasoline-electric hybrid` cars in Vietnam.
Barriers prevent hybrid cars from becoming the choice of the majority
The first barrier and also the main factor that makes Vietnamese customers hesitant to contact hybrid cars: selling price.
For example, Toyota Camry 2.5HV is priced at 1,495 billion VND, 90 million VND higher than the 2.5Q version.
Most users still choose to buy the V version of Toyota Corolla Cross (860 million VND) (Photo: TMV).
Besides, most users are still worried about battery life and maintenance costs, because hybrid cars are still a new technology that has been popularized in Vietnam not long ago.
Toyota Vietnam applies a 5-year or 150,000km warranty policy, whichever comes first, for hybrid vehicles, with the battery only being warranted for 7 years or 150,000km.
Nissan Kicks e-POWER has a listed price ranging from 789-858 million VND, more expensive than the average price of the B-sized urban SUV segment (650-750 million VND) (Photo: Nguyen Lam).
Hybrid vehicle maintenance is actually not as complicated as many people imagine.
Refer to Toyota hybrid models, the only different maintenance item for hybrid vehicles is the battery cooling air filter.
Therefore, the Japanese automaker recommends that hybrid vehicle users should check the battery cooling air filter at all maintenance levels.
Because the maintenance process is not too different, the maintenance cost of hybrid cars is not much different from pure gasoline cars (Photo: TMV).
Cars are still a highly valuable asset, so users often include the price retention factor in their criteria for choosing a car.
Mr. Toan, owner of a used car salon in Ha Dong, shared: `My showroom also often imports hybrid cars, but the price of importing hybrid cars is not as high as regular gasoline cars.`
For example, a Toyota Camry 2.5HV 2022 has traveled about 25,000km, the average transfer price on the used car market is about 1.3 billion VND.
Who is a hybrid car for? How economical is it?
According to the manufacturer’s announcement, the Toyota Camry 2.5HV has a fuel consumption of only 4.4 liters for 100km of mixed roads.
Assuming that each year, the user uses the car about 10,000km, the fuel cost for the Camry 2.5HV will be 10.5 million VND (RON 95 gasoline price recorded on February 17 is 23,910 VND/liter).
Thus, although hybrid cars have higher investment costs than pure gasoline cars, they will be a long-term economic problem.
Hybrid cars also give a more `energetic` driving feeling because they are supported by an electric motor, accelerating well and smoothly.
