Outlander PHEV SMS Remote App now available

Hello,

Available on Google Play. Also see www.autoapps.no

I will try to answer questions as time permits.

Nice one! I assume, though, that this won't work with the G3, but only those with the 4 or 4s?

DavidWolfy said:

Nice one! I assume, though, that this won't work with the G3, but only those with the 4 or 4s?

Click to expand...

Sorry, I am not sure what you mean. It is for Android. But you could buy a cheap Android phone and put in your car and send SMS messages to it to control the heating from your IPhone!

gos said:

DavidWolfy said:

Nice one! I assume, though, that this won't work with the G3, but only those with the 4 or 4s?

Click to expand...

Sorry, I am not sure what you mean. It is for Android. But you could buy a cheap Android phone and put in your car and send SMS messages to it to control the heating from your IPhone!

Click to expand...

Sorry, not very clear. I assume this app (android app) only works with the Gx4H and Gx4Hs rather than the Gx3s as this doesn't have the MMCS and remote functionality.

DavidWolfy said:

Sorry, not very clear. I assume this app (android app) only works with the Gx4H and Gx4Hs rather than the Gx3s as this doesn't have the MMCS and remote functionality.

Click to expand...

Yes, it works by remote controlling the Mitsubishi App that again controls the Heating / Cooling. So it only works for Outlander PHEVs that support the Mitsubishi App.

I have now set up a discussion and support forum here:

groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/outlander-phev-sms-remote

New FREE exciting add-on features for the "Outlander PHEV SMS Remote App" will be announced shortly.

I have installed and tested the sms app and it works.
Bought a cheap phone with android 4.4.2 op system and the installation process was pretty much straight forward. A little tweaking was necessary but nothing complicated.

The sms app reports back via sms when the heating has started and when it has ended.

This really gives the phev a new dimension.

Fingers crossed for good stability.

R

This sounds like a really good idea but I'm not sure I'm willing to pay £22 for an app no matter how good it is. (I only paid £20 for my Andy phone)

HarryP said:

This sounds like a really good idea but I'm not sure I'm willing to pay £22 for an app no matter how good it is. (I only paid £20 for my Andy phone)

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It will help you save gas by preheating the car from wherever you are. I think you will save more than the App costs. This is a low volume app when you consider the target audience: There is no way we can charge £1 like the apps with downloads in the hundreds of thousands!

There will also be some very nice FREE additions to the App coming up late this week / early next week.
Check www.autoapps.no regulary if you are interested.

But it will drive up electricity costs if pre heating, Id like to pre heat to save petrol, but there is not a huge cost saving as you will have to charge more.

Someone cleverer than me maybe able to work out the cost to heat for 10 mins on petrol and battery and see what the costs are.

Hence the app is too much for me, it would great to heat the car as I walk out of work by text, but not at that cost. I suspect if the price was dropped to £5 the volume of downloads would increase.

HarryP said:

But it will drive up electricity costs if pre heating, Id like to pre heat to save petrol, but there is not a huge cost saving as you will have to charge more.

Someone cleverer than me maybe able to work out the cost to heat for 10 mins on petrol and battery and see what the costs are.

Hence the app is too much for me, it would great to heat the car as I walk out of work by text, but not at that cost. I suspect if the price was dropped to £5 the volume of downloads would increase.

Click to expand...

The app really helps on economy for short trips < 10 km (6 miles). If not preheated for 20-30 minutes, the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) will kick in for most of the trip. A petrol engine is very uneconomical until it gets warm (low efficiency). Thus, for e.g. a 3 km (2 miles) trip, the Fuel Consumption is approx 10 litres / 100 km = 28 MPG or even worse.

Assume a trip to the store 3 km (2 miles). Also assume that your car is parked close to your house so you can Prheat before you leave. With my App, you can start preheating for e.g. 20 minutes when you are approx 10 minutes from finishing your shopping. The heating will be interrupted when you open the doo (after e.g. 12 minutes)

Let's look at the economics of this example

Preheating 20 minutes consumes 4.8 Kw * 1/3 Hour = 1.6 KWh. In Norway this is 1.6 Kroner = £ 1.6 / 11 = £ 0.14. Now also assume that you preheat 10 minutes at the store = 0.8 KWh = £0.07. Driving 6 km round trip with the Heater on consumes approx 2.6 Kwh per 10 km = 2.6 * 0.6 = 1.56 Kwh. Total electricity consumption = 1.6 + 1.56 + 0.8 KWh = 3.96 KWh = 3.96 kroner = £ 0.36.

If you drive 6 km at the above consumption the car will consume 0.6 Liters of Fuel = NOK 9 kr = £ 9 / 11 = £ 0.82.

So you see, there is a saving in there driving on pure electricity even when heating the car. Of course, the economy in driving electric cars depends on the price of electricity versus gas.

