Ask the Expert: Which hybrid car can carry our Great Dane on trips to Majorca?
Dear Alex,
We have a very large Great Dane, and take him over to Majorca with us for a couple of months each year. Our fully electric Volkswagen ID.Buzz is perfect for home, where we have a charger installed, and the same in Majorca, where charging is virtually free as we are off-grid and have photovoltaic panels. But the trip to and from the island is extremely tedious due to charging times involved along the way. Do you have any suggestions for a suitable alternative? We have test-driven a plug-in hybrid Defender 110, but the boot is just not big enough.
- SM
Dear VM,
I think you should probably head back to the dealership from which you bought your ID.Buzz, because the most logical replacement is almost certainly a Volkswagen Multivan.
Don’t be fooled by the name; the latest Multivan is actually based on one of Volkswagen’s car platforms, so it’s rather less industrial to drive than a full-on van. It’s roomier than the ID.Buzz, with seven seats, five of which can be slid forward or removed to leave you with an enormous space ideal for your Great Dane.
The Multivan comes in plug-in hybrid form with a real-world electric range of around 20 miles – ideal for local trips when you’re at home or in Majorca. For the journey there and back, there’s a petrol engine that you can refuel easily – though do keep in mind that you probably won’t get stellar fuel economy when you aren’t charging the battery.
As an alternative, you could try a Ford Tourneo Custom instead. This is based on the Transit Custom which is, of course, a full-blown van – and that might be enough to put you off. But the Transit is widely acknowledged to be one of the best-driving vans out there – and in Tourneo form, you get a more luxurious, more car-like interior.
As with the Multivan, you’ll be able to slide the rearmost seats forward or even remove them, giving you plenty of space to allow your canine friend to travel in comfort. Again, expect a real-world electric range in the region of 20 miles; fuel economy will be poor on your longer runs, though, as the Transit’s petrol engine is bigger, and it’s a taller, heavier car than the Multivan.
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