Road trip power loss on zero EV

[fresh-milk]

Hi

I went on a road trip 400kms / 250 miles on 2014 Outlander PHEV. I drove almost all of it on NORMAL mode as figured the car can figure out optimal mode. Majority of it was highway driving with some slow downs going through towns along the way. My EV range is about 45kms / 25 miles.

I notice on a few occasions that when the EV range is down to zero and fuel in the tank (petrol / gas) the power is gone. The car will start to reduce speed on its own and pressing the accelerator pedal does nothing. The only fix is switching to CHARGE mode and after a few secs the power returns.

1. Is this normal behaviour for the PHEV?
2. The car never wants zero EV range? Understandable as modern batteries don't like being exhausted but ...
3. Should driving in NORMAL mode not kick on battery charge if the car refuses to be on zero EV?
4. On the flip side will the car be OK with zero fuel and full EV battery?
5. Or the car will only be happy having a mix of both fuels

This is not criticism, I just want to understand how to best operate it and not get stranded.

thans in advance

 

[AndyInOz]

I think we have the same model, and I haven't seen this behaviour.

Are you saying at zero battery AND zero fuel?

I've seen members talking about 'limp home' or 'turtle' mode, which is triggered by zero power and very low fuel.

Could that be what you are seeing?

 

[Phev2016]

This might be what happened. If the gauge shows no miles of battery range (---), you should still have a small amount on the bar graph because the car does not normally let you completely exhaust the battery. However, if you try to accelerate quickly up a long, steep hill for example, or try to maintain a high speed up a long hill, it will then use some of that reserve battery power. Having done that, it will not let you continue driving with very high load so will reduce power to recover the minimum battery charge and/or reduce maximum speed. It normally decides to run the engine at the same time, but provides reduced available power to you. Hope this makes, sense as it is not easy to explain.

 

[Terry Yates]

Hi

I went on a road trip 400kms / 250 miles on 2014 Outlander PHEV. I drove almost all of it on NORMAL mode as figured the car can figure out optimal mode. Majority of it was highway driving with some slow downs going through towns along the way. My EV range is about 45kms / 25 miles.

I notice on a few occasions that when the EV range is down to zero and fuel in the tank (petrol / gas) the power is gone. The car will start to reduce speed on its own and pressing the accelerator pedal does nothing. The only fix is switching to CHARGE mode and after a few secs the power returns.

1. Is this normal behaviour for the PHEV?
2. The car never wants zero EV range? Understandable as modern batteries don't like being exhausted but ...
3. Should driving in NORMAL mode not kick on battery charge if the car refuses to be on zero EV?
4. On the flip side will the car be OK with zero fuel and full EV battery?
5. Or the car will only be happy having a mix of both fuels

This is not criticism, I just want to understand how to best operate it and not get stranded.

thans in advance

45 kms E V range that is lucky for a 2014 Outlander PHEV

 

[AndyInOz]

45 kms E V range that is lucky for a 2014 Outlander PHEV

I'm assuming low mileage, like mine.

I was surprised to see 48 on the guess-ometer last week, because it is still reasonably cold here at the moment.

 

[fresh-milk]

I think we have the same model, and I haven't seen this behaviour.

Are you saying at zero battery AND zero fuel?

I've seen members talking about 'limp home' or 'turtle' mode, which is triggered by zero power and very low fuel.

Could that be what you are seeing?

Sorry for being confusing
My scenario was zero battery and full fuel
Power would cut out unless I turn on charge mode

 

[fresh-milk]

This might be what happened. If the gauge shows no miles of battery range (---), you should still have a small amount on the bar graph because the car does not normally let you completely exhaust the battery. However, if you try to accelerate quickly up a long, steep hill for example, or try to maintain a high speed up a long hill, it will then use some of that reserve battery power. Having done that, it will not let you continue driving with very high load so will reduce power to recover the minimum battery charge and/or reduce maximum speed. It normally decides to run the engine at the same time, but provides reduced available power to you. Hope this makes, sense as it is not easy to explain.

It makes sense. I am making the same trip again in a few days and will pay more attention to its behaviour. Will again primarily drive in Normal mode and let the car decide what's best

 

[fresh-milk]

45 kms E V range that is lucky for a 2014 Outlander PHEV

When I bought it the range was 25kms, and then I did a reset and the GoM went up to 60kms and finally settled on 45-48kms verified by the trip computer.

It's an ex rental and has 230,000 kms on the clock but aside from some minor cosmetic dings, its in excellent condition all round. Very lucky auction buy

 

[fresh-milk]

I'm assuming low mileage, like mine.

I was surprised to see 48 on the guess-ometer last week, because it is still reasonably cold here at the moment.

