The logic behind the EV info

[Kristian]

There is a strange logic (or lack thereof) behind the graphical information of the PHEV as a EV, perhaps much less useful than it could be.

The three dials all have 2 scales, the outher "double one" each "knot" between the double rings seems to be related to horsepower (about 750W), and for horsepower nostalgics this might be useful, but the inner dail is just showing the same info except for the rightmost dial where the inner dial shows the average fuel consumption. Very confusing.

The power graphs have a strange unit kWh power is measured in kW not kWh, but since it is for a 5 min period it is probably kWh/5 min, which would be something like a unit of 0.08 kW power. strange. (I have discussed this before on the forum)

The blue and yellow History graphs for mileage seems differently defined, thus the kWh (I presume electrical consumption only) shows the average for the preceeding 5 min period, while the fuel consumption on the yellow graph seems averaged over a longer period? Perhaps the average since the last reset? Very confusing.

The blue History graph for mileage seems to saturate at 20kWh/100km, just showing that the consumption is above that, and in my car the curve is saturating almost always. Maybe I am an inefficient driver, but if you were able to drive the rated 52 km on the 12 kWh battery (very optimistic) your consumption would be 23kWh/100km, and the graph would be saturating the whole time. 20kWh/100km should be mid of the Y-axis to be more useful.

Am I right? Any comments?

 

[Grigou]

The power graphs have a strange unit kWh power is measured in kW not kWh, but since it is for a 5 min period it is probably kWh/5 min, which would be something like a unit of 0.08 kW power. strange. (I have discussed this before on the forum)

I have responded before on the forum. Was it you ?

This graph is not a power graph, it measures the energy in kWh for each 5 min period. No more, no less. You can add the values if you want to know the electrical consumption for the last 30 minutes, for example.

So making a conversion in kW is a nonsense, and yes, it's strange !

 

[gwatpe]

You remember the comic strip about the swing that a child wanted being just a tyre on a rope suspended from a tree branch, and what the engineers proposed. MMC should be ashamed of the instrumentation supplied in the PHEV, both on the dash and MMCS. At least the trip meters work.

 

[Grigou]

The blue History graph for mileage seems to saturate at 20kWh/100km, just showing that the consumption is above that, and in my car the curve is saturating almost always. Maybe I am an inefficient driver, but if you were able to drive the rated 52 km on the 12 kWh battery (very optimistic) your consumption would be 23kWh/100km, and the graph would be saturating the whole time. 20kWh/100km should be mid of the Y-axis to be more useful.

Am I right? Any comments?

(sorry for doing 2 replies for the same post)

52 km correlates with 70% of SoC of the 12 kWh battery, ie 8,4 kWh.
It makes 16 kWh /100 km.

 

[gwatpe]

My PHEV comes up with 18kWh/100km and 100%EV driving a fair bit on shorter drives. Have seen the fig lower with more careful driving. Have driven over 50km on only the battery, but not all at highway speeds.

The instrumentation we all know is woeful and after a few years, the only change I have seen are bug fixes. I doubt we will see any new features in an upgrade. 3rd party solutions will hopefully give us real instruments that we can use to improve our own driving and allow the monitoring of our PHEV's so we can get the most out of the performance.

Many have given up interpreting the numbers now and just rely on the car doing its thing, and just refill the battery and petrol when empty to continue driving. The power gauge is not enough for me to improve driving economy. Once you engage the ACC, or CC you really are stuck with automatic systems in the PHEV and there is little a driver can do to change the economy returned.

 

[anko]

... and there is little a driver can do to change the economy returned.

Well, if by "change" you meant "improve", then you could try to stay away from the Save and Charge buttons ... :mrgreen:

Sorry, couldn't help my self. I hope you will forgive me before my next trip to Australia

 

[gwatpe]

My last 1000km has had only about 100km of petrol driving, and as far as economy goes, the 100km was about $7.00 of petrol, and I saved about $25 on a bus fare for the wife to return back from the city.

Economy is different things to different people. People with a high disposable income might consider that saving a few litres of petrol was best, but those on low incomes would probably make every effort to save the dollars.

A bit off topic, but MMC could make some effort to improve the instruments as a firmware update on their first generation flagship PHEV.

 

[Grigou]

... and there is little a driver can do to change the economy returned.

Well, if by "change" you meant "improve", then you could try to stay away from the Save and Charge buttons ... :mrgreen:

Sorry, couldn't help my self. I hope you will forgive me before my next trip to Australia

For long trips I use both Save and Charge modes, just to be able to use EV mode in villages, towns, congestions and so on.
Driving with an empty battery in a town with the ICE working is not, IMHO, the best way to improve the fuel consumption.

 

[anko]

If you maintain just enough SOC to get through the next town, then you would be right / should be fine. If you want to save all your SOC for the last 30 - 40 km of your trip, well that would be a different story.

 

[Grigou]

If you maintain just enough SOC to get through the next town, then you would be right / should be fine. If you want to save all your SOC for the last 30 - 40 km of your trip, well that would be a different story.

I always try the first story ... but it's not easy to maintain "just" enough SOC for the next town or the next congestion.
Sometimes I maintain too much SOC, sometimes not enough. Rarely just enough. My order of preference :

1- just enough of course (it can happen by chance)
2- too much (it often happens by choice)
3- not enough (it can happen by accident)

I prefer "too much" because there is often another next town after the next town

 

[anko]

From what I can see, the first "hit" is only at approx. 50% SOC (dashboard style). That should give you enough room to play with, right? Although maybe not enough to cross Sidney from one end to the other.

 

[Grigou]

What do you call "50 % SOC dashboard style" ? 8 bars ?

Anyway, I try to maintain the SOC as much low as possible, but high enough to drive in EV for next low speed areas. Generally (on an ordinary french road) I'm satisfied with 3 to 5 bars on the dashboard, and push Save button when I've reached it.
Finally yes, it's equivalent to 45%-55% SOC.

But if I know that I'll drive in Paris tomorrow (less improbable than Sidney :mrgreen: ) it will be much more of course.

 

[anko]

What do you call "50 % SOC dashboard style" ? 8 bars ?

Yep!

But if I know that I'll drive in Paris tomorrow (less improbable than Sidney :mrgreen: ) it will be much more of course.

Stupid me. Have been talking to / with gwatpe and zzcoopej to much these last days :mrgreen:

BTW: I'll be heading out for Paris, next Saturday for a short vacation. Will bring the caravan and the family. Uh, the family and the caravan.

 

[Grigou]

Have a nice trip

You have booked a campsite I presume ? I lived in Paris for 22 years for working and left this town 16 years ago (wow, I'am old !). Only remember a campsite in the Bois de Boulogne.
Will you charge the car in the campsite and use it in town ? Or perhaps prefer the public transport :mrgreen: ?

 

[anko]

Only remember a campsite in the Bois de Boulogne.

That's the one!

Looking at parking strategies in Paris, I think we'll stick to public transportation :mrgreen: