The best ECO-badge diesel SUVs for under 30,000 euros

There are plenty of diesel SUVs to choose from, but if you want one with an ECO badge and no more than 30,000 euros to spend, the options narrow considerably. Here are 10 options worth considering.

If you’re thinking of buying an SUV and need one with all the benefits that the DGT’s ECO label provides, you could opt for a hybrid or an SUV with LPG. Here’s a buying guide to the best LPG SUVs, and here’s a selection of ECO-label SUVs with a maximum budget of 30,000 euros.

But if what you’re looking for is an SUV with low consumption in any circumstances, regardless of the environmental label, diesel engines are still unbeatable today. Now you can combine all three: SUV, diesel and ECO label. This is possible thanks to mild hybrid technology. Here we explain what it is and why mild hybrids are not really hybrid cars.

The real-world fuel consumption advantage of a car with this technology over one without it won’t be decisive enough to make the purchase on that basis alone. But having the environmental label is, especially if you live in a large city.

That’s why we’ve made a selection of the 10 best SUVs with diesel engines and mild hybrid technology (which allows them to carry the ECO label) currently most worth considering. The good news is that they come in different categories, sizes and prices.

Hyundai Tucson CRDi MHEV 48 volt

The Hyundai Tucson CRDi range offers up to three choices with the ECO label, all with a 48-volt electrical system. An electric motor of around 16 CV connected to the combustion engine by a belt acts as the starter motor, assists during acceleration and recovers energy that is stored in a small lithium battery of almost 0.5 kWh capacity, located in the boot. You can see how it works in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpO6_HAvOmo

The entry version is the 1.6 CRDi with 116 CV and a 6-speed manual gearbox. It has an official average consumption of just 5.5 l/100 km, and is offered from the second trim level, called Klass, from 30,515 euros. From this price you can deduct 3,000 euros of discount, bringing it down to around 27,500 euros. And if you add the discounts for financing and trading in your current car, you can drive it away from 24,515 euros.

Also with this technology, Hyundai offers the 1.6 CRDi engine in its 136 CV version, available with a manual gearbox and the sporty N LINE trim, or with an automatic gearbox and N LINE and Style trims. Prices start at 35,765 euros with a manual gearbox and from 38,065 euros with an automatic gearbox, both with N LINE trim, to which the same discounts apply: 3,000 off the list price, and up to 6,000 when financing the purchase and trading in your car.

The third option is the Tucson with the 2.0 CRDi engine producing 185 CV, in this case paired with four-wheel drive and an automatic gearbox. The N LINE starts from 42,665 euros, with a maximum discount that in this case reaches 6,500 euros.

Our choice? The Tucson 1.6 CRDi 136 CV Mild Hybrid. For 30,000 euros with all discounts applied you can drive it away with a manual gearbox, but if you can stretch the budget, I’d recommend the automatic.

Kia Sportage CRDi MHEV 48 volt

The Kia Sportage is probably one of the best buys among compact diesel SUVs thanks to its balance of product, price and equipment. It also offers two versions with a diesel engine and ECO label, based on the 1.6 CRDi engine, using the same technology as the Tucson.

The 1.6 CRDi with 115 CV and manual gearbox is offered from 27,000 euros, but with around 3,800 euros of discount it comes to just over 23,100 euros. And if you trade in a used car and finance the purchase, the maximum discount exceeds 6,000 euros, bringing the final price below 21,000 euros.

For the Sportage 1.6 CRDi MHEV with 136 CV, with all discounts applied it is offered from 21,766 euros with a manual gearbox and Concept trim, and from 28,366 euros with an automatic gearbox, but already with GT Line trim and 4×2 drive; you can also choose it with 4×4 drive.

Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport D MHEV

The new Range Rover Evoque range from Land Rover, which replaced the first-generation Evoque presented in 2011 at the end of 2018, retains the attributes that made the Evoque a success as an alternative to premium SUVs.

The 2019 Evoque offers up to three versions with a diesel engine and ECO badge, thanks to mild hybrid technology, which in this case also works with a 48-volt electrical system. You can choose from three engines: the D150, the D180 and the D240. The figures in each case indicate the engine power, and it is always a 4-cylinder 2.0, with one or two turbochargers depending on the power level.

Apart from the first, which is also offered with a manual gearbox and doesn’t include mild hybrid technology, all the rest are paired with an automatic gearbox and carry the ECO label.

The Evoque D150 Auto MHEV has a starting price from 45,900 euros. The D180 version starts at 48,150 euros, while the D240 starts from 52,150 euros. All of them come with four-wheel drive.

As with the Evoque, the Land Rover Discovery Sport is also offered with the same engines and mild hybrid technology, always with four-wheel drive and an automatic gearbox.

With a more family-oriented layout than the Evoque, the Discovery Sport can be chosen with seven seats. The Discovery Sport D150 MHEV starts from 44,800 euros. The D180 version starts at 47,000 euros and the D240 starts at 52,950 euros.

Audi Q7 and Q8 TDI MHEV

Two body variants to choose from at the top of Audi’s SUV range: the new Audi Q7, more family-oriented and available with 5 or 7 seats, and what we can consider its sporty variant, the Q8. You can read the range test of the sporty SUV from the brand of the four rings here.

In both cases Audi offers two diesel variants with MHEV technology, based on the 3-litre V6 TDI engine. The 45 TDI quattro tiptronic with 231 CV, priced from 70,960 euros for the Q7, and from 82,610 euros for the Q8. And the 50 TDI quattro tiptronic with 286 CV, starting from 74,960 euros in the case of the Q7, and from 86,130 euros for the Q8.

Audi also offers the TDI and ECO label combination in the sportier variants of the Audi Q5 and Audi Q8, the SQ5 and SQ8, with 347 CV and 435 CV respectively. Curiously, the Audi SQ7, with the same engine as the SQ8, does not have mild hybrid technology; here’s why.

Volvo XC60 and XC90 B4 and B5

With a new platform and new engines, the Volvo XC60 2020 is one of the SUVs that most impresses us in its size and price category. It does so through quality, dynamic qualities, equipment and very high ride comfort. It’s worth bearing in mind that this model competes with premium brands.

Volvo revised its entire engine range, and since mid-2019 the XC60 can be bought with the B4 and B5 variants, both with a 2.0 diesel engine, always paired with an automatic gearbox and Volvo’s AWD all-wheel drive. The XC60 B4 produces 210 CV, and its price starts from 52,160 euros with Momentum trim. There is also an XC60 D4, which costs 48,765 euros, but it has 190 CV, no all-wheel drive and no mild hybrid system.

The most powerful XC60 with a diesel engine and ECO label is the B5, with 250 CV. Prices start from 57,285 euros.

The largest SUV from the Swedish brand, the XC90, also comes with this engine variant, the 250 CV B5. Also paired with an automatic gearbox, the XC90 B5 starts from 68,650 euros.

Ford Kuga Ecoblue

Although it doesn’t yet appear on the brand’s configurator, the marketing of the new Ford Kuga in its Ecoblue versions is imminent. If I were you, I’d visit the dealership to ask; they’ll probably give you a price… and any possible offers. Because the 34,400-euro price the brand announced earlier for the Titanium trim is before any discounts.

In this case, the variant with mild hybrid technology is the 2.0 Ecoblue with 150 CV, with a six-speed manual gearbox, for which an average consumption of just 5 l/100 km is claimed. Above it sits the 2.0 diesel, also named EcoBlue, which reaches 190 CV and is paired with an automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. However, in this case it does not have mild hybrid technology, so it cannot display the ECO badge.