Miles displayed after full charge

[Carnut]

JAAPV.
Ran on 'charge' for a bit on the way home as I wanted some in the battery as I knew I could not have time for full plug-in charge.

 

[Neverfuel]

EV miles displayed 42 this morning, but didn't get chance to get a photo as I was taking the dog to the vet. Most I have seen before is 35. Usual story - only managed 24.5 miles before ICE kicked in.

 

[jaapv]

JAAPV.
Ran on 'charge' for a bit on the way home as I wanted some in the battery as I knew I could not have time for full plug-in charge.

Wel, yes, but it is an expensive way of charging.

 

[gwatpe]

I suppose the sun was shining? If you're using solar??

The PHEV is not smart enough to know where the energy is from.

This is just another calculation that is not right and comes up on the dash for the driver to see. Just like the range calculation discussed here.

 

[anko]

I suppose the sun was shining? If you're using solar??

The PHEV is not smart enough to know where the energy is from.

This is just another calculation that is not right and comes up on the dash for the driver to see. Just like the range calculation discussed here.

I also assumed that your personal GRID could be smart enough to tell the PHEV to take it easy with charging when the solar panels are running slow also....

Over here we have household installations that can turn down the PHEV charging a few knots, when the cloth washer is turned on.

 

[gwatpe]

My OFF grid solar can fully recharge the PHEV with no mods to the supplied equipment. The AC coupled solar either comes directly from the panel GTI, or supplemented from the battery inverter. The house battery can supply all the energy, but this is not very good use of the resource. Additional controls and interlocks just make the system more confusing to average Joe. I don't run the aircon in the house, or run a load of washing on hot wash when recharging the PHEV, to manage the maximum power levels. Worse that can happen is a breaker may trip when the peak load is exceeded for too long.

 

[greendwarf]

If you are going to generate battery power on the fly in this way, then the "guessometer" correctly indicates more miles than the battery alone can deliver.

:shock:

..., if you use the car in a way it is not designed for then you can't expect the system to fully understand what is going on. :?

Odd statement. If the car was not designed to "generate battery power on the fly", then why does it have a generator and why does it have a charge button?

Not really - the OP was describing using charge during ordinary driving which, as jaapv pointed out is an expensive way of doing things.
As with Mitsu in the manual, I thought we were generally agreed that the Charge button is for mountains & towing with occasional boost for overtaking etc. My point was that the car is NOT configured to use a petrol engine to generate electricity on top of moving the car other than for these special circumstances - otherwise it would not be "green" nor be economical the drive.

 

[anko]

If you do not use Charge mode, at some point you will reach the SOC low water mark. And what will the car do? Indeed, charge! This is exactly the same kind of charging that happens when you hit the charge button yourself.

Using Charge to build up some SOC in anticipation of an upcoming low emission zone or low speed zone is perfectly fine. And should be (and IMHO is) part of the cars design. And does not have to be inefficient. Personally, I think that it is indeed inefficient to maintain a high SOC (> 50% on the gauge) when you do not really need it. But to say that the car was not designed to use Charge mode the way OP did goes way too far ...

 

[Carnut]

I think you will find (in my experiencer) that driving in hybrid mode (when the ICE turns on and off and is assisted by regen braking) that is fine. I got 34-ish on a 40 mile drive all on hybrid.
BUT if you run in hybrid AND press charge....that's when it turns into a gas guzzler, because it is having to do two jobs at once. If you get stuck in traffic and are stationary you could press charge and then it does not appear to make any difference to the consumption above normal ICE use., because it is only charging and not having to lugg the car about as well. Just remember to cancel charge when you move off.

 

[anko]

BUT if you run in hybrid AND press charge....that's when it turns into a gas guzzler, because it is having to do two jobs at once. If you get stuck in traffic and are stationary you could press charge and then it does not appear to make any difference to the consumption above normal ICE use.

Please, no! Stop looking at instantaneous fuel consumption. You have to look at how many kWhs are produced per liter of fuel burned by the engine. This is most (and thus most efficient) when the engine works hard and thus appears to be guzzling.

The worst, from an efficiency perspective, is using Charge mode when stationary.

 

[Carnut]

Ok, I'll shut up. I have admitted I'm a newby. Learning as I go (silently) on my way.
Happy New Year everybody.

 

[jaapv]

I suppose the sun was shining? If you're using solar??

The PHEV is not smart enough to know where the energy is from.

This is just another calculation that is not right and comes up on the dash for the driver to see. Just like the range calculation discussed here.

