Outlander PHEV SMS Remote App now available

[bdbdbd]

So as I understand it the whole setup will cost the price of your app, a dedicated Android phone and a PAYG SIM - not exactly a cheap solution but I am intrigued about the free additions that you mention - can you divulge any info ?

I got a cheap android phone from Carphone Warehouse. An LG L20 for £19.99 plus £10 topup. It works fine and is very small and compact. The screen is so small that you can't actually read all the text in Gos's app but that's not very important. The thing is that it works.

 

[gos]

So as I understand it the whole setup will cost the price of your app, a dedicated Android phone and a PAYG SIM - not exactly a cheap solution but I am intrigued about the free additions that you mention - can you divulge any info ?

I got a cheap android phone from Carphone Warehouse. An LG L20 for £19.99 plus £10 topup. It works fine and is very small and compact. The screen is so small that you can't actually read all the text in Gos's app but that's not very important. The thing is that it works.

Thanks for feedback: I can now att the LG L20 to the list of Tested Phones .
A small phone is good: When I leave the car, I hide the phone in my secret place, where any intruder probably not look for anything. I will get back to why this may be important with my Free Addon's later.

 

[RazMan]

I will get back to why this may be important with my Free Addon's later.

Oooh you little tease :lol:

EE have come out with a £1 (per week) Talk and Text Pack which might be ideal for this app - 25 minutes & 50 texts on a weekly basis.

 

[gos]

But it will drive up electricity costs if pre heating, Id like to pre heat to save petrol, but there is not a huge cost saving as you will have to charge more.

Compared to 1.73 liters / 100 km gos reports, I did 1,02 liters / 100 km last year between January 8 and March 24th (3800 km on one fill up), when no apps existed for this. So, yes, I believe gos achieved 1.73 liters I did it simple by not using the heater on these short distances. Let's not forget, our old gasoline or diesel powered cars, would also not get us warm on such short trips.

So, IMHO, if preheating does anything, it is more increasing comfort than reducing cost. And I love it for this.

@Anko:

Well, I did not buy a NEW €43.000 car to freeze in winter time! I have been riding uncomfortable enough times with my old American Van.

Also your statement is incorrect: If the temperature drops below -5 deg C, the ICE will start if the car is not Preheated. Preheating also warms the cooling water of the Engine.

With 30 min Preheating, I manged to drive a trip of approx 25 km without ICE start. I tried that without Preheating and Heater OFF (15 deg C), and the ICE does start.

So, the purpose of the App is far more than comfort. But this is known stuff.

You have previously criticized my App for its price, Please refrain from posting incorrect information.
I created a FREE App that required a Rooted Phone for everyone to use, and helped you get up and running with it.

 

[PHEV2014]

Preheating also warms the cooling water of the Engine

Are you sure? On the Dutch forum I read the preheated water mixes with the non-preheated water from the ICE once the ICE starts.

Wild guess: you have a tracker function coming up for the app?

 

[anko]

@Anko:
H
Well, I did not buy a NEW €43.000 car to freeze in winter time!

And this sis why I wrote "So, IMHO, if preheating does anything, it is more increasing comfort than reducing cost. And I love it for this.". So far, so good.

Also your statement is incorrect: If the temperature drops below -5 deg C, the ICE will start if the car is not Preheated. Preheating also warms the cooling water of the Engine.

Coincidentally, I had a chat with the Technical Manager of the Dutch distributer last Friday, regarding my 'complaint' that the valve between the heater en the engine opens as soon as the engine is started, thereby wasting all heat in the heater. He said, this was not the case, as the valve is thermostatic and opens only when the coolant temperature is 60 degrees Celsius or more. If this is true, the heater cannot be used to preheat the engine. Either one of you must be mistaken. Or it is country specific and not your statement does not apply to 10.000+ owners in the Netherlands. I guess time will tell.

We haven't had temperatures far below 0 yet, but some freezing we have had. If your statement is correct, can you explain how I was able to do 3800 km on 40 liters of gasoline in wintertime without pre heating (better than your own achievement with preheating)?

You have previously criticized my App for its price, Please refrain from posting incorrect information.

You are skating on very thin ice here, if you ask me. Let us agree that, instead of a generic forum member, you are now a vendor with a commercial interest. You are free to defend your interests, but that is not what this forum was created for. By asking me to refrain from posting incorrect information you suggest that I knew the information I was posting is incorrect. Well, I still don't think it is incorrect, but more important, I totally do not appreciate the suggestion that I am lying to sabotage your commercial efforts.

So, the purpose of the App is far more than comfort. But this is known stuff.

Coming from a vendor that has a commercial interest in a specific outcome, suggesting that something is known stuff is no more than a marketing statement. You should be aware of that.

, and helped you get up and running with it.

Like I have helped many others with valuable information, on various forums. And spent a lot of time while doing so. That is what we do on forums.

You did help me and I am grateful for that. At the same time I have provided you with plenty of feedback, not knowing you were going to use it to create an app and charge no less than 27 euro for it. Turns out, I was one of your beta testers, without knowing it. Had I known, I probably still would have given the feedback. But the fact that you now have a commercial interest does not has to have an an impact on my assessment of the added value of the app, nor on my right to discuss it freely on this or any other forum.

I realise my response is rather harsh, but like I said, I don't like the way you are trying to shut me up.

 

[anko]

Are you sure? On the Dutch forum I read the preheated water mixes with the non-preheated water from the ICE once the ICE starts.

Funny enough, it was me who make that comments. Now I am no longer sure that it does. Please see my remark on the thermostatic valve in my previous post.

