Our time in the Skoda Octavia plug-in hybrid hatchback has been brief - just three months - as we previously had the estate plug-in hybrid on test for six months. We preferred the hatchback's styling with its swooping roofline and larger Becrux anthracite multispoke wheels (a £910 option on our SE L model) and although the estate boasts a 640-litre boot (seats up), we still found the hatchback's 450-litre boot ample, In fact it's one of the main reasons to choose the Octavia hatchback over Volkswagen Group stablemates the Seat Leon eHybrid and Volkswagen Golf plug-in hybrid, which are all built on the MQB Evo platform, as the Leon's boot is just 270 litres while the Golf is only marginally better at 273 litres. 

However, the Leon and Golf are still more desirable than the Octavia, which is reflected in the pence per mile (ppm) depreciation figures for four years and 80,000 miles on the running costs tool on the Fleet News website. 

The Golf Style has the lowest depreciation at 28.76ppm, while the Leon in FR guise is 30.95ppm and the Octavia is 31.82ppm. For comparison outside the Volkswagen Group, the Renault Megane E-Tech plug-in hybrid RS Line has a depreciation figure of 29.78ppm. 

When it comes to fuel costs, the Octavia is more frugal at 8.58ppm, compared to 8.68ppm in the Leon, 8.78ppm in the Golf and 9.30ppm in the Megane. 

It is on a par with the Leon for service, maintenance and repair (SMR) costs at 3.90ppm (the Golf costs 3.91ppm), although the Megane is cheaper than them all at 3.22ppm. 

For overall ppm (not including Class 1A NIC, VED or insurance), the Golf is the cheapest to run at 41.45ppm - 3ppm less than the Octavia (44.30ppm) and 2ppm cheaper than the Leon (43.53pm). The Megane costs 42.30ppm.

The latter has CO2 emissions of 28g/km and an electric range of up to 30 miles which puts it in the 11% benefit-in-kind tax bracket, compared to 7% for the Volkswagen Group vehicles which offer 40-plus miles.

This means the employer's NIC is £477 compared to £331 for the Golf, £325 for the Octavia and £323 for the Leon, while a 20% taxpayer will pay £692 in the Megane, £479 in the Golf, £472 in the Octavia and £468 in the Leon. 

On paper then, the Octavia stacks up well despite not being the front runner. 

It is also worth noting that the Octavia has a good level of standard equipment, including a 10-inch touchscreen, front and rear parking sensors, lane assist, keyless entry, front heated seats, and heated and folding door mirrors. A rear-view parking camera was fitted to our model for £605. Our model also came with leather upholstery (£240) which gave us added comfort over the three months.

We typically had an available electric range of 34 miles during our test and we appreciated that Skoda had thought about storage of the cables with a compartment under the boot floor, which adds to the car's practicality.

---

Efficient and a great family car

I recently swapped out of our Audi A3 TFSIe into the Octavia plug-in hybrid, as it is a more practical car for family life than its VW Group stablemate.

The cars share the same powertrain, and are based on the same platform, but the Octavia boasts a 1,405-litre boot (seats folded, 450 litres with the seats up), compared to the A3’s 1,100 litres and 280 litres respectively, and 1,700 litre and 640 litres in the Octavia estate, which we previously had on test.

The Octavia also has a variable boot floor, with a storage compartment for charging cables under the luggage compartment mat, better cabin space and practical features that the brand is known for such as the umbrella storage compartment.

However, where it hasn’t yet lived up to the A3 is on the electric range being achieved. In the Audi I could achieve 37 miles on a single charge but the Octavia is currently offering 34 miles.

My long-term fuel economy in the A3 was 71.1mpg, after 1,500 miles while in the Octavia it’s 54.9mpg after 2,000 miles. That’s still a good return given the size of the Octavia and we’ll keep tabs on whether it improves over the coming months, as it did with the A3.

---

Skoda Octavia iV SE-L joins our fleet

Following our long-term test of the new Skoda Octavia estate, we now welcome a Skoda Octavia hatchback. This version is the 204PS plug-in hybrid in SE-L trim. It uses a 1.4 petrol engine with a six-speed DSG gearbox and an electric motor, offering a combined mpg (WLTP) of 188.3-282.5, CO2 of 22-23g/km and an all-electric range of up to 44 miles.

Options fitted to this already well-specified car include 19-inch alloys (£910), leather upholstery (£240), metallic paint (£595), rear parking camera (£605) and a £905 winter pack, bringing the total to £36,450. As standard, the SE-L gets heated front seats, adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors and keyless entry.

The car is smooth and powerful, thanks to its plug-in hybrid powertrain and the DSG box is slick and effortless. Transition between electric and petrol is almost seamless. The car starts of in EV mode, before automitically switching to Hybrid when the battery is almost empty. You can also manually select Hybrid mode from the touchscreen, in order to retain battery charge for later.

The Octavia's cabin is spacious, although the leather seats seem a little firmer than the fabric version in our previous Octavia.

It is better looking than the estate model, however, due to the swooping roofline and larger Bencrux anthracite multispoke wheels. Although we have noticed a little more road noise than previously.