I also assumed that your personal GRID could be smart enough to tell the PHEV to take it easy with charging when the solar panels are running slow also....

Over here we have household installations that can turn down the PHEV charging a few knots, when the cloth washer is turned on.

I have a Ratio charging box (don't ask me why - sad story) which is switchable between 10A and 6A. I found that if the power supply cannot sustain 10 A it will drop to 6A automatically.

 

[anko]

Ok, I'll shut up. I have admitted I'm a newby. Learning as I go (silently) on my way.
Happy New Year everybody.

Sorry dude, my reaction was a bit too much "to the point", I guess. Didn't want you to shut up. Just wanted you to stop worrying about instantaneous fuel consumption so much ....

 

[greendwarf]

BUT if you run in hybrid AND press charge....that's when it turns into a gas guzzler, because it is having to do two jobs at once. If you get stuck in traffic and are stationary you could press charge and then it does not appear to make any difference to the consumption above normal ICE use.

Please, no! Stop looking at instantaneous fuel consumption. You have to look at how many kWhs are produced per liter of fuel burned by the engine. This is most (and thus most efficient) when the engine works hard and thus appears to be guzzling.

The worst, from an efficiency perspective, is using Charge mode when stationary.

And, of course, is precisely the opposite of the rational for EVs. These are all about reducing pollution not economy, particularly in cities, when stationary in traffic - even new ICE cars turn the engine off when not moving. :mrgreen:

 

[Carnut]

Don't worry ANKO. I wrote 'tongue in cheek'! should have put a smiley there!!
I don't take offence easily. don't worry.
Been thinking about my 'obsession' re the consumption. Due I think, to the fact that I bought the car because of the claims of the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation.
UP TO (the magic get out clause of all manufacturers) 148 mpg and 32 miles per charge. They are just NOT being realistic in everyday driving situations. I feel their claims are verging on misrepresentation.
So saying I love the car.

 

[greendwarf]

UP TO (the magic get out clause of all manufacturers) 148 mpg and 32 miles per chargeThey are just NOT being realistic in everyday driving situations. I feel their claims are verging on misrepresentation.

Not quite fair to Mitsu - the test is defined by the EU (although, of course, manufacturers will make the best use of the parameters) and only these results can be quoted in advertising material. This is too ensure consistency between cars rather than have the firms quote their own tests (hence the row about VW ) so you can compare "like for like", i.e. you can judge the relative economy rather than an accurate forecast for the "real world" for a particular car. Our problem is that the PHEV is almost in a niche of its own with few competitors as a hybrid. so there is little to compare it too

 

[Carnut]

Quite true, I don't really blame Mitsubishi.
But the EU tests are a nonsense. I don't know anybody that removes every possible bit of weight from a car, over inflates the tyres and tapes up the shut lines, before they measure their consumption.
It would be interesting if the tests were conducted with a family of 4 with luggage, 2 windows open and the correct tyre pressures. THEN we might get somewhere near the truth in typical driving.

 

[HHL]

32 miles is extremely optimistic. Very few have ever achieved it and even then only under absolutely perfect conditions. The best I've ever achieved was 29.5 miles and that was a gentle cruise at between 30 and 40mph on flat and relatively empty roads in warm (not hot) conditions. 22 to 25 miles far more realistic and I reckon I'm doing alright to get 16 miles in the middle of the winter.

Went to the airport today, 3 people plus luggage, aircon on all the way (outside temp around 28C) and not driving for economy at all, keeping up with Sydney traffic. The engine finally kicked in at 43km on the trip meter and then did the usual hybrid driving thing, starting and stopping to keep the battery above the minimum level, sometimes in parallel mode, mostly serial. I reset the trip computer then to see how much fuel it was using in this mode, and much to my surprise, it showed 6.8l/100Km through fairly busy/slow traffic by the time we got home. This was a 78km round trip. I reckon my little 1.6l diesel I traded on the PHEV would have done no better in the same conditions. So, very impressed.
When we returned I used the excellent EVBATMON app to check things in more detail. It reported 30% SOC and the maximum difference between cells was 3mV. The battery temp was 35C.

My car is a Mar 14 build with 11,500km on the odo.

 

[anko]

Tough discussion :mrgreen:

http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=252&p=1135&hilit=Felix#p1135

 

[Carnut]

I have beaten it.
After a partial charge this morning, from 18 miles remaining to 26 miles range when I disconnected (cost 36p)
I covered 28.3 miles of mixed town and country driving. The temperature was 37f.!! heater OFF!