Considering the Outlander PHEV anyone got one?

[Drefeti]

I'm currently running a gen 1.1 Leaf and a petrol powered car and am considering going down to one vehicle. This is due to frustrations with the range of the Leaf, the petrol car being expensive and not getting a lot of use and both the petrol car and Leaf being a bit difficult with baby capsule/stroller etc.

While I'd obviously prefer to go full EV I don't think anything that is on the market in my price range is going to work - I thought an Ioniq might but it doesn't have a great deal of space (maybe even less than the Leaf) and a Model 3 or e-Niro is well outside of my budget range. So far as I can tell that pretty much leaves the Outlander as the only (sort of) EV option available. Please give me all information about this car becouse it's very important for me, I wil get payday loan to buy the car.

Questions for owners:
- What year and mileage is your Outlander and how much battery range are you getting?
- Do you keep track of the battery state of health? If so how do you do so?
- Any quirks a prospective buyer should be aware of?

For everyone else:
- Any other options I haven't considered?

 

[chrisv]

Hi
You may have noticed that this is the PHEV forum so likely most of us have one!
Hopefully someone will go into details

 

[greendwarf]

2014 and got 25 miles yesterday with 47k miles on clock.

"Quirks" are very personal because everyone's usage is different, However, I am the ideal user - an urban commute round trip within battery range and very few longer journey's but a need for the extra carrying capacity.

BTW A payday loan is utter madness - don't do it! :roll:

 

[Artleknock]

There is no way anyone on this forum would have one, we all know that only a dipstick would buy one.

 

[dmacarthur]

I am also considering an Outlander PHEV, I have a Leaf with the 62 KW battery so EV is not new, but a couple of questions and thanks in advance since this hybrid battery is new to me: if we get this 2018 PHEV, does the battery charging self-regulate or should we be careful not to charge to 100% most of the time as they recommend for the Leaf? In other words, should we plug in with a timer to avoid full charge? and I would be really interested in owner assessments, is this car worth buying in this day and age? They want about $21K with 35K miles on it......

 

[Artleknock]

The timer for charging has a setting for a set time to full, so I don't immagine that there is any restriction.
Mine is always charged at night for the cheap rate leccy. I set it to start charging at 10 past midnight until full.

 

[user 3575]

I am a bit of a cheap skate, I charge up 0.40 am - 4.20 am on Octopus Go 5p kWh cost £0.50 for a 10kWh full charge.

 

[MadTechNutter]

I am also considering an Outlander PHEV, I have a Leaf with the 62 KW battery so EV is not new, but a couple of questions and thanks in advance since this hybrid battery is new to me: if we get this 2018 PHEV, does the battery charging self-regulate or should we be careful not to charge to 100% most of the time as they recommend for the Leaf? In other words, should we plug in with a timer to avoid full charge? and I would be really interested in owner assessments, is this car worth buying in this day and age? They want about $21K with 35K miles on it......

I try to avoid holding the battery at 100% state of charge for a longer period of time.
Generally all Li-Ion batteries and those in the PHEV are of that type, degrade faster when they are 'stored' at 100% state of charge.
So if you know how long it takes to reach 100% I would delay overnight charging with a timer so it reaches 100% shortly before you use the car next day.

For me the PHEV was worth buying, but I don't know anything about the used prices in the USA. Exchanged to AU$ it sounds like a reasonable price if it were offered in Australia.
The PHEV has a significantly smaller battery than that Leaf and is very heavy. Generally you will only be getting about 40km EV range depending on your driving style.

 

[dmacarthur]

Thanks MadTechNutter, sounds like there are at least 2 of us left in this world! How about the rest of the Outlander, you mention it is heavy but does it serve well given what it is?

 

[greendwarf]

Certainly when I bought mine in 2014, it was a unique combination of good daily EV commuting distance with the carrying capacity of an estate all at a reasonable price.

If you can travel daily within EV range but need an ICE car for occasional long journeys, can charge overnight and/or at work at cheap rate but need extra carrying capacity, it still has little real competition.

I have now had 6 years and 50k miles of trouble free (apart from driving into things and punctures :lol: :lol: ) cheap and comfortable motoring in UK and abroad - but then I am the ideal user (dealer comment)!

