Question from a newbie - just taken delivery of a GH4s

[Amsy]

Hi everyone

I have just taken the delivery of a GH4s - its a beauty - in its full Amethyst Black glory!

But I am looking for a 'quick and dirty' way to get to know my car

What are the 5 things I should do or I should know now I have the car?

Maybe someone could suggest a setting ritual to get the best out the car (i.e pure EV mode / charge vs save mode etc).

I have downloaded the app and synced my iphone- that's about it so far.

I have very little knowledge on this car other than my 50 mile commute (25 mile each way with charging at home and work) will save me a fortune

All tips and pointers appreciated

Cheers
Amsy

 

[Hypermiler]

Hi and congrats!

My top tips are:
1. drive gently, glide in B0 but regen with paddles for downhills, junctions etc but use a little brake to show your lights if car behind.
2. set the MMCS to PsideP if you want to keep some eco info and the map - it also remembers this setting.
3. turn off heating, use eco mode. Don't worry about "charge" for now (read up on this site sometime). Use "save" for faster/uphill stretches if you can't do the whole journey on electric.
4. learn where the boot opening buttons are - the "nipple" under the right petal locks the car. The bit under the left petal opens the boot.
5. Set your satnav to a quieter voice, set your journey preferences e.g. fastest, avoiding motorways/tolls as you prefer
6. set your MMCS to auto dim with lights on (otherwise rather bright at night).
7. set your kWh cost on the mmcs so you can track charging costs (if you want)
8. remote app - beware of software update - read up on this first. Set charging timers if you want, or set preheat timers - there appears to be a bug if you try to set both so that the heating will use battery in that case.
9. Take all data the MMCS shows you with a large pinch of salt, particularly averages and ranges.
10. Don't get too low on fuel as the fuel range will go straight from 30 miles to nil which can be disconcerting (but I wouldn't fill it up either with your pattern of use).

Sorry, that seems to be 10 and there are probably quite a few more, but that should get you started.

Don't know re the LDW, ACC etc as got the non-s version!

Have fun!
H

 

[aitchjaybee]

+1 what she said - Perfect response from hypermiler. The only other thing I'd add is to read the posts on the forum, such as this thread on 'new owners: lessons learned': http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=262&bookmark=1&hash=8cf50015

your journey profile is the sweet spot for the car. I'm similar 20 miles each way charging both ends, and now on 2,000 miles with the original tank of fuel at just under half full.

 

[maddogsetc]

Hypermiler has just given you back about 8 hours of your life as you can now put the manual in the glovebox until you hand the car on to it's next owner :lol:

Couldn't have put it better myself

 

[Hypermiler]

Thanks guys, you're just too kind. Lovely to be right for once
And aitchjaybee - it's "she" but not to worry!
Cheers
H

 

[Amsy]

Thanks a million Hypermiler! That really helps to focus the mind - I get the feeling that once i get stuck into the car manual , I'll never come back out

Aitchjaybee - 2000 miles and no refuelling - that's the stuff of dreams!

The guy who delivered the car said I should always press Eco and Charge as part of my driving routine but I will just press Eco for now and do some exploring on this site

Thanks again for all the help

 

[maby]

Thanks a million Hypermiler! That really helps to focus the mind - I get the feeling that once i get stuck into the car manual , I'll never come back out

Aitchjaybee - 2000 miles and no refuelling - that's the stuff of dreams!

The guy who delivered the car said I should always press Eco and Charge as part of my driving routine but I will just press Eco for now and do some exploring on this site

Thanks again for all the help

"ECO", may be, but the jury is definitely out regarding "Charge". The received wisdom it that it only makes sense under very limited circumstances, though there is some suggestion that it may be the correct way to use the car on a long, high speed motorway cruise. I'm going to do some tests of this theory over the next few weeks since I do almost exactly the same motorway trip every weekend.

 

[Amsy]

Thanks Maby - could you give is an update once you have done the motorway tests- I haven't got a long motorway journey planned but it would be good to know the best settings in readiness for the next long journey

Thanks
Amsy

 

[byrnehj]

morning all. As a company car driver i do a lot of motorway miles, I dont get full benefit of the fuel savings but I do get the tax benefit! My experience of Charge on M/Ways is that very little electric miles are gained for an increased loss of petrol miles, so far I havent seen the benefit. I tend to plug-in at the office, do the 10 miles to the motorway on Elec, Save the rest while on the M/Way, and then release the Elec for the remaining 10 or so miles the other end, towards home.
Going bit off track here, does anybody know why in Save mode (on motorway, ECO setting, cruise control) I still end up losing 3-4 miles of electric miles overall?

 

[aitchjaybee]

Thanks guys, you're just too kind. Lovely to be right for once
And aitchjaybee - it's "she" but not to worry!
Cheers
H

have edited my post!

