Is the Outlander PHEV really for me?

[JB21]

Hi all,

So I've got my heart set on a GX4h through a salary sacrifice scheme in work, but I’m wondering if it will actually save me money in running costs compared to a diesel.

So my commute:- 50 miles round trip, my morning consists of 12 miles of country roads with some stop-start traffic, then it’s around 13 miles of motorway at a steady flow between 50-70 mph. The return journey is a little different and is around 80% motorway at 70-80 mph the other 20% is duel carriageways 60-70 mph.

I can charge at home before I leave in a morning and also at work before I leave for home. I'm currently averaging around 1200 miles per month with the above format and running around town, never any long journeys and my driving style is average not a lead foot but not a hypermiler.

So what sort of MPG figures am i likely to get and how many miles to a full tank?

Thanks in advance.

Phil

 

[jkh112]

The theoretical range in elctric mode with a full charge is around 30 miles, but this reduces at higher speeds and with heating etc. on.
Assuming you do not go over about 74mph (when the car switches to petrol) then you should be able to do almost all your commute on battery. Alot will dpend on your motorway / dual carrieagway speeds as higher speeds have a big effect on consumption.
If you do manage to use almost all battery then a tank of fuel will last a long time!

 

[JB21]

The theoretical range in elctric mode with a full charge is around 30 miles, but this reduces at higher speeds and with heating etc. on.
Assuming you do not go over about 74mph (when the car switches to petrol) then you should be able to do almost all your commute on battery. Alot will dpend on your motorway / dual carrieagway speeds as higher speeds have a big effect on consumption.
If you do manage to use almost all battery then a tank of fuel will last a long time!

Cheers mate. I thought if you went over 50 mph the petrol engine kicked in, that’s good news then if it only kicks in at 74 mph. I'm not buying this car for speed but as a work horse so 70 and under on the motorways won’t be an issue. In theory then I should see decent MPG if driving sensibly. :mrgreen:

 

[maby]

That 30 mile EV range is very much the best case - it drops off very significantly both in cold weather and at speeds above around 50mph. In the summer you should get away with little petrol, but in the winter months you are likely to burn a fair bit. Driving in temperatures below about 5 degrees and at speeds approaching 70mph, you could easily see that range dropping below 15 miles.

 

[JB21]

That 30 mile EV range is very much the best case - it drops off very significantly both in cold weather and at speeds above around 50mph. In the summer you should get away with little petrol, but in the winter months you are likely to burn a fair bit. Driving in temperatures below about 5 degrees and at speeds approaching 70mph, you could easily see that range dropping below 15 miles.

Right ok mate, cheers for that. So let’s say worst case scenario I use up the charge in 15 miles on both journeys then I have 10 miles on the petrol engine alone on both journeys on the motorway at say 50-70 mph, I should be able to see 35-40 mpg which would equate to over a year say around 5000 miles (out of the 1500 miles pa) on the petrol engine alone at 35-40 mpg would cost around £50-£60 a month on fuel. Not bad at all really compared to my Mazda's fuel bill of £300 a month :lol:

 

[maby]

That 30 mile EV range is very much the best case - it drops off very significantly both in cold weather and at speeds above around 50mph. In the summer you should get away with little petrol, but in the winter months you are likely to burn a fair bit. Driving in temperatures below about 5 degrees and at speeds approaching 70mph, you could easily see that range dropping below 15 miles.

Right ok mate, cheers for that. So let’s say worst case scenario I use up the charge in 15 miles on both journeys then I have 10 miles on the petrol engine alone on both journeys on the motorway at say 50-70 mph, I should be able to see 35-40 mpg which would equate to over a year say around 5000 miles (out of the 1500 miles pa) on the petrol engine alone at 35-40 mpg would cost around £50-£60 a month on fuel. Not bad at all really compared to my Mazda's fuel bill of £300 a month :lol:

That sounds like a fair assessment. I'm sure you will save money relative to the Mazda, but it's better to go into the purchase with realistic expectations. There have been people on here that believed the adverts without asking any questions and have been rather disappointed. It's a very nice car that will turn in better fuel consumption than most other vehicles of comparable size and capabilities - but it on that basis, but treat claims of "148mpg" with a lot of suspicion.

 

[phil4146]

Hi, there were some points above which weren't how I thought it works - my petrol/direct drive (orange arrow) comes in about 45mph, I understood that 74 was the point where the speed could not be maintained by the battery and petrol had to be used, but below that the petrol can cut in and out depending on demand and road conditions, but couldn't cut in below about 40 as the revs would not be high enough?

