Is Series mode really that effective compared to normal petrol car?

[Iggy_phev]

I've read somewhere that series mode in PHEVs are way more efficient compared to normal petrol cars in start-stop city traffic. Is it applicable to outlander phev as well, because I know that parallel hybrid is far more efficient, or is it?

 

[AndyInOz]

Well, one anecdote is not data but...

... I spent hours in a traffic jam (State wide blackout took out all the traffic lights), and the car didn't use any more battery than normal.

In the following days, I heard many anecdotes about people who ran out of petrol and had to abandon their cars, while they were stuck in the jams.

So from that point of view, my car looked pretty efficient.

(Even if I had been forced to start the engine to charge the battery back up, I'd only have to run the engine for forty minutes. cf. something like 3 hours in the gridlock.)

 

[littlescrote]

Of course it's more efficient than a petrol car if you are using energy from the battery that was grid charged.

 

[BruceHF]

In my case I have found in travelling long distances (more than 50km) I find that Series mode is pretty efficient especially when I use ECO and Cruise Control

 

[mark42]

Apples are more efficient than oranges.

We have each chosen the vehicle that we believe best meets our needs. Efficency, price, practicality, looks etc.

I have the PHEV because I believe some trips I make are outside a fully electric vehicles current capabilities. But most days I can get away with the small electric only range.

So what is the most efficient vehicle, that must depend on what is wanted from it.

A lighter vehicle will be efficient going up hill.
When stationary a vehicle not using any power will be tge most efficient. That could be an ICE vehicle that the driver has swiched off.
Downhill many ICE vehicles shut off the fuel and use gravity to keep things turning. An EV can probably do this on a shallower incline than an ICE.


So the question asked about parallel or seriese hybrid in stop start traffic.


The outlander can be either, but I think in stop start traffic you are unlikely to get up to a speed where the engine drives the wheels directly so you don't have the option.

Any other comparison is also not worth much given all the other variables.


So the answer is clearly a grape.

 

[BobK]

Even if the battery is depleted, you get the advantage of regenerative breaking in a PHEV that is wasted on a pure ICE car.

 

[littlescrote]

Apples are more efficient than oranges.

We have each chosen the vehicle that we believe best meets our needs. Efficency, price, practicality, looks etc.

I have the PHEV because I believe some trips I make are outside a fully electric vehicles current capabilities. But most days I can get away with the small electric only range.

So what is the most efficient vehicle, that must depend on what is wanted from it.

A lighter vehicle will be efficient going up hill.
When stationary a vehicle not using any power will be tge most efficient. That could be an ICE vehicle that the driver has swiched off.
Downhill many ICE vehicles shut off the fuel and use gravity to keep things turning. An EV can probably do this on a shallower incline than an ICE.


So the question asked about parallel or seriese hybrid in stop start traffic.


The outlander can be either, but I think in stop start traffic you are unlikely to get up to a speed where the engine drives the wheels directly so you don't have the option.

Any other comparison is also not worth much given all the other variables.


So the answer is clearly a grape.

Although an ICE does shutoff the fuel downhill, they don't so anything to recover energy to be used later, just generate heat that gets rejected to the atmosphere. Even a mild hybrid is worth some efficiency.

 

[mark42]

Although an ICE does shutoff the fuel downhill, they don't so anything to recover energy to be used later, just generate heat that gets rejected to the atmosphere. Even a mild hybrid is worth some efficiency.

Not if the battery is full. The number of variables means that efficency is also a variable.

 

[PHEV07]

I've read somewhere that series mode in PHEVs are way more efficient compared to normal petrol cars in start-stop city traffic. Is it applicable to outlander phev as well, because I know that parallel hybrid is far more efficient, or is it?

I live in Canada where our temperatures range between -35'C in the dead of winter to 30'C in the summer.

The last ICE that I drove was 2004 Nissan Maxima 3.5L and in the summer with AC off driving in the city I would average 12L/100km at the current price of Gasoline of $1.30 cnd per litre. driving 100k in the city would cost me 12×1.30= $15.60cnd.

Driving my 2024 Outlander PHEV 20kWh in the city averages me 16kWh/100kms with the Heat and AC off. Charging at home costs me 12 cents a kWh so the cost to drive 100 kms in the city is 16x0.12=$1.92 Cnd
Keep in mind that the PHEV is heavier than the Nissan due to the weight of Batteries yet I am saving $13.50 per 100 kms driving my Outlander as opposed to my gas only car, with no Heat or Air Conditioning on.

As the weather is now cooling, I am using around 20kWh/100kms. Still only $2.40 for driving Electrity only.

Not bad, not bad at all.

 

[PHEV07]

Not if the battery is full. The number of variables means that efficency is also a variable.

Actually after driving just few feet on EV, the Battery starts to deplete enough to start charging from Regenerative Braking, be it a small amount.

The more one drives, the greater the depletion which in turn can allow more charging from Regenerative Braking.

PHEVs are great Vehicles