Ex rental with 230,000kms and same its chilly here in NZ. Only had it couple months so interesting to see what happens come summer in few months

 

[greendwarf]

I'm assuming low mileage, like mine.

I was surprised to see 48 on the guess-ometer last week, because it is still reasonably cold here at the moment.

Not necessarily, my regular round trip is about 19 miles but involves over 100 meters in elevation against my home at about a third of that with a drop to zero on the way. So although I initially get a benefit running downhill to the Thames that is lost on the rest of the outward journey, so at the half way point (i.e. to come back) I've only about a third of the battery left and, therefore, around half the return journey is petrol driven. As a result the guess-o-meter usually predicts over 20 miles of range after a recharge at home, despite this being not practical for this trip. And this is on a 70k mile 2014 car - so hardly low mileage.

The bottom line is that the battery range is heavily influenced by the last journey, so if the OP was travelling downhill before charging then 45km on his 2014 car is not all that unrealistic. We need to know what he actually achieves against the prediction!

 

[fmus]

I have the same problem with 2014 model. Dealership didn't help, could not diagnose any issues after 2 days of investigation, but charged me for the effort.
I took back the car from the dealership when they requested to keep the car for another day(3), and off course I would have to pay for that.
In my experience this get worse and will recur more frequently. Can you let us know if you find a fix/reason for the loss of power.

 

[fresh-milk]

Not necessarily, my regular round trip is about 19 miles but involves over 100 meters in elevation against my home at about a third of that with a drop to zero on the way. So although I initially get a benefit running downhill to the Thames that is lost on the rest of the outward journey, so at the half way point (i.e. to come back) I've only about a third of the battery left and, therefore, around half the return journey is petrol driven. As a result the guess-o-meter usually predicts over 20 miles of range after a recharge at home, despite this being not practical for this trip. And this is on a 70k mile 2014 car - so hardly low mileage.

The bottom line is that the battery range is heavily influenced by the last journey, so if the OP was travelling downhill before charging then 45km on his 2014 car is not all that unrealistic. We need to know what he actually achieves against the prediction!

At home my actual is around 45kms based on the trip odometer, city driving and largely flat terrain

But the issue I mention here is on a 400km road trip with the power cutting out with zero EV battery. Will be doing the same trip tomorrow so I will be alert on recording the conditions when I come back with more detail

 

[maby]

I'm assuming low mileage, like mine.

I was surprised to see 48 on the guess-ometer last week, because it is still reasonably cold here at the moment.

My 2014 could not do 45km on a charge the day I picked it up new from the factory!

Martin

 

[greendwarf]

My 2014 could not do 45km on a charge the day I picked it up new from the factory!

Martin

I think I once got 28 miles out of mine but admittedly that was on the roads in the Sarf Lundun Alps which were designed by Escher pre-war so that they are all down hill!

 

[knetter]

I'm experiencing the same problem I think . after my start battery was changed my milage after fully loading the drive battery has gone up from 31 to 50 km. But when I get to the -- km(on drive battery) left the car looses power. (full tank of gas).
for some reason the BMU? thinks there is power in the drive battery, but nothing happens when I press the throttle. only after putting the pedal to the metal then the bass engine kicks in.
any ideas how to fix this?

 

[BruceHF]

I think most of you guys are doing 'ok' with your EV mileage. I think I have got used to mine that in summer with AC going I get maybe 30 km. I have just got used to it. I have over 71500 km on the clock and maybe because I am retired I don't over stress on it.
When I go on a long(ish) trip say 150km+ I use cruise control and travel at 120 km/hr with the AC on mostly and I just drive (QEW from Niagara Fall to Toronto) . I have found that it uses the 'Series' process where even though the battery is out that the generator ( not engine) feeds the battery and I still run on the battery, of course that might be for a km or two and then switches to the ICE.
When I check the TRIP setting I find that I do around 58% electric and my fuel consumption around 6.8/7.0 L/100 km and I am happy with that, hope you can see my dash:

 

[greendwarf]

I'm experiencing the same problem I think . after my start battery was changed my milage after fully loading the drive battery has gone up from 31 to 50 km. But when I get to the -- km(on drive battery) left the car looses power. (full tank of gas).
for some reason the BMU? thinks there is power in the drive battery, but nothing happens when I press the throttle. only after putting the pedal to the metal then the bass engine kicks in.
any ideas how to fix this?

I can't see (and have never heard before) that changing the 12v battery would have any effect on the the predicted range or behaviour when the battery is low. Of course, if there are other problems with the electronics that might have damaged the old battery, perhaps?

 

[phevGoBzzzzzz]

Instead of driving on normal the whole way, start on normal until you have half a charge left then switch to save. That way you've got plenty of spare power for hill climbs and lots of room for regen on descents.