Future Outlander PHEV owner

Hi all,
I'm looking at changing over to the Outlander PHEV in the summer time, my first PHEV so I'm excited to start understanding how to get the best out of a PHEV.
One thing i'm looking into at the moment is the different charging points when away on my journeys and the different companies that run the charging points.
Can anybody tell me of any good or bad points with the companies that run the charging points, at the moment I'm looking into Polar Plus but I was wondering if I can use the Polar Plus card at other car charging points that are not Polar Plus?

Welcome. I don't use public chargers myself, but can you give us some idea of your anticipated pattern of use? The public chargers are usually fast chargers, as far as I know, so if you can't spare the half hour it takes to charge up, there's not much point to them. Of course if you use them regularly, they can be useful, but the way I use the car, it doesn't make economic sense for me. If you're thinking of using the ones at motorway stations, is it worth breaking your journey to get less than 20 miles range at best (at motorway speed)?

A good start is to look at ZapMap and see which chargers you are most likely to use and which network they are. Polar plus is quite good as coverage is wide. Often CYC chargers can be used with the polar plus card too.

Using the ecotricity rapid chargers at motorway service doesn't make financial sense. For the £6 cost of the charge, you could go a lot further on £6 of petrol and get to your destination quicker too!

I'm in the happy position of there being a free Polar Plus charge point less than a mile away from home, so it's a doddle to drive there, leave the car plugged in for four hours and walk back to pick it up. I work part time 15 miles away, which is just too far to get there and back on a full battery, but there's another free point at ASDA. This involves a 20-minute walk each way to my place of work, but I don't mind the exercise!

It's a great car IF most of your journeys are relatively short.

stripey said:

I'm in the happy position of there being a free Polar Plus charge point less than a mile away from home, so it's a doddle to drive there, leave the car plugged in for four hours and walk back to pick it up. I work part time 15 miles away, which is just too far to get there and back on a full battery, but there's another free point at ASDA. This involves a 20-minute walk each way to my place of work, but I don't mind the exercise!

It's a great car IF most of your journeys are relatively short.

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I would expand that..

It's a great car IF most of your journeys are relatively short OR you don't mind very relaxed long distance driving..

I am a high miler, did 150 miles today and did a reasonable 40mpg.

Your lucky with the charger, the Polar network is sited in a lot of odd locations and most are still slow chargers so they are somewhere you don't want to go in the first place and if you did you wouldn't want to spend hours there for a 28 miles charge.

Hogfather said:

Hi all,
I'm looking at changing over to the Outlander PHEV in the summer time, my first PHEV so I'm excited to start understanding how to get the best out of a PHEV.
One thing i'm looking into at the moment is the different charging points when away on my journeys and the different companies that run the charging points.
Can anybody tell me of any good or bad points with the companies that run the charging points, at the moment I'm looking into Polar Plus but I was wondering if I can use the Polar Plus card at other car charging points that are not Polar Plus?

Click to expand...

Even assuming you can get a fast charging point ... 30min for get 25miles of range is a waste of time in my view

This PHEV is designed for slow charge overnight or during the day while parked at the office location

elm70 said:

Hogfather said:

Hi all,
I'm looking at changing over to the Outlander PHEV in the summer time, my first PHEV so I'm excited to start understanding how to get the best out of a PHEV.
One thing i'm looking into at the moment is the different charging points when away on my journeys and the different companies that run the charging points.
Can anybody tell me of any good or bad points with the companies that run the charging points, at the moment I'm looking into Polar Plus but I was wondering if I can use the Polar Plus card at other car charging points that are not Polar Plus?

Click to expand...

Even assuming you can get a fast charging point ... 30min for get 25miles of range is a waste of time in my view

This PHEV is designed for slow charge overnight or during the day while parked at the office location

Click to expand...

30 mins for 25 miles range is ok if it's free and you aren't in a rush. The Ecotricity points on the motorway fail on point 1 and usually on point 2.

I have a polarplus card and am lucky enough to have street parking in Coventry where I can fullly charge the car in about 3 hours while I'm visiting a client for my (usually) half day visits. I also charge using the 13Amp charging cable overnight at my regular hotel. Overall, I think that PolarPlus seems to give the most options - you can use the card at some CYC points. I have also used Podpoint points once or twice.

Hope that helps

Regulo said:

Welcome. I don't use public chargers myself, but can you give us some idea of your anticipated pattern of use? The public chargers are usually fast chargers, as far as I know, so if you can't spare the half hour it takes to charge up, there's not much point to them. Of course if you use them regularly, they can be useful, but the way I use the car, it doesn't make economic sense for me. If you're thinking of using the ones at motorway stations, is it worth breaking your journey to get less than 20 miles range at best (at motorway speed)?

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Hi Regulo and everyone else, thanks for your replies.

I'm lucky ATM with my work pattern because I car share and drive to work one week in every two. On the week I drive in I would have charged the car at home overnight before doing a 34 mile journey, 95% motorway to work, so I would have used all the charge by the time I've got to work. Lucky at work we have a free charger but with seven other people having EV vehicles trying to get connected is grabbing the space when its available. If I cant charge up at work there are two CYC chargers near the main complex building 5 mins walk that's always got spaces, so if I did get Polar Plus as mentioned by Lance I could use the CYC chargers and have the car charged back up ready for the journey home.

