Petrolhead to Electrichead

The Model S is arguably the most pioneering Electric Vehicle on the market to date. Featuring a ‘Ludicrous’ mode option which launches the car from 0-60 in just 2.8 seconds, the Tesla is by far the most exciting electric vehicle on the market. Weighing a hefty 2108kg, this luxury saloon will still manage to out accelerate Porsche 911’s, Ferrari 458’s and early Lamborghini Aventadors too.

Starting from £47,100 (after government incentives) the Model S is expensive but not… ludicrous, and you’ll have already seen executives pootling round in silence no doubt.

Generally speaking, any Golf followed by the two letters ‘GT’ is going to be an exciting package for any enthusiast, be it the GTi or the brilliantly efficient GTD, but now the even more frugal GTE too! 

 This is a hybrid golf which features a 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine and an electric motor which produce a combined 201bhp, which is plenty really. No it’s not quite on par with the GTi, but very few hatchbacks ever are. Benefits of the GTE include £0 road tax, exemption from congestion charge and a potential of up to 166mpg. It’s worth bearing in mind that if your commute is less than 31 miles, you could run this car completely free, in theory...

The head-turner from Bavaria. 360hp and 420lb-ft of torque are the key figures to take away from this futuristic super-coupé. The i8 is a stunning car that won Car of The Year for 2014 when it was released.

The i8 comes with All Wheel Drive which isn’t typically BMW, but the power is biased to the rear wheels and the back-end loves to wander off when cornering, which certainly is typically BMW. Prices start at £99,000 after the government incentives and savings are made through ownership thanks to the generous 134.5mpg claimed by the manufacturer.

The IS from Lexus has a number of key-factors which appeal directly to the petrolhead; a 2.5 litre petrol engine producing 220hp, a dial to control the volume of the exhaust and it’s rear wheel drive too. Not to mention the IS looks far, far more contemporary and sporty than the more refined C-class and A4 which are built to soak up motorways, rather than attack corners.

More good news comes from an economical point of view, the petrol-electric 300h will return you 65.7mpg which is fantastic efficiency for a non-diesel executive saloon. You can also make a saving on Road Tax which is free under current rules, with just 97g/km of CO2 emitted. This will change soon under new Vehicle Excise Duty rules so snap one up quick!

The BMW brand pride themselves on being the ‘Ultimate Driving machine’ and now their top selling saloon, the 3 series, has joined the hybrid revolution with the 330e. But this isn’t a 3.0 litre 6 cylinder engine as you’d expect from a ‘330’, it is in fact a 4 cylinder 2-litre unit working in tandem with an electric motor, together producing a substantial 250bhp, much like 330’s of the past. So it’s certainly not slow, it’s still rear wheel drive, and best of all the weight distribution is near-perfect as any BMW should be, 51% at the rear and 41% up front. Tempted yet?

You can expect a range of 25 miles from the electric battery and this can be fully recharged in 3.5 hours using a standard wall socket. This 25 miles might be more than enough for a lot of people on their daily commute, but that’s for you to decide. 

We could have the Ferrari LaFerrari in this list as well as the Porsche 918, the two other hypercars which combine a petrol engine and an electric motor, but we’re going to be biased toward the Brits and focus on the McLaren P1. It has been hailed as one of the greatest driving machines ever created. A 176bhp electric motor operates alongside a 727bhp 3.8 litre, twin turbo v8. This thing is a technological masterpiece and really emphasises the point that not all hybrids are boring, and in fact the use of electricity can add to the joy of being a petrolhead, be it through faster cars or fewer fuel stops.