Instant MPG display GX3

[p207769]

Hi

Has my 2015 GX3 for over a year now, is there any way to get the display to show instant MPG instead of the average? The average isn't really useful or accurate in my opinion!

Also, I'm about to embark on a 3000 mile Euro road trip and wondering what is the best motorway speed to get the best MPG. Never usually go on the motorway in it.

Many thanks

Chris

 

[anko]

An OBD adapter with an appropriate smart phone app will reveal instantaneous fuel consumption. But it is a very difficult number to interpret, as it includes not only fuel used for driving but also fuel used for recharging. Whether I am towing a 1500 kg caravan or driving solo, the instant fuel consumption is pretty much the same at 60 MPH. The difference is the amount of recharging that is going on. Depending on what you are looking for, I think it is much better to manually reset the MPG number and check over a decent number of miles.

Best speed? I guess as low as possible. Even more so than with a normal car ;-)

 

[p207769]

Ok, many thanks. Not that I use it much on the motorway, but when I have, never got more than 40mpg driving at 70mph which is rubbish to be honest. Should have brought a diesel!

 

[anko]

Not that I use it much on the motorway, but .... Should have brought a diesel!

:shock:

 

[p207769]

Well, that's what the average MPG reads.... I'm hoping that I may get 50MPG if I drop the speed to 65MPH?

 

[anko]

Well, that's what the average MPG reads.... I'm hoping that I may get 50MPG if I drop the speed to 65MPH?

Seriously, 50 MPG in an 1800 kg SUV at 65 MPH? In what universe would that be realistic? But don't worry. I have owned a diesel Outlander and that did not even come close to that number.

 

[p207769]

Guess I'll be refuelling a lot then! .

Don't know what everyone else thinks but it's just not as good on fuel as I was hoping! Did charge it most days but our electric bill shot up!

 

[Steepndeep]

Well I am not sure what you expected when it comes to fuelconsumption. And the electric bill "shooting-up" when charging seems an odd statement. Electricity normally costs money

For me in Sweden a full charge at home costs me app. 1,5 Euro and takes my around 35 km. On gas 35 km would be app. 3 liters at around 4 Euros. So that is a quite significant saving. And on shorter trips will be even greater, also compared to a diesel, as the first kilometers has terrible fuel consumption on an ICE. And in some shoppingcenters you can charge the car for free so even better.

I admit on long highway trips a diesel would be better but I doubt they will be more than 20% better for a similar car. So it all comes down to your normal travel pattern, combined with possible taxincentives.

What everyone should not be surprised about is the effect speed has on electrical power consumption. An E-motor has an almost flat efficiency curve so the only thing effecting fuel efficiency is air-resistance and friction. On an ICE they work most efficiently under high load and close to their maximum volumetric efficiency RPM, which for diesels are around 2-3000 RPM. So up to around 80-100 km/h the increase in air-resistance is compensated by using the gearbox to keeping the engine at same RPM but increasing the load. After 100 km/h (naturally very depending on car model) both air-resistance increases and engine efficiency decreases so consumption goes sky-high.

 

[anko]

What everyone should not be surprised about is the effect speed has on electrical power consumption. An E-motor has an almost flat efficiency curve so the only thing effecting fuel efficiency is air-resistance and friction. On an ICE they work most efficiently under high load and close to their maximum volumetric efficiency RPM, which for diesels are around 2-3000 RPM. So up to around 80-100 km/h the increase in air-resistance is compensated by using the gearbox to keeping the engine at same RPM but increasing the load. After 100 km/h (naturally very depending on car model) both air-resistance increases and engine efficiency decreases so consumption goes sky-high.

We do not have to drive 'fast' in order to have a high engine load (and thus an efficiently working ICE), as the load can artificially be increased by the recharging process. Therefor, the speed at which increased drag has more effect than the increased ICE efficiency will be much lower than with conventional cars.

 

[Steepndeep]

For sure anko. I was only comparing the Outlander in pure EV mode vs. a pure Diesel Outlander. Nothing else. And cost for electricity vs diesel during same conditions. If you add the hybrid mode it gets more complex but you are definatley right in your statement

 

[geoffshep69]

Guess I'll be refuelling a lot then! .

Don't know what everyone else thinks but it's just not as good on fuel as I was hoping! Did charge it most days but our electric bill shot up!

Unless you are paying an extortionate amount for electricity, it should always be cheaper to charge up at home than pay for petrol.

An average of 35mpg when running on petrol is realistic. With UK petrol prices around £5 per gallon, and a full charge costing c. £1, you only need to be achieving 7 miles from a full charge to make electricity the same cost as petrol. Even in winter you should be able to achieve at least 15 miles from a full charge, so those miles are costing you less than half what they would cost if you were using petrol instead.

Rather than thinking about your electric bill going up, shouldn’t you be thinking that your net cost has come down ? (Electricity bill goes up, but petrol bill reduces by a larger amount ?)

 

[Steel188]

My 3+ and I have 'enjoyed' 26,000 miles in 9 months at roughly 35mpg and I love it.

My one tip - ensure you set the tyres to the high speed setting. 2.6bar or 38psi. I use it as standard. Also, if you can, get a full geometry check done before you go, having the toe, camber and caster angles all accurately set will transform the handling and responsiveness while ensuring reduced tyre wear.