 

[user 258]

Going bit off track here, does anybody know why in Save mode (on motorway, ECO setting, cruise control) I still end up losing 3-4 miles of electric miles overall?

Possibly because when you first engage save mode, while the engine is warming up, it continues to be powered by the battery.
Is that a possibility? Do you lose the range when first selecting save mode?
Kind regards,
Mark

 

[user 422]

...
. I tend to plug-in at the office, do the 10 miles to the motorway on Elec, Save the rest while on the M/Way, and then release the Elec for the remaining 10 or so miles the other end, towards home.
Going bit off track here, does anybody know why in Save mode (on motorway, ECO setting, cruise control) I still end up losing 3-4 miles of electric miles overall?

When you press the save button the car will attempt to keep the battery at that %charge - it does not use the EV Range as the reference... Depending on your driving style and the road topography you may see a decrease or if you have a lot of down hill sections, an increase in the EV Range...

 

[byrnehj]

Ahh ok dgmulti - that sounds likely. Thanks also avensys for commenting

 

[greendwarf]

In addition, I was surprised to find yesterday on my first run outside London that whilst in Save, the battery apparently increased in charge (presumably from excess generated by the ICE not needed for the drive motors) which was then used to cruise in pure EV even at 70mph for a short period I assume this would effect the range prediction.

 

[maby]

In addition, I was surprised to find yesterday on my first run outside London that whilst in Save, the battery apparently increased in charge (presumably from excess generated by the ICE not needed for the drive motors) which was then used to cruise in pure EV even at 70mph for a short period I assume this would effect the range prediction.

I don't think this specifically "Save" - we did our first weekend away and I saw this behaviour even with the battery supposedly flat. On Sunday we returned to the house on the M25 - about 65 miles and setting out with a flat battery since we cannot charge while we are away. The motorway was pretty clear and we came back at around 60mph on cruise control - watching the power flow display, it was clear that it didn't use "parallel hybrid" mode much of the time but was using a direct petrol mode that isn't described in the manual with periods of "charge" mode and "EV" mode. Quite a lot of the time, we were simply running with the petrol engine directly coupled to the wheels and no indication of any electrical activity. There were short periods - mostly on inclines - when it showed the standard parallel hybrid pattern - power flow from the ICE directly to the wheels and also to the battery which, in turn, was driving the wheels, but it also showed the "charging" pattern a lot of the time - direct drive from the ICE to the wheels and to the battery, but no power flow from the battery to the wheels. And finally, there were significant periods of pure EV - just power flow from the battery to the wheels.

The overall effect was that we got home after a 65 mile journey with the status display showing 43mpg for the trip and about 40% EV (I have it set to auto-reset, so if I understand it correctly, these figures were just for this trip). Those are pretty good figures for a car this size and weight and, coupled with pure EV during the week, should get me the 50-odd mpge I'm hoping for.

 

[gwatpe]

Hi Maby,

I can concur with your findings with the pure petrol mode. Have not had a camera handy to visually back it up. There appears to be quite a wide operation band that the ICE can work within with regard to throttle position [petrol consumption ] and vehicle drive load. I have seen many energy screens on the dash, and a favourite is this, when in SAVE mode.

The parallel hybrid was engaged and there was surplus ICE power, so the generator to the battery was engaged and when the accelerator was lifted slightly, some surplus energy was taken from the drive wheels and put back to the battery. This was not trivial, as indicated by the power meter, about 15kW. It would be real nice to have some meter on the generator power. Maybe it is more efficient to put energy into the drive with the clutch and then put it back to the battery with the motors as well. Still think it would be better to just back off the fuel though. No real time mpg, so can't see if the fuel consumption changes.

I never saw this display on my PHEV that is still with the dealer. I have now clocked up about 7000km in 2 PHEV's. They are certainly not created equal. When all systems are working, the PHEV is great to drive. I hope Mitsubishi can sort my PHEV problems soon.

 

[BeerHunter]

In save mode, I've had it change to 2 wheel drive with only ICE direct power and electric going to the front.

Kev.

 

[gwatpe]

Today, my latest PHEV, Titanium Grey number, has just shown 50km battery range with a half battery capacity. SAVE mode seems to do some weird things to the computer calcs. Most owners will simply ignore the range data screens. Maybe an update will improve the learning curve problems new owners are subjected to.

 

[stardust56]

Hi and congrats!

2. set the MMCS to PsideP if you want to keep some eco info and the map - it also remembers this setting.

H

Hi all! Today I own my Outlander PHEV for four weeks. In Germany the Feature set is called "TOP", colour is called "Aqua silver". Although I'd love to use the PsideP display mode, ...

Done! I just RTFM.

Kind regards
Uwe