Idiot guide

[Roxyman]

I am in my mid 60s and had a reasonable understanding of the simple combustion engine over the years. I have to say I am struggling a little despite reading quite a bit to figure out how this car actually works, Outlander 21 PHEV. Does anyone or is there anyone who could in brief simple terms explain what's going on. I understand the initial EV battery that runs for a period of time and then transfers to traditional combustion when the battery runs out but I suspect there's more to it than that. I noticed for instance today whilst running the car on EV mode to get an accurate odometer reading in order to calculate the mileage I'm getting from the battery some anomolies. Once the battery dropped to zero according to the bar chart, the engine kicked in a little later and I continued on my journey. I continued to use paddles to regenerate power but with the battery still apparently empty the car then switched back to electric for periods. Once completed I checked info section on the car which showed I had done 98% of my journey in EV despite the battery being dry for a fair bit towards the end....confused.... ie where is the car getting this energy to drive in electric if the battery is empty.
Any guidance gratefully accepted.
Thanks in advance
Pete

 

[Daixiwen]

Hello Pete,

The drive battery isn't truly empty when it drops to zero on the dashboard. In order to preserve the battery the car will never completely discharge it or completely charge it, and an "empty" battery is in fact at about 30% state of charge, while a "full" battery is at about 90% state of charge. What happens when the battery gets "empty" is that the car will hold it between about 28 and 35% state of charge. When it gets too low (or you need power) it will start the combustion engine to start it, and once it has charge the battery a bit it will stop the engine and use only electric again. You will hear the engine start and stop often like that, it is perfectly normal.

 

[littlescrote]

Using the paddles will not give you any extra energy to charge the battery, it just means that you can recover a bit of what has already been used. The only way to add charge to the battery is to plug it in, run the engine/generator, or get a heli lift to the top of a mountain and use the regen.

 

[Roxyman]

Hello Pete,

The drive battery isn't truly empty when it drops to zero on the dashboard. In order to preserve the battery the car will never completely discharge it or completely charge it, and an "empty" battery is in fact at about 30% state of charge, while a "full" battery is at about 90% state of charge. What happens when the battery gets "empty" is that the car will hold it between about 28 and 35% state of charge. When it gets too low (or you need power) it will start the combustion engine to start it, and once it has charge the battery a bit it will stop the engine and use only electric again. You will hear the engine start and stop often like that, it is perfectly normal.

Hey thanks for that.
So even driving in normal mode the engine will still create some charge ie without selecting charge mode, am I right in that?
Thanks

 

[russ]

Use the info display (instrument cluster) which shows the energy flow from engine wheels and battery. Any excess from the engine goes to the battery, (and from regen) and when the controller sees 1k range is available it will use it. You should quickly get a feel for how it hangs together.
(charge mode says don't use it, so charge increases, and save mode moves the set point from 0 range to engage motor to whatever point you set)

 

[AndyInOz]

Using the paddles will not give you any extra energy to charge the battery, it just means that you can recover a bit of what has already been used. The only way to add charge to the battery is to plug it in, run the engine/generator, or get a heli lift to the top of a mountain and use the regen.

Skipping the heli part...

If you find yourself on the top of a hill, and use the regenerative braking (paddles) to maintain your speed on the way back down, you can get to the point where your battery won't take any more charge.

This has happened to me a few times, particularly because I live at sea level, (well 16m above, but still) and visit friends who live up in hill country.

 

[Daixiwen]

Hey thanks for that.
So even driving in normal mode the engine will still create some charge ie without selecting charge mode, am I right in that?
Thanks

Yes it will. Charge mode is just here if you want to force the Phev to charge the battery. In normal mode it will decide itself when it needs to do it.

 

[Roxyman]

Thanks for the replies.... I'm slowly getting there!!!

 

[Kes2tral]

No one has mentioned anything about the “innovative pedal.” Does it work essentially the same way as the “paddles” do?

Thanks!

 

[Vasgorm]

I tend not to use the innovative pedal because I understand the breaklights come on, confusing the driver behind me.
Where as using the paddles avoids this.

