What is normal for a 2018 PHEV with 75,000 miles on it, in the United States

[bobhedges]

Three months ago, I bought a 2018 Mitsubishi PHEV from a dealer in Fort Lauderdale. The unit appears to be in great shape. The tires look new, and the interior is spotless and shows no sign of wear. The CARFAX report indicates constant maintenance by the prior owner. Someone took good care of this car. Thanks.

When I gave the car its first overnight charge (off of a household 120 volt line), the next morning it indicated 12 miles of EV range. I have faithfully charged the car every night for three months with the supplied charging cable. I either charge at 8 amp or 12 amps. As time past, the EV range has increased from 12 miles to 15 miles following an evening charge.

I don't know if this EV range of 15 miles should be expected and is normal from a 6-year-old car. I know there is natural battery degradation, but how much is normal?

Should I take it to a dealer and request that the drive battery be worked on?

What should I ask for?

How much should that service cost?

What should I realistically expect?

What's been your experience in having your drive battery refreshed?

Love to hear your advice.

Bob Hedges
Florida.

 

[yardbird]

My 2018 PHEV with 95k miles got about 12 EV miles after overnight charge so it is normal for USA's version. I tried the dealer, they can't do anything about the degradation of the EV batteries & they even mention it in the USA manual. So don't waste your money & time. It is what it is. I tried all kind of methods in Youtube without any hope. For some reasons, the UK or Aussi's PHEV models got more EV miles. Mitsubishi programmed them differently.

 

[michael8554]

Hi Bob,
That's a real shame.
What was the range showing on the dash display when you were inspecting the car, surely the most important check to make ?
Did the dealer say what range it had ?
Now that you've found this site you'll probably looked around and seen reference to the PHEV WatchDog software that would have told you the battery state before you bought the PHEV.
My 2014 still shows 28 miles range on a summer's day, though it has only done 35K miles.

 

[irsob ir]

Hi Guys, I have same model 2018 imported from US to EUROPE, we have now around 0 deg C temperature, and I have similar range on EV. At summer time it was around 20-22 mile, I am suprise how much rain decreases the range.

 

[Wilfield]

What is written above is 100% true. Dealers here are at least 2 decades back regarding PHEV systems technologies, they only focus on the ICE. I believe being illiterate has potentially nothing to do with their technical capabilities, it's just that they still proudly cling to the gas/petrol paradigm. Mitsubishi Dealers USA have been left behind by choice!

 

[pgreaves]

Just for another data point, I have a 2018 with about 54,000 miles, and it has about 16 - 17 miles of suburban EV range after charging. I have seen the range indicator read up to 23 miles or so when starting out occasionally, but it doesn't actually do it, and quickly updates to lower numbers when driving. I live in California, so mild weather.

 

[greendwarf]

Oh dear, here we go again with the range questions. It's as though I'm stuck in a time loop back to 2015 not in 2025.

So firstly, what range - that shown on the guessometer after charging up (certainly seems to be what the OP is referring to) or the actual pure EV mileage you can do on a full battery before the ICE kicks in?

Now whilst speed, weight and general driving style (e.g. racing between sets of traffic lights and braking heavily) can reduce actual mileage, the real killer is hills. Most of us can just about push the car on the flat but few will be able to lift its two tonnes even fractionally. The energy required to overcome gravity is far larger than that needed for the mere friction of the tyres against the ground. Therefore, if your journeys involve lots of up and downs then you will get less range than just driving on the flat. No guesses why Holland was the launch country in Europe.

Which brings us to the guessometer figure - which is exactly that, "a guess" and is mainly (we think) based on the last journey. So, back to the hills point! If you live at the top, your drive up to your house will be using more energy than going down the next day after a recharge but the car doesn't know the topology of where you live and will predict the same miserable figure achieved the night before.

Alternatively, if you live at the bottom and drive down the hill to get home your energy use might be almost zero, so the next day the car will predict a stupidly good range of perhaps 50+ miles and you will be disappointed when the ICE kicks in at 10 when you are going up the hill.

Because of the variables of how and where you drive, it is almost pointless trying to compare range with other users on-line unless you know how and where they drive (in detail)! Remember that, in theory, this problem also applies to ICE cars, but they are such inefficient converters of energy to motion that the differences described are swamped by the conversion losses, so that we barely notice the drop in range.

Finally, before rushing off to a dealer and wasting time and money with them, check your actual potential EV range by finding a steady drive on the flat without frequent stops and starts, and see how far you can go before the ICE kicks in. Then use that as a benchmark to monitor "real world" range.

 

[mellobob]

Oh dear, here we go again with the range questions. It's as though I'm stuck in a time loop back to 2015 not in 2025.

So firstly, what range - that shown on the guessometer after charging up (certainly seems to be what the OP is referring to) or the actual pure EV mileage you can do on a full battery before the ICE kicks in?

Now whilst speed, weight and general driving style (e.g. racing between sets of traffic lights and braking heavily) can reduce actual mileage, the real killer is hills. Most of us can just about push the car on the flat but few will be able to lift its two tonnes even fractionally. The energy required to overcome gravity is far larger than that needed for the mere friction of the tyres against the ground. Therefore, if your journeys involve lots of up and downs then you will get less range than just driving on the flat. No guesses why Holland was the launch country in Europe.

Which brings us to the guessometer figure - which is exactly that, "a guess" and is mainly (we think) based on the last journey. So, back to the hills point! If you live at the top, your drive up to your house will be using more energy than going down the next day after a recharge but the car doesn't know the topology of where you live and will predict the same miserable figure achieved the night before.

Alternatively, if you live at the bottom and drive down the hill to get home your energy use might be almost zero, so the next day the car will predict a stupidly good range of perhaps 50+ miles and you will be disappointed when the ICE kicks in at 10 when you are going up the hill.

Because of the variables of how and where you drive, it is almost pointless trying to compare range with other users on-line unless you know how and where they drive (in detail)! Remember that, in theory, this problem also applies to ICE cars, but they are such inefficient converters of energy to motion that the differences described are swamped by the conversion losses, so that we barely notice the drop in range.

Finally, before rushing off to a dealer and wasting time and money with them, check your actual potential EV range by finding a steady drive on the flat without frequent stops and starts, and see how far you can go before the ICE kicks in. Then use that as a benchmark to monitor "real world" range.

Either all of this ... or we should move to The Netherlands But, my parents left there in 1959 and it's a long haul to get my PHEV back there

 

[RossWilliams]

Batteries are finicky. How long they will last depends on how they are used, the temperature they are stored and how they are charged. And there is a fairly wide range of results depending on all those factors. Not to mention any variations in the batteries themselves.

 

[greendwarf]

Either all of this ... or we should move to The Netherlands But, my parents left there in 1959 and it's a long haul to get my PHEV back there

Having been brought up on Canvey Island in the Thames Estuary, which was reclaimed with dykes etc. by the Dutch in 16th century, I also have an affinity for the Nederland.

A bit a trivia for you - The Dutch were "paid" by being given a third share in all the land they reclaimed, which means today all the properties on that part of the island need an insurance policy attached to their title deeds in case some Dutchman turns up to claim his inheritance! They also left behind two curious 6 sided one room cottages (no corners for evil English spirits to hide in) which are unique to Canvey (i.e. none in Holland)

 

[AndyInOz]

Note that top speed driven also changes the range a lot.

If UK residents and USA residents typically drive at 70 mph (112 km/h) I'd expect them to get worse fuel economy than Australians who rarely exceed 100 km/h (62 mph).

Note that wind resistance increases with the square of the velocity. So mileage is punished as velocity increases.

(And our cars are not particularly streamlined.)