new owner with questions ☺

stelavin · Apr 12, 2016

Hi
I live in perth australia and just purchased a new phev and i have a couple of questions hopefully can get answered on here.

1 - once your phone is connected to the MMCS ? You upload your phone book. How do you view your contact list on the screen to make a call or even just to view it looked in the manual to no avail.

2- does the engine automatically kick in if the battery runs out or will it come to a stop.i had it down to 2km left on battery and the engine hadn't come in to play so bit concerned.is it something i have to set for it to happen.

3- am i right in presuming that it's best to use the engine when on the freeway but is it better to have save or charge on does charge use more fuel? Not sure.

Sorry if these seem silly questions but want to use the car to its best ability.
Thanks steve

HHL · Apr 12, 2016

stelavin said:
Hi
I live in perth australia and just purchased a new phev and i have a couple of questions hopefully can get answered on here.

1 - once your phone is connected to the MMCS ? You upload your phone book. How do you view your contact list on the screen to make a call or even just to view it looked in the manual to no avail.

2- does the engine automatically kick in if the battery runs out or will it come to a stop.i had it down to 2km left on battery and the engine hadn't come in to play so bit concerned.is it something i have to set for it to happen.

3- am i right in presuming that it's best to use the engine when on the freeway but is it better to have save or charge on does charge use more fuel? Not sure.

Sorry if these seem silly questions but want to use the car to its best ability.
Thanks steve

1. I would like to know that too!

2. Yes, it comes on as the battery level drops to no bars, which incidentally is still between 25 and 30% actual battery capacity.
You don't have to do anything, just drive it as you would drive a normal car. I use that paddles on the wheel in the same situation as I would downshifting a gear or two in a "normal", say going downhill. To go back to the normal driving setting, hold the right paddle for about 2 seconds. Surprised you didn't notice the engine come on occasionally, you're either not a very "spirited" driver or a bit deaf

. When the battery is depleted, the engine will not run all the time, it tends to recharge a bit and then stop again for a while.

3 . I usually press the save button on motorway driving when the battery shows about half. This gives plenty of grunt for overtaking at higher speeds in parallel mode when the electric motors are needed to increase torque. Remember that the engine is locked to the front wheels in parallel mode at speeds over about 70km/h, so, when you plant your foot at say 90 to overtake, there is no downshift and the extra power has to come from the battery. Having said that, if you don't press anything and just drive it, the car works it out pretty well. It will have little effect on fuel economy either way.
The only time you want to pay more attention to the charge and save modes is when you are towing or entering very hilly country.

anko · Apr 12, 2016

HHL said:
2. Yes, it comes on as the battery level drops to no bars, which incidentally is still between 25 and 30% actual battery capacity.

At higher speeds, the engine will come on where there is still one bar visible (30.5%). So, speed is a factor as well. When you are close to your destination and close to running out of electrons, you could decide to reduce your speed a bit. Not so much to drive more efficiently, but to lower the low water mark at which the engine will come on.

HHL said:
3 . I usually press the save button on motorway driving when the battery shows about half. This gives plenty of grunt for overtaking at higher speeds in parallel mode when the electric motors are needed to increase torque. Remember that the engine is locked to the front wheels in parallel mode at speeds over about 70km/h, so, when you plant your foot at say 90 to overtake, there is no downshift and the extra power has to come from the battery.

Effectively, there is a downshift. When you press hard enough the car will switch to serial hybrid mode and the engine will be able to spin faster and release much more horsepower than it was able to in parallel mode. Apart from that, even when your battery is 'empty there is still enough reserve power available in the battery to support multiple fast take overs. I have purposely tried to further deplete a depleted battery by driving it as hard (hard , not fast) as traffic would allow, and failed miserably. I don't think you need to worry about that. As HHL is staying, the only reason for maintaining a higher SOC would be towing or climbing.

ChrisMiller · Apr 13, 2016

Mitsubishi have produced a good set of videos explaining the basics of the car and how to drive it efficiently. You should find links to them from the Australian web site, or failing that using a search engine.

Regarding the 'kick down', if you sit in the car with the power off and depress the accelerator fully, you will feel a slight resistance about 1 cm before it reaches the floor and you can sense a slight click under your foot as the pedal travels beyond it (at least, you can on mine!) I assume this is related to the kick down mechanism and will engage the engine in parallel mode, whatever the other circumstances. I must give it a try when the road circumstances are right (here in the busy SE of England, that may be a while ...)

anko · Apr 13, 2016

ChrisMiller said:
..., you will feel a slight resistance about 1 cm before it reaches the floor and you can sense a slight click under your foot as the pedal travels beyond it (at least, you can on mine!) I assume this is related to the kick down mechanism and will engage the engine in parallel mode, whatever the other circumstances.

If any, kick down it will disengage parallel drive, rather than engage it, as the engine can produce more power in serial mode than it can in parallel mode (at least when traveling at less than 120-ish km/h).

Kick down effect can occur by pressing the pedal deep, but also by pressing it fast.