A month with my 2015 Phev

[Deltaevo]

Due to a job change, I was looking for a change of vehicle, running a 2002 Range Rover 4.4 V8 60 miles a day became quite expensive, even with LPG. Found a couple of cars I was keen to look at, eventually chose a 2015 GX4HS for reasonable money, it was an ex lease car, 82k mileage full history and in very good nick. Leather, sun roof, even had factory fitted dvd screens in the back. After a month of ownership, I'm absolutely delighted. I have a charge point at work, so really the journey to and fro is free, save for a small amount of fuel when I run out of electric. Thanks to this great forum I have found so much info, which is very helpful. The PHEV is quite a complex beast, but once you are familar with the control and layout, the bells and whistles are quite entertaining. Ther DAB setting on the radio is useful Virgin radio plays the music I like.

A few minor gripes, especially over non sticky buttons, other than that I am a happy camper. My usual driving style is Eco mode on, set 60 on the cruise and thats it, my journeys to work are usually in the wee hours, so no real traffic on the way. Like the adaptive cruise control. Whats the FCM do? and how does this differ from the adaptive cruise?

Nick

 

[jaapv]

FCM will apply the brakes (if needed quite violently) when a collision is imminent. Before it goes into braking mode it will give a large blinking "brake" warning on the central display, accompanied by a loud bleeping. It will deactivate as soon as it senses that the driver takes over.
You can set it to either "far" or "near" I prefer "far" despite the (rare) false alarm.

 

[Harald]

... the bells and whistles are quite entertaining...

Nice when you can see it like this.
I unplugged already the switch at the drivers door and live now a bit better with one beep less...

;-), Harald

 

[Deltaevo]

Normally any beeps or bongs on my Range Rover usually indicates a large repair bill

One thing I've noticed is when I set off driving usually on ECO mode, I set regen to B3, the regen doesn't seem to work straightaway, we have a steep hill not far from the house
and adjusting the regen does nothing to slow the car down. Once I've been driving for a few minutes it works.

 

[Regulo]

You need somewhere for the regen charge to go. If you start with a fully charged battery, regen won't work - until you've used some charge.

 

[Deltaevo]

Thanks Ray, totally understood

 

[anko]

..., we have a steep hill not far from the house and adjusting the regen does nothing to slow the car down.

In addition to what Ray already said ....

Some cars have a feature called 'hilltop reserve'. When enabled, it stops charging at less than 100% (in case of my EV, at 87%). Better for efficiency as well as for the friction brakes. And, as a bonus, better for the battery as well. So, although I do not live anywhere near a hilltop (not many of those in the Netherlands anyway), I use it most of the time

 

[ChrisMiller]

Some cars have a feature called 'hilltop reserve'.

Are you speaking of EVs in general or the Mitsi? I haven't seen such a facility and can't find it in the manual, but I really like the idea (as I live on top of a hill)!

 

[Harald]

Setting a timer for loading can reach the same. It just isn't that accurate and needs a learning process for understanding the right timing.

If you should always come home with an empty battery, you will probably have a good estimate for your ideal loading period within a week.

Summer/Winter temperatures will of course also influence the behavior...

 

[anko]

Some cars have a feature called 'hilltop reserve'.

Are you speaking of EVs in general or the Mitsi? I haven't seen such a facility and can't find it in the manual, but I really like the idea (as I live on top of a hill)!

'The' Mitsi is not an EV, it is a PHEV. Due to the much smaller battery of PHEVs, mostly you need all the charge you can carry ... and more. My EV has a 60 kWh battery. A 87% charge lasts me 4 days. So, not going to 100% had no serious impact on usability.

 

[ChrisMiller]

Thanks for explaining, anko.