 

[MMauricio]

No-it balances actual braking with regenerative function of the electric motors during deceleration

 

[littlescrote]

I tend not to use the innovative pedal because I understand the breaklights come on, confusing the driver behind me.
Where as using the paddles avoids this.

The *Brake lights come on depending on deceleration level, whether that's through the pedal or paddles. But anyway, if you haven't used the paddles or gear selector to enter a B mode with number higher than 2 (default), you will not get enough deceleration to activate the brake lights. Also, just because you have gone to B5, if you don't fully release the accelerator pedal and only have a low level of regen, or your battery is full such that there is little or no regen as there's nowhere for it to go, the brake lights won't be activated either.

Use your power meter and the power flow display to understand what is going on with your vehicle. It's really not that complicated.

 

[mellobob]

I tend not to use the innovative pedal because I understand the breaklights come on, confusing the driver behind me.
Where as using the paddles avoids this.

Why would the brake lights coming on confuse the driver? They are signaling the fact that you are slowing down. No one cares if that is due to regen or friction pads.
I'm not a big fan of the innovative pedal, but use it on long down hill stretches.

 

[Roxyman]

Innovative pedal???? Can someone give me a quick explanation of that...? I don't think ive come across that term yet and I have just mastered the Regen paddles...... Its complicated stuff this lol

 

[Kes2tral]

Innovative pedal???? Can someone give me a quick explanation of that...? I don't think ive come across that term yet and I have just mastered the Regen paddles...... Its complicated stuff this lol

I believe they added the innovative pedal in the 2023 Outlander PHEV. I have a 2024 and have just started using it for city driving. I find that it maximizes the battery kms. It took me a while to develop a feel for smooth one pedal driving. I prefer it to the paddles because the driving feels more natural and it makes less abrupt transitions—once you are competent.

 

[evman77]

I am in my mid 60s and had a reasonable understanding of the simple combustion engine over the years. I have to say I am struggling a little despite reading quite a bit to figure out how this car actually works, Outlander 21 PHEV. Does anyone or is there anyone who could in brief simple terms explain what's going on. I understand the initial EV battery that runs for a period of time and then transfers to traditional combustion when the battery runs out but I suspect there's more to it than that. I noticed for instance today whilst running the car on EV mode to get an accurate odometer reading in order to calculate the mileage I'm getting from the battery some anomolies. Once the battery dropped to zero according to the bar chart, the engine kicked in a little later and I continued on my journey. I continued to use paddles to regenerate power but with the battery still apparently empty the car then switched back to electric for periods. Once completed I checked info section on the car which showed I had done 98% of my journey in EV despite the battery being dry for a fair bit towards the end....confused.... ie where is the car getting this energy to drive in electric if the battery is empty.
Any guidance gratefully accepted.
Thanks in advance
Pete

I have a 2019 and this is how it works. The car does NOT have a traditional transmission with gear changes. Its a direct drive system so its always in what would be top gear. As long as your driving below, say 70kph, the battery will drive the car. The engine comes on to charge the battery as needed but it can not drive the car at low speeds. My car has a screen that displays the transactions as they happen. Page 2 on the screen and chose the screen that shows you the wheels, battery and engine with direction arrows to see whats happening.

 

[Hans Kruiniger]

I have a 2019 and this is how it works. The car does NOT have a traditional transmission with gear changes. Its a direct drive system so its always in what would be top gear. As long as your driving below, say 70kph, the battery will drive the car. The engine comes on to charge the battery as needed but it can not drive the car at low speeds. My car has a screen that displays the transactions as they happen. Page 2 on the screen and chose the screen that shows you the wheels, battery and engine with direction arrows to see whats happening.

So what about up a steep hill? If battery is low I find the engine revs really high but the car crawls up the hill?

 

[AndyInOz]

This is why it is recommended to have charge in the battery before attempting steep hills.

Battery plus engine generation provide the maximum 120 kW to the motors.