Like japaav I am still getting a range of 20+ miles and see no reason (other than wanting the new EV Mustang :roll: ) why I shouldn't still be driving it in another 6 years. :mrgreen:

 

[dmacarthur]

Thanks greendwarf, these are really useful comments and they lean me toward adding this PHEV to our mix- most of what we will be using the Outlander for is within the EV range. A question, though: the current owner complains that it is hard to get the Outlander to drive in EV alone, it tends to turn the ICE on when going up a hill or accelerating too fast and then does not seem to easily switch back to EV mode- any tricks for how to accomplish this? Even in EV Eco mode it tends to use ICE unless babied...... since we live in hilly country it is not possible to just go along the flat as you might in a city.

 

[MadTechNutter]

Thanks MadTechNutter, sounds like there are at least 2 of us left in this world! How about the rest of the Outlander, you mention it is heavy but does it serve well given what it is?

It serves me very well.
IMO it is the only 'EV' that you can use in Australia as EVs are not popular and definitely will never see any government support/subsidies.
Therefore there is very little infrastructure to charge for the long distances out side the metro areas and the series hybrid works well long distance by pressing the charge button until it is 3/4 full and then running pure EV for 30km then back to the ICE, I get 5l consumption per 100km that way with light load.
So I see this vehicle as the best of both worlds and I don't know anything else like it.

I got a small bush property for a hobby that is in rugged terrain and the PHEV handles that very well, being 4WD.
Unfortunately it doesn't have a tow bar so I don't know how good it is at pulling out tree stumps like i did with my old Nissan4x4.
As my normal daily drive is only about 40km I am alway in EV mode and I charge with solar panels, that charge a house battery that charges the PHEV.
I am a total DIY nutter so this set up was fairly cheap and the running cost is almost $0. The sun shines a lot here when there are no bush fires.

So I maybe not be your average kind of user, but this vehicle is definitely very versatile and I love all the tech inside it as my user name suggests

 

[MadTechNutter]

A question, though: the current owner complains that it is hard to get the Outlander to drive in EV alone, it tends to turn the ICE on when going up a hill or accelerating too fast and then does not seem to easily switch back to EV mode- any tricks for how to accomplish this? Even in EV Eco mode it tends to use ICE unless babied...... since we live in hilly country it is not possible to just go along the flat as you might in a city.

I can't drive much over 80km/h up a hill in EV mode either. That is highway, not steep incline.
If the ICE is cold it won't switch back to EV easily until it has warmed up.
You must consider that pure EV is only 60kW to move over 2 tonnes up a hill.

 

[greendwarf]

by MadTechNutter » Thu Aug 27, 2020 2:19 pm

dmacarthur wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 27, 2020 1:14 pm
A question, though: the current owner complains that it is hard to get the Outlander to drive in EV alone, it tends to turn the ICE on when going up a hill or accelerating too fast and then does not seem to easily switch back to EV mode- any tricks for how to accomplish this? Even in EV Eco mode it tends to use ICE unless babied...... since we live in hilly country it is not possible to just go along the flat as you might in a city.

I can't drive much over 80km/h up a hill in EV mode either. That is highway, not steep incline.
If the ICE is cold it won't switch back to EV easily until it has warmed up.
You must consider that pure EV is only 60kW to move over 2 tonnes up a hill.

I did find the "kick in" of the ICE disconcerting at first if I was too heavy with the right foot but am less worried after 6 years. Yes, it seems annoying when trying to only use battery (an early user obsession you eventually get over :lol: ) and time also means you get better at controlling it. However, as mentioned here, there are also occasions that you welcome the extra power. Once you lift off, the ICE cuts out reasonably quickly and if you are not continuing to accelerate presumably puts the energy in to the battery rather than waste it - it is after all a hybrid.

I understand though that for those with a electric heater (which I don't have on the basic model) the more annoying issue is the ICE firing up for heating even when you have "spare" battery - see numerous other threads.

 

[ChrisMiller]

You must consider that pure EV is only 60kW to move over 2 tonnes up a hill.

Can't resist a bit of simple physics. 2t car, so weight is 20kN. Up a 15% grade that gives a force of 3kN. Power is force*speed, so 60kW = 3kN * 20m/s. And 20m/s is 72kph or 45mph. (I've ignored air and rolling resistance, so obviously a bit less than this.)

My local hill is posted at 15% and I've no difficulty getting up to 50mph on electric power, starting from low speed at the roundabout at the bottom, but I guess 15% is the maximum gradient. On a 10% gradient it should be able to reach 60mph.