Am I wrong?

 

[jaapv]

It can also cut in in series mode when the power demand exceeds battery capacity.

 

[Hypermiler]

On paper, 25 miles each way with charging in between is going to be a good scenario for the phev. I find my winter range (in GX4H with some preheating and little use of cabin heat) is around 22 miles, but that is mainly country roads (not often above 45-50mph). But as others have said, above about 50mph you can watch the range tick down - you might lose a mile of theoretical range every 1/4 or 1/3 of a mile. It is ideally suited to pootling, not hammering down the motorway (even if you do a sedate 60-65 you will eat the battery). The only good thing is if you get some decent downhills you can do some gliding.

If it was me, I would be looking for an alternative route home from work on roads where I could happily do 50ish, but it of course depends how much of a hurry you are in and how fanatical you become about not using fuel!

However, it still sounds as though you would save compared to your current car. And not all your travelling will be commuting - local weekend runs might be all on electric. But, big holiday trips can be a bit costly (sub 40mpg) unless you can charge up.

Can you get a decent length test drive to your commute? If you try it in the chillier weather you will get a good idea of the worst case position.
Best of luck
H

 

[gobiman]

I'd say it fits you pretty well. The key is the ability to charge between journeys to maximise the electric range and the journeys themselves to be as close to 25 miles or under as practicable. You have the added advantage of being able to charge at work.
The simple way to calculate use is take first 15-25 miles electric (depending on temperature) followed by 25-35 mpg (depending on roads/style).
Once you have it you can then start fiddling with speeds, driving style, regenerative braking and pre-heats, all of which will effect the longevity of electric power.
Good luck

 

[markg]

Your typical journey sounds similar to mine just slightly longer

I do 20 miles each way, ~70% dual carriageway, 30% B roads, can charge at home and work. I find I can pretty much always cover 20 miles on a full charge with some rare exceptions when it was really cold with a strong headwind; I usually finish with a few miles range at each end.

I do other journeys too, but given that this is the bulk of my mileage I get some good mpg figures (my last 1300 miles used 23.6l/5.2 gallons, that's 261 mpg). I charge at home on economy7 for ~70p using the charge timer linked to location and currently at work it's free, making it just under 4p/mile all-in if I've done my sums right. I reckon mpg as a hybrid only (no plug in) is ~35, so nothing special, and if you do a bunch of long journeys you will quickly drop below a diesel's mpg. Range fully charged and fully fueled comes up as ~400 miles, which seems realistic: the opposite end of performance from 261 mpg was the 8.3 gal for 350 miles (43mpg) I got after a couple of long trips (at least you have the option to do this which you don't in most BEVs)

I don't drive my PHEV like I did my previous car: I tend to keep my coat on rather than putting the heating on, and find keeping to 67-68mph on the DC makes a big difference to range, I do use the regeneration paddles as much as possible for coasting and slowing down without braking. In other words, you do need to work at it a little to get the most out of the car but for me that's part of the experience.

Lastly, despite the possible low day to day running costs, I don't think you can really figure on the car making total financial sense as a private buyer (which I am) - there are other ways to spend <£30k to give yourself a nice large car and several years of diesel.

 

[maby]

...

Lastly, despite the possible low day to day running costs, I don't think you can really figure on the car making total financial sense as a private buyer (which I am) - there are other ways to spend <£30k to give yourself a nice large car and several years of diesel.

A very good point - the Outlander is only a money saver if your alternative would be a similar size 4WD estate. You can get perfectly good small petrol or diesel saloons at £20k less (at least) - and capable of doing over 50mpg. I don't believe that any driver is going to save that much in running costs with a PHEV over any realistic life-expectancy of the vehicle.

If, in the absence of the PHEV, you would be looking at an alternative large estate costing in excess of £30k, then the answer is easy - go with the Outlander.

 

[lg1726]

...

If, in the absence of the PHEV, you would be looking at an alternative large estate costing in excess of £30k, then the answer is easy - go with the Outlander.

Thanks for that last sentence - I'm a small business owner and looking to lease the PHEV via the business to use as my car for all work commitments and the family car (kids and dogs etc) and replace my 7 year old SAAB estate. The 5% BIK enables me to take advantage of having it leased via the company and the running costs should allow me to gain in terms of replacing my existing car - I hope!