 

[byrnehj]

i am a little confused; i was told that the remote charging could only do 10 minutes at a time...so in other words, if you want the car to be warmed by 7am, if you set it for 630 (giving yourself 30 mins of warming) in fact the pre-heating will stop at 640... so it was best to set the timer for 650.

 

[anko]

i am a little confused; i was told that the remote charging could only do 10 minutes at a time...so in other words, if you want the car to be warmed by 7am, if you set it for 630 (giving yourself 30 mins of warming) in fact the pre-heating will stop at 640... so it was best to set the timer for 650.

With the new version of Mitsubishi's app, you can already choose between 10, 20 and 30 minutes.

 

[PHEV2014]

Are you sure? On the Dutch forum I read the preheated water mixes with the non-preheated water from the ICE once the ICE starts.

Funny enough, it was me who make that comments. Now I am no longer sure that it does. Please see my remark on the thermostatic valve in my previous post.

It would have been nice if MM had shared this kind of info up front. :evil: Would have saved us a lot of guessing.

Anyway, I'll give it a try.

 

[anko]

Are you sure? On the Dutch forum I read the preheated water mixes with the non-preheated water from the ICE once the ICE starts.

Funny enough, it was me who make that comments. Now I am no longer sure that it does. Please see my remark on the thermostatic valve in my previous post.

Looked a bit further and found this @ http://mmc-manuals.ru/manuals/outlander_iii/online/Service_Manual_2013/2014/index_M2.htm

When the engine is cool during the EV driving mode, the thermo valve in the heater water valve (four-way valve) will close to isolate the heater-side circuit from the engine-side circuit. Due to this, the electric heater can warm the interior effectively.
When the engine is hot, the thermo valve will open to circulate the engine coolant through the heater-side circuit to utilise the engine heat for the interior heating. Due to this, the electric heater can consume less electric power. In addition, enough heating performance can be ensured even in extremely cold climates.

From this you would not expect the engine to be preheated by the electrical heater. Consequently, whether or not the engine starts when the A/C is funded off, should not depend on wether you have pre heated or not.

 

[Regulo]

This app is not for me (Great app BTW, I just don't need it), but I thought I'd mention in the UK the 3 network do a 321 SIM that is topped up with £10, but doesn't expire. That'll cover a load of texts at 2p a go!

 

[gos]

@Anko

<<From this you would not expect the engine to be preheated by the electrical heater. Consequently, whether or not the engine starts when the A/C is funded off, should not depend on wether you have pre heated or not.>>

Theory is one thing. Practical testing shows something quite different.

No Preheat in 0 deg C or below and trying to keep 18 deg C in the Cabin: The ICE runs much of the first 10 km.
With Preheating is does NOT happen!

 

[Padped]

So does switching on the heating via the app work if the battery has 0 charge (ie the 20% base)?

 

[gos]

So does switching on the heating via the app work if the battery has 0 charge (ie the 20% base)?

Well my App will try to turn on the heat, but the Mitsubishi App may not start the heat if the Power is too low and no Charge Cable is connected!

 

[anko]

@Anko

<<From this you would not expect the engine to be preheated by the electrical heater. Consequently, whether or not the engine starts when the A/C is funded off, should not depend on wether you have pre heated or not.>>

Theory is one thing. Practical testing shows something quite different.

No Preheat in 0 deg C or below and trying to keep 18 deg C in the Cabin: The ICE runs much of the first 10 km.
With Preheating is does NOT happen!

Hang on ... I never said that, without pre-heating AND without the engine, you could maintain 18 deg C cabin temperature when it is freezing outside. As a matter of fact, you can't as soon as it gets below approx. < 7 deg C. That has been known for over a year now.

What I said is that, because of the thermostatic valve, I would expect that preheating does not make a difference when it comes to the decision to start the engine or not, as long as you keep the heater turned off (or actually " funded off", thanks to auto-correct :lol: ).

 

[anko]

So does switching on the heating via the app work if the battery has 0 charge (ie the 20% base)?

When you are draining your battery by pushing the car hard, while the SOC is already low, the SOC may eventually drop as low as 13%, before the car stops. But, at 22% the heater and A/C are shut down automatically. So, I cannot imagine it would allow you to pre-heat with an SOC of 20%. On the other hand, I think it will be very, very difficult to park your car with an SOC below 26%. You must be living on top of a steep hill, to achieve something like that.

 

[gos]

Hello,

To not be in viloation with the forum rules, all further postings about the SMS App should be done at:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/outlander-phev-sms-remote

 

[user 258]

Hi,

I'd just like to add a couple of points. Using the preheat/electric heater does not warm the engine coolant as verified with OBDII so the thermostatic valve is the most beliveable.

The normal depleted battery level is about 26-32%. However, Mitsubishi say the preheat won't work when the traction battery level is low. Therefore if the car's traction battery is showing as depleted I would be amazed if the car allowed preheat to deplete it further.

I also have an old Android phone permantly fixed into the car. Unfortuneately the version is too old for this app but I plan to replace the phone soon. I also use "Where's my droid" so I can text the car and it will text me back it's location. I also use AutomateIT to automatically load a speed camera warning app (CamerAlert) which gives speed camera warnings. I also use AutomateIt to send me a text when the engine starts when I leave it in risky areas such as airport parking. I use a PAYG SIM from Three so 2p per text.

Kind regards,
Mark

 

[Olibol]

That sounds brilliant Mark. How does the app know when the car has been started, is it that it begins to charge the phone?

And have you got a charging cable hard wired into the car somewhere out of sight, or does it plug into A 12v socket or USB?