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O/T : Oops VW not a smart move.

M

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New member
Just experiencing hire car hell in Italy.

Volkswagen UP! Ecomental dual fuel.

Picked it up at Pisa with a full tank (petrol) only to realise it had about a quarter of a tank of
compressed natural gas (CNG) despite the full regular unleaded back-up tank being full. Given Putin’s antic’s VW’s move now looks like market suicide compared to the little Toyota hybrid I got last trip.

Anyway for research purposes I filled the CNG tank (having driven around to four garages that stocked it
). only to find that you cannot do it yourself by law here. Even then they looked at me like I was crazy to fill it ) CNG has tripled in price since December 2021!

€48 lighter in the wallet we get back on road and drive to our farm.

After the 160km to the farm and a little local mileage the CNG tank is now empty again. So we are now driving on the tiny regular fuel tank which means I have to refill it like a moped…

Contrast this to the Toyota hybrid we had last time and it seems like something out of the stone age.

The other reason it’s a daft idea is a simple practical one. Even if you wanted to top both tanks up you have to do two transactions and a double dip at the petrol station which I’ll bet no one will do unless they have to.

Spectacularly bad timing for VW
 
All in the name of environment. :hmmm: Sounds about as environmentally friendly as electric cars!

Go on, what was the fuel economy?

(Perhaps next time go large on the rental rather than an "eco" box?:hmmm:)
 
A348W said:
All in the name of environment. :hmmm: Sounds about as environmentally friendly as electric cars!

Go on, what was the fuel economy?

(Perhaps next time go large on the rental rather than an "eco" box?:hmmm:)
Click to expand...

Daren’t calculate the MPG.

I rent cars most weeks due to my work so I always like to try the new, the interesting and the oddball so I got it.

Weird thing is, they are everywhere over here.

The Fiat 500 hybrid is the homegrown solution but VW is seen as a more ‘premium’ brand even though it is a really ‘cheap’ car all around.

It does have one great feature though: No proprietary sat nav just a really cool holder for any phone.

Bring your own, Waze is now better than any in house nav now.
 
The cinquecento hybrid is absolutely dire. I had one on a recent trip to Italy and it struggled to get up hills on autostrade without changing down to third.

It was fine as a city car, to be fair. Maybe it's unfair to judge it on its motorway capabilities. But it was dangerously slow.
 
tom said:
The cinquecento hybrid is absolutely dire. I had one on a recent trip to Italy and it struggled to get up hills on autostrade without changing down to third.

It was fine as a city car, to be fair. Maybe it's unfair to judge it on its motorway capabilities. But it was dangerously slow.
Click to expand...

Agree had one in Ibiza two months ago - hopeless on the open road
 
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