Fuel consumption: what are the real figures?

[thegurio]

Keep in mind that using 3 litres of petrol to charge the battery is an expensive way to do it. There is no reason to use the CHARGE mode unless you really have to.

+1 - it basically means you are costing yourself about $5 to go for about 35k's. It's cheaper to go flat out than it is to use charge.... In my mind I think it's only application is to make sure you have enough power when you are towing. At least that will be my train of thought unless anyone can offer a different suggestion.

 

[maby]

Keep in mind that using 3 litres of petrol to charge the battery is an expensive way to do it. There is no reason to use the CHARGE mode unless you really have to.

+1 - it basically means you are costing yourself about $5 to go for about 35k's. It's cheaper to go flat out than it is to use charge.... In my mind I think it's only application is to make sure you have enough power when you are towing. At least that will be my train of thought unless anyone can offer a different suggestion.

I guess that if you were unable to get a mains charge for a prolonged period the battery might suffer, so there may be a case for doing an engine charge. The Prius seems to be programmed to periodically run the battery almost flat, then charge it fully which, I guess, is a strategy to maximise battery life

 

[Fragge]

I guess that if you were unable to get a mains charge for a prolonged period the battery might suffer, so there may be a case for doing an engine charge. The Prius seems to be programmed to periodically run the battery almost flat, then charge it fully which, I guess, is a strategy to maximize battery life

The battery is kept at a minimum of 20% charge while running in NORMAL mode, no reason to charge it for the case of battery health. Lithium batteries actually gets more wear from being fully charged all the time, ideally they should be stored at half charge.
The Prius uses old NiMh batteries that needs to be exercised (discharged fully and then charged fully) to retain their health.
In my opinion the CHARGE mode is for charging the car to be able to enter cities with "no emission" zones, If you discharged your battery and have to enter a "no emission" zone you can force a charge with the CHARGE mode or save the charge with the SAVE mode.

 

[jaapv]

Keep in mind that using 3 litres of petrol to charge the battery is an expensive way to do it. There is no reason to use the CHARGE mode unless you really have to.

+1 - it basically means you are costing yourself about $5 to go for about 35k's. It's cheaper to go flat out than it is to use charge.... In my mind I think it's only application is to make sure you have enough power when you are towing. At least that will be my train of thought unless anyone can offer a different suggestion.

It is an essential setting for prolonged use in the mountains.

 

[thegurio]

Keep in mind that using 3 litres of petrol to charge the battery is an expensive way to do it. There is no reason to use the CHARGE mode unless you really have to.

+1 - it basically means you are costing yourself about $5 to go for about 35k's. It's cheaper to go flat out than it is to use charge.... In my mind I think it's only application is to make sure you have enough power when you are towing. At least that will be my train of thought unless anyone can offer a different suggestion.

It is an essential setting for prolonged use in the mountains.

Exactly... I think they have a use, otherwise mitsi would've saved the money and not put them in there, I just think they have very little use.

 

[jevel]

I have just completed my first 600 km with the PHEV, and I must say that I am impressed.

My longest commute is 124 km one way, and if I manage to charge fully the night before the trip, I have an average consumption of between 0,36 and 0,44 depending on my driving. (It seems that using ACC and finding a bus is a very effective way to save fuel. )

If the ICE on the Outlander behaves like any other new car I've had, the consumption will go down a little as the engine settles as well.

-KJ

 

[greendwarf]

+1 - it basically means you are costing yourself about $5 to go for about 35k's. It's cheaper to go flat out than it is to use charge.... In my mind I think it's only application is to make sure you have enough power when you are towing. At least that will be my train of thought unless anyone can offer a different suggestion.[/quote]
It is an essential setting for prolonged use in the mountains.[/quote]

Exactly... I think they have a use, otherwise mitsi would've saved the money and not put them in there, I just think they have very little use.[/quote]

Too many threads in this forum to find it, but I remember someone posting that you can flick it into Charge mode just before overtaking to avoid the delay (similar to turbo lag) in the ICE firing up to get the extra power needed - a bit like "kick down" in an ordinary automatic. So not just for mountain use!

BTW - what fires up the ICE if there is no starter motor? Is it just like bump starting?

 

[Fragge]

From what I understand (and don't quote me on that) the Outlander doesn't have a starter. It stops the engine at TDC and when it needs to be started it simply injects some fuel in to the cylinders that are compressed and fires the plugs. That starts the engine again. I could be completely wrong though.

 

[maby]

.....

BTW - what fires up the ICE if there is no starter motor? Is it just like bump starting?

The generator is used as a motor - pretty much the same as on a Prius. I have not seen it explicitly stated for the Outlander, but I assume that it adopts the same approach as the Prius - they fiddle with the valve timing to decompress the engine which makes it much easier to turn over - this then allows the motor-generator to spin it up to a far higher speed than a conventional starter motor before the engine is compressed which results in a fast and smooth start and gets the petrol engine synchronised with the electric drive train with no detectable transition.

 

[maby]

From what I understand (and don't quote me on that) the Outlander doesn't have a starter. It stops the engine at TDC and when it needs to be started it simply injects some fuel in to the cylinders that are compressed and fires the plugs. That starts the engine again. I could be completely wrong though.

I don't believe that - to inject fuel into a compressed cylinder you would need the same mechanism as a diesel engine! Fuel Injection on a petrol engine is very different - it just uses a low pressure pump to spray fuel directly into the open inlet valve rather than mixing it with the air being drawn in via a carburettor.

 

[GStam]

Hi

Checked all my gas bills since day one and my average in 0.37 l/mil (Swedish) i.e. 0.037 l/km.

I have only had my car since 1/4-14 and my trip is on 12400km. During this time I have charged about 920kwh at home but unfortunately I don’t have a kwh meter at work.

/MG