The Best Premium Plug-in Hybrid SUVs on the Used Car Market

The Outlander PHEV is not only the best selling plug-in SUV, but it’s also the best selling plug-in hybrid overall. They’ve sold more than 100,000 examples in Europe alone in the last 3 years with 39,000 models coming to our shores. Business owners adore them thanks to the favourable tax rates, supreme ride comfort and delightfully luxurious interior. Not to mention, the Outlander PHEV should be good for over 100mpg if you’ve got a relatively short commute - yes, you read that right. Buying a brand new model will set you back £34,255 before you’ve added on any extras. Alternatively, look at our used car section where models under 3 years old and of reasonable mileage are selling between £18,000 - £24,000. Real bargains.

The XC60 hybrid model has only been out for about 12 months now so it’s still pretty fresh on the roads and there isn’t a huge amount of them floating around on the used car market. They aren’t cheap brand new, with prices starting from £55,000 for the entry-level hybrid. It’s no normal hybrid though, it’s got a massive 401 horsepower and it is capable of doing 139 mpg. It can do the 0-60 mph sprint in under 5 seconds while also massaging the driver’s back and keeping the cabin near-silent. It really is an exceptionally versatile thing. However, there’s few of them on the used car market, but for around £50,000 you can get top-spec R-Design models with less than 10,000 miles on the clock - saving you over £10,000 against buying brand-new.

The X5 needs no introduction here. A top-selling, top-performing and now highly frugal ‘Sports Activity Vehicle’ which comes with countless practicality benefits as well as a large dollop of kerb appeal when it’s parked on your driveway. The X5 is in its most advanced form to date when equipped in the ‘40e’ spec level, which combines a 2.0-litre petrol engine with an electric motor. That electric motor is unlike most others as it can drive in electric-only mode up to and beyond 75mph, whereas most competitors will only achieve up to 30 mph before the petrol engine kicks in. Brand new, the BMW X5i starts from a healthy £57,080 - but on our used car section there are a number of 1-year-old examples for less than £45,000 with reasonable mileage. That’s a healthy saving.

The Q7 e-tron is an interesting hybrid. Most, if not all, competitors combine electric motors with cleaner-burning petrol engines, often with 2.0 litres and 4 cylinders, but Audi has instead attached a massive 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel engine. They’ve nailed it though. The Q7 e-tron is theoretically capable of a massive 157mpg - although you’ll almost certainly never achieve that in real-world conditions. Another big selling point is that Audi says it will cover up to 34 miles of electric-only motoring with every full charge, and when put to the test the Q7 has consistently achieved that figure. Ideal if you have a short commute. Of course, we needn’t bother telling you just how gorgeous the interior is, how advanced the onboard technology is and how elegantly the new Q7 rides because that all goes without saying. Brand new, the Q7 e-tron starts from £65,750 but it’s been on sale for less than a year in its current form, so used models are extremely hard to find. Expect to pay around £50,000 for a 1-year-old model with average mileage.

Very few of our SUV-listicles don’t feature a Range Rover somewhere near the top, and this one is absolutely no different. How couldn’t we include the king of all premium SUVs? The footballer-ferrying Range Rover Sport is available as a plug-in hybrid version, codenamed the P400e, and it’s just as excellent as the diesel models only it’s better for the environment and business owner’s tax bills. A brand new model costs from £72,185 but the top-selling Autobiography-Dynamic model costs much more, at £85,785. For this, you get an incredibly high-level of luxury with stunning upgraded leather upholstery throughout and some really aggressive bodywork. Again, these haven’t been on sale for long at all and they are extremely desirable, which means there are very few on the market. We currently have one or two for just under £80,000 but it looks like the rest are still very close to their original market price.