Pure EV mode

[maby]

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Also, when your trip is well within battery range, why save battery capacity for distance you are not going to travel?

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I'll agree with you there - the solution is to add a feature that I suggested two or three years ago and which was not met with enthusiasm. The MMCU should include the option of selecting from a number of "trip profiles" - let me tell the car that I'm planning a short, low speed trip that will be within EV range, or a long, high speed trip with no possibility of recharging - that will then allow the battery management system to make more intelligent decisions on how to use your charge. Going one step further, if you have a route set into the satnav, it could make even more intelligent decisions in order to ensure that you have used up the charge shortly before you arrive.

It sounds complicated

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I really don't see why it would be complicated - a handful of trip profiles - "assume that I'm going to drive a short distance at low speeds, well within EV range", "assume that I'm going to drive all day at motorway speeds without charging", "assume that I'm going to be towing a heavy load all day" - it can then play around with "Save" and "Charge" to follow a strategy that will either minimise fuel consumption, or maximise battery lift - or some combination of the two.

 

[anko]

The Energy Flow Diagram does not allow for depicting an energy flow from the generator straight to the motor, but only via the battery. But this is wrong. Energy will NEVER flow THROUGH the battery. There is a current coming from the generator (or going towards it at the moment the ICE is cranked up) and there is current going to (propelling) or from the motors (regen braking). The sum of these currents can be positive or negative. (Depending on how you look at it) positive means there is a surplus and the battery is recharged and negative means there is a shortage and the battery is discharged.

I guess we have to look it at it as the expansion vessel in the water based central heating system of your house. The water from the central heating system does not flow through the vessel. Instead, when there is high pressure in the system, some water will go into the vessel. And when there is low pressure, some water will come out of it again.

Ideally (if you ask me), you want to see a picture with a central node and leaving from that central node there would be six lines, one to the generator, one to the front motor, one to the rear motor, one to the electric heater / AC unit, one to the battery and one to the OnBoardCharger. Each of the lines could then be (for example) grey (no energy flow), orange (consuming energy) or blue (producing energy). You would be surprised to learn how the PHEV really works ;-)

(Obviously, the line for heater / AC would never be blue and the one for the OBC would never be Orange.)

 

[MikkB]

The Energy Flow Diagram does not allow for depicting an energy flow from the generator straight to the motor, but only via the battery. But this is wrong. Energy will NEVER flow THROUGH the battery. There is a current coming from the generator (or going towards it at the moment the ICE is cranked up) and there is current going to (propelling) or from the motors (regen braking). The sum of these currents can be positive or negative. (Depending on how you look at it) positive means there is a surplus and the battery is recharged and negative means there is a shortage and the battery is discharged.

I think you're just agreeing with my description. When the ICE is running, it powers the generator, which supplies charge to the battery. The battery is simultaneously powering the motor (unless stationary). As depicted on the energy graphic. And as described on the Mitsubishi website;

"Series Hybrid mode activates when the battery charge is low or when more power is required for accelerating quickly. In this mode the engine runs to charge the battery, which provides power to the wheels."

 

[anko]

I think you're just agreeing with my description. When the ICE is running, it powers the generator, which supplies charge to the battery. The battery is simultaneously powering the motor (unless stationary). As depicted on the energy graphic. And as described on the Mitsubishi website;

"Series Hybrid mode activates when the battery charge is low or when more power is required for accelerating quickly. In this mode the engine runs to charge the battery, which provides power to the wheels."

No, I do not agree with that description. The battery has just one single connection to the main HV wiring. Via that connection, power goes in or out, but never both at the same time. And I do not agree with the statement from the website. The generator powers the motors. When there is surplus power it will be used to charge the battery. When there is a power shortage (high demand or ICE off), it will be supplemented from the battery.

From the picture on the dash, you cannot see which feed is bigger, from the generator to the battery or from the battery to the wheels. So, you do not know if your SOC is effectively going up or down.

 

[MikkB]

I think you're just agreeing with my description. When the ICE is running, it powers the generator, which supplies charge to the battery. The battery is simultaneously powering the motor (unless stationary). As depicted on the energy graphic. And as described on the Mitsubishi website;

"Series Hybrid mode activates when the battery charge is low or when more power is required for accelerating quickly. In this mode the engine runs to charge the battery, which provides power to the wheels."

No, I do not agree with that description. The battery has just one single connection to the main HV wiring. Via that connection, power goes in or out, but never both at the same time. And I do not agree with the statement from the website. The generator powers the motors. When there is surplus power it will be used to charge the battery. When there is a power shortage (high demand or ICE off), it will be supplemented from the battery.

From the picture on the dash, you cannot see which feed is bigger, from the generator to the battery or from the battery to the wheels. So, you do not know if your SOC is effectively going up or down.

I agree with your second statement, and never suggested otherwise.

As for your first paragraph, the net effect is the same either way and I'm happy enough to trust the Mitsubishi engineers on that one as they seem to be doing a pretty good job to me

 

[STS134]

The only slight wrinkle is when you start the car in really cold weather. If the heating was left selected on when the car was last shut down then the ICE will start within a couple of seconds of pressing the “Power On” button. This can be prevented by pressing “Power On” then immediately turning off the heater, then selecting EV mode and then turning the heater back on again.

So, if you want to do a short round trip of say 15 miles, you can always do this without the ICE starting, even in the coldest weather (UK). I find this very useful, others might not.

So how is this different from what we had before the EV Priority button?

Also, I am not sure what you write is necessarily correct. From a Dutch web site (Google translated):

However, there are a number of situations in which the engine can still start in EV Priority mode.

For example if the climate control has to work very hard to get the desired temperature in the interior, for example in the morning on a cold winter day or if the car has been in the burning sun for hours. To prevent the air conditioning system from draining the whole battery, the engine will start to provide additional power.
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The engine will also start if you turn on the windshield heating (defroster)

Interesting data point: I don't think the car must have been in the burning sun "for hours". I was sitting in a parking lot with the windows open, ambient temperature was around 36-37C. I had the climate controls set at 22C. When I started the car, and before I even moved it (actually before I even took it out of park), the ICE fired. Very strange as I've never had this happen before. Once the ICE coolant warmed to 80C, the ICE shut off and never ran again on that trip. This is the first time I've ever seen the ICE start up in a situation other than:
(1) For heat (generally, set temperature > 10-12C greater than outside temperature) or
(2) For power demands of > 60 kW

I'm a bit curious on why the computer thought it was a good idea to fire the ICE in this scenario. The battery SoC was above 35%, and in my experience, it never fires above 31-32% to charge the battery. And it only fires above 30% if you're doing over 25-30 mph; below this speed it will let you take the SoC all the way down to 25-28% before it fires the ICE.