I used considerable effort to developed this App initially for myself because I saw the saving potential. After using it now for a good while, I drove 2040 km on 35 Litres of fuel = 1.73 Litres / 100 km = 163 MPG (believe it or not)

So yes, you WILL recover the cost of the App fairly fast.

Also, there will be some exciting FREE additions to the App that I hope to publish next week.

Check out http://www.autoapps.no from time to time to find out more.

I updated the above answer to HarryP.

Gos, the recovery time to get the battery back to full charge after 20 min Heat is apx. 30 min.
Is your experience that the car manage to stay hot enough to not engage the ICE in that time? Or do you drive off without filling up the battery?

HarryP said:

But it will drive up electricity costs if pre heating, Id like to pre heat to save petrol, but there is not a huge cost saving as you will have to charge more.

Click to expand...

Compared to 1.73 liters / 100 km gos reports, I did 1,02 liters / 100 km last year between January 8 and March 24th (3800 km on one fill up), when no apps existed for this. So, yes, I believe gos achieved 1.73 liters I did it simple by not using the heater on these short distances. Let's not forget, our old gasoline or diesel powered cars, would also not get us warm on such short trips.

So, IMHO, if preheating does anything, it is more increasing comfort than reducing cost. And I love it for this.

kljasdfbkjaaalke said:

Gos, the recovery time to get the battery back to full charge after 20 min Heat is apx. 30 min.
Is your experience that the car manage to stay hot enough to not engage the ICE in that time? Or do you drive off without filling up the battery?

Click to expand...

Just a comment.
I use the app and it is on shorter trips it really pays off. This because the car is hot when I start (comfort is important) and the ice dont start. No petrol used but the ice is ready for action if needed.

I normally drive off as soon as the heating stops. No need to fill up the battery on short trips. Filling up takes a while, you will loose heat in the ice and the cabin.
If you wait for full battery the ice might start anyway.

This morning when I was out running in the woods I started heating 20mins before I came to the car, really great when it was 0dgC and cold wind

/R

Snowball said:

kljasdfbkjaaalke said:

Gos, the recovery time to get the battery back to full charge after 20 min Heat is apx. 30 min.
Is your experience that the car manage to stay hot enough to not engage the ICE in that time? Or do you drive off without filling up the battery?

Click to expand...

Just a comment.
I use the app and it is on shorter trips it really pays off. This because the car is hot when I start (comfort is important) and the ice dont start. No petrol used but the ice is ready for action if needed.

I normally drive off as soon as the heating stops. No need to fill up the battery on short trips. Filling up takes a while, you will loose heat in the ice and the cabin.
If you wait for full battery the ice might start anyway.

This morning when I was out running in the woods I started heating 20mins before I came to the car, really great when it was 0dgC and cold wind

/R

Click to expand...

Yes, you have understood the use and savings scenarios perfectly. This is exactly how I use the App as well!
Today I was on a trip some 30 km from home where there was a free charge point. I went for a trip with my son, and sent #Heat#30 to the car phone when I started om my way back, and knew it would take me approx 10 to 30 minutes to get there (depending on my 4 year old ). Door was opened after 18 minutes and stopped the heating. The App detected that this scenario and reported it.

I came to a warm car that did not use the ICE on the way back

@Snowball,

Do I dare to ask you what brand phone you are using in the car? Trying to make a list of tested phones.

gos said:

@Snowball,

Do I dare to ask you what brand phone you are using in the car? Trying to make a list of tested phones.

Click to expand...

Samsung Galaxy young 2

Hi Gos, I can certainly see the benefit of your app - it would be nice to warm up the car after walking the dog in the woods, or before returning home from a late night at the office. These are both situations which do not work very well with the existing PHEV app due to the spontaneous timings involved.

So as I understand it the whole setup will cost the price of your app, a dedicated Android phone and a PAYG SIM - not exactly a cheap solution but I am intrigued about the free additions that you mention - can you divulge any info ?

RazMan said:

Hi Gos, I can certainly see the benefit of your app - it would be nice to warm up the car after walking the dog in the woods, or before returning home from a late night at the office. These are both situations which do not work very well with the existing PHEV app due to the spontaneous timings involved.

So as I understand it the whole setup will cost the price of your app, a dedicated Android phone and a PAYG SIM - not exactly a cheap solution but I am intrigued about the free additions that you mention - can you divulge any info ?

Click to expand...

Yep, it's expensive to be equipped these days .

I rather not say anything about the Free Features yet, in case something does not work out the way I want. There are quite a few challenges on the Android Platform. Finishing coding this weekend, testing and bug fixing early next week. Hope to reveal the secrets late next week.

All I can say, I think the features are useful.

Check www.autoapps.no regularly next week.