I fully expect the 34 mile trip each way will be more than the battery will provide, but I have a couple of big hills each way where I might be able to make up some in regen, and I expect to use the engine for some part of the journey.

It will interesting learning how to drive ECO, I can see I'm going to obsessed trying to get the most I can out of a full charge.

Lance said:

A good start is to look at ZapMap and see which chargers you are most likely to use and which network they are. Polar plus is quite good as coverage is wide. Often CYC chargers can be used with the polar plus card too.

Using the ecotricity rapid chargers at motorway service doesn't make financial sense. For the £6 cost of the charge, you could go a lot further on £6 of petrol and get to your destination quicker too!

Click to expand...

Hi Lance,

Thanks for the comment, I downloaded the ZapMap app this morning and I can see its going to be great help. I think when it comes to buying the car I will get PolarPlus as it gives me the added option to use CYC chargers as well.

I looked at the CYC chargers near the office I work and it say "1st hour £5 charge", do you know if I would have to pay that initially when using PolarPlus or is that just for people who turn up out of the blue and charge up?

I fully agree with you with Ecotricity, at £6 cost for charging you might as well use the engine as petrol is cheaper until you reach a different charger.

Hogfather said:

It will interesting learning how to drive ECO, I can see I'm going to obsessed trying to get the most I can out of a full charge.

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Remember those 15 mph milk floats? That's how to get 30+ miles per charge. In the summer. With no air con. :twisted:

Hogfather said:

It will interesting learning how to drive ECO, I can see I'm going to obsessed trying to get the most I can out of a full charge.

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Driving ECO is not interesting at all

The rule of thumb .. is as slow as you drive .. and the longer range you can get.

Driving in pure EV mode, only once I got the max ECO score of 5 green leaves ... and I was accelerating mega slow and never exceeded 40km/h on the clock

The PHEV is a huge car with high air resistance when is in motion .. 50km range in my book are possible if never exceed 60km/h with an average speed below 50km/h

More then driving eco ... what it is nice is to move without engine noise .. also the gear less system make the car very easy to be driven

Hogfather said:

...

I fully expect the 34 mile trip each way will be more than the battery will provide, but I have a couple of big hills each way where I might be able to make up some in regen, and I expect to use the engine for some part of the journey.

...

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The trouble with hills is that, for every down there is a corresponding up - which will have used at least as much charge as you gain on the down.

maby said:

Hogfather said:

...

I fully expect the 34 mile trip each way will be more than the battery will provide, but I have a couple of big hills each way where I might be able to make up some in regen, and I expect to use the engine for some part of the journey.

...

Click to expand...

The trouble with hills is that, for every down there is a corresponding up - which will have used at least as much charge as you gain on the down.

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I would think it safe to assume that a dead level route will always give better fuel economy than an up-and-downer that starts and ends at the same altitude.

This may all be true, but the impact of hills on a hybrid is far less then the impact on a pure ICE, as an ICE cannot recover any energy, but you can also not turn it off on the downs. So imho yes, a hybrid will be advantageous. (as long as you do not top it off on a hill top, which may even be dangerous, as there will be no engine braking whatsoever)

anko said:

as long as you do not top it off on a hill top, which may even be dangerous, as there will be no engine braking whatsoever

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I live on top of the Chilterns ridge 60m above the surrounding plain. Naturally, the PHEV is usually fully charged when I leave home, and you soon adapt to the lack of 'engine' braking (like descending in high gear, you just use the brakes). It is mildly frustrating that I can't recover the energy used in the final stage of getting home up the hill, but it works well if I need to use the pre-heat, as the battery is then nicely topped up by the bottom of the hill. If I travel east I can go along the ridge for about three miles before encountering a significant downhill section, and by then I've used enough battery to allow regen to operate.

FWIW, the range meter goes up by ~1 mile on a 60m (400m hill at 15% gradient) drop (assuming it's not fully charged at the beginning).

anko said:

This may all be true, but the impact of hills on a hybrid is far less then the impact on a pure ICE, as an ICE cannot recover any energy, but you can also not turn it off on the downs. So imho yes, a hybrid will be advantageous. (as long as you do not top it off on a hill top, which may even be dangerous, as there will be no engine braking whatsoever)

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Certainly so - I was simply remarking on the view that is expressed here from time to time that implies that going down hill can actually be advantageous - which is rarely, if ever, the case.

ChrisMiller said:

I live on top of the Chilterns ridge 60m above the surrounding plain. Naturally, the PHEV is usually fully charged when I leave home, and you soon adapt to the lack of 'engine' braking (like descending in high gear, you just use the brakes).

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I was more thinking about what descending from 2000 meters or so with no engine braking would do to your friction brakes

anko said:

was more thinking about what descending from 2000 meters or so with no engine braking would do to your friction brakes

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Quite right - don't buy a PHEV if you live at the top of the Matterhorn, but I think you're probably safe from this danger in Utrecht