I use my Sat Nav to cruise at an accurate 70 whenever I can and ensure that I hit Save when 1/2 charge is left. I never turn the ac off and set the temperature to ensure I do not have to wear a coat while driving in the winter and use maximum chill in the summer.

I am the exact opposite to you in that I ply the motorways at least 3 days a week and can confirm that the car's natural comfort zone is between 65 and 75mph (true, not indicated) and anything over 38mpg is a bonus. It is an 1850Kg brick after all.

 

[elm70]

My 3+ and I have 'enjoyed' 26,000 miles in 9 months at roughly 35mpg and I love it.
...

Average I guess.

Anyhow .. MPG is up how the PHEV is used .. in a trip of 250km, starting fully charged, with most of the way on motorway at 140km/h (87mph) ... I end up my trip with 24mpg ... with my previous BMW X1 4x4 1.8D .. same trip would have end up on ~30mpg, and no electric cost for start with charging battery

So ... on motor way this car consume more then diesel

In the city .. till there is battery is fine .. after it ... consumption is looking bad to me

Recently on 30km city "trip" ... starting with only 15km range, I end up with ~35mpg ... with my previous SUV diesel it will have been around 32mpg and a more dynamic drive allowed

So, this car is perfect for trip inside the EV battery range ... once it goes out battery ... it start to consumer a lot ... if it would be like a "Prius" without the Plug-In function .. it would have terrible fuel economy

I personally think the chosen ICE in the Outlander PHEV is a bad choice .... they should have took a smaller turbo diesel instead with same or even more power .. ASX has 1.6D that would have been a better fix

Anyhow .. as long as the PHEV is mainly used as city car or for short trip .. the pain of high consumption for long trip is very limited

In my case, in 3 months and ~ 2000km ... I just put into the car 50L fuel .. so I believe I consumer just 30L ... so at the end ... for my usage I'm at 150mpg in average ... but yes ... electricity bill will be higher ... consuming for the car, in average 6kwh every day (that in my case is around 0.5 Euro a day ... that converted in fuel is half litter a day .. so ... for compare apple to apple .. the 150mpg without considering electricity cost ... is more likely ... 45L + 30L ... for 2000km drive -> 60mpg or 3.9L/100km .. which is still not bad at all. But does not sound as cool as 150mpg :ugeek:

 

[greendwarf]

If you want to see really scary consumption figures, then wait until you get the "Engine started to maintain fuel system" message. In stop/start city driving I have seen figures as low as 12mpg

 

[geoffshep69]

My 3+ and I have 'enjoyed' 26,000 miles in 9 months at roughly 35mpg and I love it.
...

So ... on motor way this car consume more then diesel

Wow, there’s a surprise, a petrol car consumes more fuel than an equivalent diesel, who’d have guessed ??

 

[anko]

Indeed. If one is not happy with the choice of engine, there are two possible ways to look at it:

- Damn, they have installed the wrong engine
- Damn, I have bought the wrong car

I think a few of us are quite happy with the fact the car does not have a diesel engine. I am, not only because road taxes are much lower and my hands don't smell nasty after pumping gas, but also because I am convinced it suits my type of usage rather well. :mrgreen:

If I thought differently, I would probably have opted for the Volvo D6. That has a diesel.

 

[elm70]

As always ... any detail open door for change the main focus

Fact is that if this PHEV did not had a Plug In .. the hybrid technology used would not really help fuel consumption

Prius, which is Petrol and not Diesel, is an example that show how Petrol in Hybrid can do as good if not even better then Diesel

To me it sounds that something wrong has been done in some design decision of this PHEV

 

[Muddywheels]

I've come from diesels and will never go back - can't stand the rattle/exhaust fumes and looks like there days are numbered reading press reports :shock:

Best I saw in diesel SUVs was 35 mpg worst I've seen in phev is 44 mpg on long trip :?

My first fill averaged 117 mpg but has dropped with cold weather - most recent was 61 mpg but I have been whacking up the heating which brings on the ICE :roll:

Max I pay for full charge is £1 which at moment is giving me about 20 miles EV with heating on - if I preheat and turn off heater I can get nr 30 miles like I did in summer - this is still a lot cheaper than diesel - in winter mpg dropped on all my diesel SUVs too

I've recently started using save when battery half used for return trips and switching back to battery before home - it does seem to help increase mpg compared to running battery flat and return on petrol

Reading this forum I avoided the GX3 as the heating requires ICE which appears to affect mpg

 

[anko]

Fact is that if this PHEV did not had a Plug In ..

Fact is, it does have a Plug In, so why judge it as something it is not? :?

Prius, which is Petrol and not Diesel, is an example that show how Petrol in Hybrid can do as good if not even better then Diesel

I don't think a Prius diesel exists. So, how can you ever compare it to a Diesel? You also compared the PHEV to an X1 diesel earlier. Again, apples and oranges. If you want to compare the PHEV with something, compare it to an Outlander Diesel. Or better, compare it to a standard petrol Outlander. Have you done that? I am pretty sure it outperforms a petrol Outlander, even with a depleted battery.

 

[Muddywheels]

I know a guy bought a Lexus RX and is getting 35 mpg - I got that out of my Discovery Sport which is why I went for the phev despite Lexus legendary customer service reports