ECO button on my 2016 Outlander PHEV

[ramjit007]

Hi, Can anyone please help, I'm getting tiered of pressing the ECO button every time I use the car, is there a setting somewhere where I can set it to come on every time and if I want to switch it off I can do so by pressing it??

 

[simonrh]

Not actually helpful, but I gave up pressing it in the end because I preferred the way it drives with it off and doesn't seem to make any difference to my range!

 

[jaapv]

No, there is not, but as the only benefit I can see is a more smooth response of ACC it does not really matter The button only comes into its own using the VTech box.

 

[ufo]

Don't worry about Eco button. If you have a light right foot, it does not make any difference. Trust me, I tried and tested so long,

 

[anko]

Indeed, the button becomes more important with the Vtech box than it is without. But, it is not as irrelevant as some suggest. It appears as if in ECO mode, the heating system will 'bridge' a gap of approx. 9 degrees (between requested interior temperature and actual interior temperature) without starting the engine. In Normal mode, the heating system will start up the engine when thid gap is bigger than approx. 4 or 5 degrees C.

(applies to models with electric heater only, obviously)

On topic: you cannot. Member gwatpe had created a device that makes buttons (in his case the Save mode button) sticky. From what I understand it works / would work with the ECO button as well ....

 

[jaapv]

Anko is right, but I prefer warm feet in winter

 

[ufo]

Indeed, the button becomes more important with the Vtech box than it is without. But, it is not as irrelevant as some suggest. It appears as if in ECO mode, the heating system will 'bridge' a gap of approx. 9 degrees (between requested interior temperature and actual interior temperature) without starting the engine. In Normal mode, the heating system will start up the engine when thid gap is bigger than approx. 4 or 5 degrees C.

(applies to models with electric heater only, obviously)

On topic: you cannot. Member gwatpe had created a device that makes buttons (in his case the Save mode button) sticky. From what I understand it works / would work with the ECO button as well ....

When I said it doesn't make any difference I was talking in lay-man's terms. If you look at the technical details of course there is a difference otherwise It wouldn't be there. But if you have a light right foot and do not pump up the heat to 30 degrees during winter or bring down to 18 degrees during summer, you can easily achieve what eco mode does.
Since introduction of Outlander PHEV there has always been complaints that people can not achieve the declared mileage. The only reason for this is that because people don't adjust their driving styles for a PHEV. They just drive as they would drive a conventional IC vehicle and than claim that declared mileage is unachievable. Worst case of this was a motor magazine reviewer who never charged the PHEV during the week he tested the vehicle and than declared that MM should be taken to court for misleading consumers on the mileage.
I always achieve around 50 - 55 km range without A/C, with A/C it depends the temp. set, how long driven so on. Also always turn off A/C when you want heat, it saves incredible amount of battery juice. Only use A/c when you want cooling.

 

[anko]

Anko is right, but I prefer warm feet in winter

You said that before. But the ECO button will not stop the heater from working. So, neo need to have cold feet.

Also, it takes a while before the engine reaches the temperature at which the thermo valve opens. Until then, the engine does not help with getting your feet warm anyway. On a very short trip, it is a total waste of energy.

 

[anko]

But if you have a light right foot and do not pump up the heat to 30 degrees during winter or bring down to 18 degrees during summer, you can easily achieve what eco mode does.

Maybe in Australia, but over here, this is not true. When the outside temperature is 7 or 8 degrees, I can run the heater without starting the engine in ECO mode. But I cannot do so in Normal mode. Not even at 15.5 deg C, the lowest possible setting.

 

[jaapv]

Anko is right, but I prefer warm feet in winter

You said that before. But the ECO button will not stop the heater from working. So, neo need to have cold feet.

Also, it takes a while before the engine reaches the temperature at which the thermo valve opens. Until then, the engine does not help with getting your feet warm anyway. On a very short trip, it is a total waste of energy.

True - that is why I like to pre-heat

 

[maby]

Indeed, the button becomes more important with the Vtech box than it is without. But, it is not as irrelevant as some suggest. It appears as if in ECO mode, the heating system will 'bridge' a gap of approx. 9 degrees (between requested interior temperature and actual interior temperature) without starting the engine. In Normal mode, the heating system will start up the engine when thid gap is bigger than approx. 4 or 5 degrees C.

(applies to models with electric heater only, obviously)

On topic: you cannot. Member gwatpe had created a device that makes buttons (in his case the Save mode button) sticky. From what I understand it works / would work with the ECO button as well ....

I don't think that gwatpe ever tested his device on the ECO button. It should work in principle, but it requires access to the back of the button to install it and this is not particularly easy in the case of the ECO button. He developed it to implement "sticky save" - the save button is easy to access without major dismantling.

 

[gwatpe]

Maby has hit the button on the head. The ECO button is in a difficult place to get access. I never tested the ECO button as at the time it made no difference to my drive with it ON or OFF. I was a bit daunted by the task of access to the ECO switch. My little mod circuit will work equally well on the ECO button. I was asked to test the pureEV mod circuit, and when I receive it, I will make a revised sticky button mod, that can work with the addition of the ECO button function. I think that the ECO button is on a different ECU, so isolation between the functions with opto-couplers will be needed. still doable.

 

[ramjit007]

Thanks for your responses, I'm interested in the VTech box... will look into this.