Just got the outlander 2020 model have range questions in EV mode, think it could be something wrong?

[Raymo]

Hi.

just got my outlander 2020 phev. It have runned total 47000km.

When i charge the battery and started it in ev mode, the car estimate 24km range.
It is winter here and it about 2c today, drived around in the local town picked up someone, shopped a bit then drived a few people home, just small driving and i think i got about 24km before the battery was empty. Very light on the gas pedal.

Ac is on and i used it as a normal car, temperature was set to 22-23c on the heater, radio was on a few times,

Is this normal or should i got more range?

How can i check the battery health?

What a dream it is to run this car, coming from an older toyota

 

[AndyInOz]

Range is reduced in cold weather, and running the air conditioner/heater will reduce it more.

The amount of load carried in the car can also cause loss of range, i.e. this is one of the reasons why the car doesn't have a spare wheel.

Mine varies from summer to winter, and our winters are very mild, extremely rare that we'd see less than five degrees here.

To check battery health, you need an ODB2 bluetooth dongle, an android phone, and a copy of the PHEV Watchdog app.

(Your car is covered, but it doesn't support our car for models after 2021.)

https://phevwatchdog.net/

 

[Raymo]

I see, so when the car is fully loaded and not saving power its sounds normal.
I always heard that never turn off airconditioner, is that a old myth?
Just using heater and no ac would maby pushed it longer, Would need to test more and also drive a longer distance vs town driving. Do you use it in ev when its winter? Or is it better to let it be in normal mode and wait with the ev mode until it is spring and summer?

 

[DaveL59]

Not sure on the A/C fitted to these but for 'regular' ICE cars the A/C refrigerant carries lubricant too, so running it at least frequently helped the seals and compressor life. Since on our PHEV's the A/C would kick in to cool the battery when needed I guess not using it for cabin temp would be OK. Downside tho is not realising if it stops working effectively as that'd not be good for the battery. That and of course the dehumidifying effect that's oh-so useful in winter ;-)

You could perhaps try using the heated seats and steering wheel rather than the heater if range is most important to you, rather than cabin heat which may cause the ICE to kick in to aid heating.

My 2019 usually shows 19-21 miles now we've low temps, has shown up to mid 20's when warmer. I do leave the climate control on however and never use ECO mode, switch to save when on fast dual carriageways etc. Suits my use but if you are using the throttle gently ECO mode may gain you a little range.

 

[littlescrote]

I see, so when the car is fully loaded and not saving power its sounds normal.
I always heard that never turn off airconditioner, is that a old myth?
Just using heater and no ac would maby pushed it longer, Would need to test more and also drive a longer distance vs town driving. Do you use it in ev when its winter? Or is it better to let it be in normal mode and wait with the ev mode until it is spring and summer?

Not sure on the A/C fitted to these but for 'regular' ICE cars the A/C refrigerant carries lubricant too, so running it at least frequently helped the seals and compressor life. Since on our PHEV's the A/C would kick in to cool the battery when needed I guess not using it for cabin temp would be OK. Downside tho is not realising if it stops working effectively as that'd not be good for the battery. That and of course the dehumidifying effect that's oh-so useful in winter ;-)

You could perhaps try using the heated seats and steering wheel rather than the heater if range is most important to you, rather than cabin heat which may cause the ICE to kick in to aid heating.

My 2019 usually shows 19-21 miles now we've low temps, has shown up to mid 20's when warmer. I do leave the climate control on however and never use ECO mode, switch to save when on fast dual carriageways etc. Suits my use but if you are using the throttle gently ECO mode may gain you a little range.

Having previously worked for the world's largest automotive air conditioning compressor as an engineer, I am well qualified to answer this.

Dave is right, but it's especially the shaft seal on a compressor fitted to an ICE that needs regular use. Because they are belt driven, there is a shaft that goes from the outside environment to the internal parts of the compressor that has to seal the refrigerant (and oil) in against the rotation of the shaft.

The Outlander does not have a shaft driven compressor, because if it did it would only give you air conditioning when the engine was running. Instead it is of course electrically driven, as such, it is hermetically sealed and has none of the issues of the shaft seals.


The whole system does still need regular use though, but as with ICE, it's not a case of "never turn it off".

 

[BruceHF]

Welcome to the club.
I have a 2020 model with 78000 km and at -2C on a full charge I get 20 km and by the time I get around the corner I get 19/18 km. I just drive in NORMAL and find that when the car has warmed up within minutes it go into SERIES mode where It alternates between the battery and generator, only if I put my foot down on the accelerator the ICE jumps in and then after a while back. I am waiting to spring/summer to see if there is an improvement, but at the most I expect it around 30km

 

[Raymo]

Having previously worked for the world's largest automotive air conditioning compressor as an engineer, I am well qualified to answer this.

Dave is right, but it's especially the shaft seal on a compressor fitted to an ICE that needs regular use. Because they are belt driven, there is a shaft that goes from the outside environment to the internal parts of the compressor that has to seal the refrigerant (and oil) in against the rotation of the shaft.

The Outlander does not have a shaft driven compressor, because if it did it would only give you air conditioning when the engine was running. Instead it is of course electrically driven, as such, it is hermetically sealed and has none of the issues of the shaft seals.


The whole system does still need regular use though, but as with ICE, it's not a case of "never turn it off".

So if i understand what you saying the ac/heater and cold air is not produced with the gas engine? So in this case with outlander we can just turn off ac until the hot summertime comes?

This isnt my language but i think i learned something new, one of the benefit for me to get hybrid was to make sure i had a warm car even if it is -15 or 20- on a cold winter day, so how do this handle very cold weather?

Edit: i fully charged the battery again and will see tomorrow what the car estimate when ac is turned off and see how long it goes. On normal mode it used 0.54L gasoline pr 10km aversge on 80km range, first 35 km it was only 0.15L. Very happy about the result on winter, so now it remains to see how ev mode goes tomorrow

 

[Raymo]

Welcome to the club.
I have a 2020 model with 78000 km and at -2C on a full charge I get 20 km and by the time I get around the corner I get 19/18 km. I just drive in NORMAL and find that when the car has warmed up within minutes it go into SERIES mode where It alternates between the battery and generator, only if I put my foot down on the accelerator the ICE jumps in and then after a while back. I am waiting to spring/summer to see if there is an improvement, but at the most I expect it around 30km

Thank you

Yes with -2c it would most probabley be 2x the range when the weather is 15c or more. At lest after what i head about the pure electric cars. I will be very interested to see how it drive on normal mode on the spring/summer. On normal today it was 0.54L average on 80km. Full car and sometimes speed was 110-120km/h but most of the time 80-90 kmh speed. On the same distance i hope to get 0.3L on the summer with same use

 

[AndyInOz]

Mitsubishi recommend that the air-conditioner be run at least once per month.

The the air-conditioner dries the air inside the cabin and prevents build up of moisture that makes it hard to see out (because of window fogging), and can cause mould/mildew to form in the car's interior.

 

[littlescrote]

Mitsubishi recommend that the air-conditioner be run at least once per month.

The the air-conditioner dries the air inside the cabin and prevents build up of moisture that makes it hard to see out (because of window fogging), and can cause mould/mildew to form in the car's interior.

I think their recommendation may just be a carry over from the ICE manual. As I say, there is not the same reason for using the A/C regularly in EV as ICE, but it's sensible to run it regularly for the reason that you mention. However, if it is very cold it may not actually run even if you have it switched on due to the refrigerant pressure not being within certain parameters.