53 km ev ! I am stoked.

As my Phev ownership is now 1 1/2 years I have now just done a capacity test on the drive battery. This I have done every 6 months including when I just bought the Phev ie I have done 4.

I do this test by driving with a fully charged drive battery on a sunday morning, 8am to about 9.15am, (light traffic so few red lights) with no heating or air conditioner along the same route (same speed) after resetting the odometer and note when the petrol motor starts and goes into hybrid mode. The results of the tests are:

1. 52.5kms Just after buying Phev April 2014
2. 52.9kms 6ths months later ie October 2014
3. 51.8kms April 2015 Now this test had notable more traffic (some big area championships soccer games) ie stopped at traffic lights more than last 2
4. 53.0kms October 2015

Test done as much as possible the same each time ie acc set to 65km/hr in 60Km/hr zone when not stopping or going around roundabouts. Slight differences in traffic are the only thing I cannot control.

Such consistent results. I am stoked!

The battery is holding up very well and I have been smashing that charge button consistently to get the fuel consumption down in the sixes from the eights (lts/100km) which I have been worried might hurt the battery. The only precaution I have taken for the battery is I will not let my wife take the Phev to her work ( she is a school teacher at a school about 3kms away and no shade ) on days that are forecast to be more than about 37 degrees C (she uses the Phev when we do not need it at my work.) . Read years ago close to fully charged Li-ion batteries and heat are not compatible.

Well done

I don't have anywhere I could drive 50km EV or more at 60kph locally, without attracting attention

Your efforts have inspired me to check my PHEV EV range again. Will be a mix of some hills and 60kph and 30km of about 80-100kph. PHEV returned about 53km once before, so hopefully will still do it again. My present PHEV was not new when I took delivery, and was already over 6 months old with prior usage unknown. My drives still may require ICE operation and My PHEV is returning 6-7L/100km with only a passenger, and around 8L/100km fully loaded on a holiday drive. Once we have an objective measurement system we will not need to [guess or] do a test drive to work out how good the battery capacity is.

gwatpe said:

Well done

I don't have anywhere I could drive 50km EV or more at 60kph locally, without attracting attention

Your efforts have inspired me to check my PHEV EV range again. Will be a mix of some hills and 60kph and 30km of about 80-100kph. PHEV returned about 53km once before, so hopefully will still do it again. My present PHEV was not new when I took delivery, and was already over 6 months old with prior usage unknown. My drives still may require ICE operation and My PHEV is returning 6-7L/100km with only a passenger, and around 8L/100km fully loaded on a holiday drive. Once we have an objective measurement system we will not need to [guess or] do a test drive to work out how good the battery capacity is.

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Thanks I am very happy with the result.

Never tested fuel consumption on long trips with only a passenger but with family 2 adults 2 kids (youngest son is a 17 year old and I should stop calling them kids) and luggage get between 6.5 and 7 L/100km or around 8 if I do not press the charge button.

Will keep doing my test no matter what other ways people come up with and you only have to look at my results to see why I should. Applied physics in action.

Regards Trex.

Trex said:

... get between 6.5 and 7 L/100km or around 8 if I do not press the charge button.

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Are you now saying you get better fuel economy on on trips when you use Charge mode :shock: Or do you mean, when you use Charge mode to make it across towns in EV mode? As you described in your other recent post?

anko said:

Trex said:

... get between 6.5 and 7 L/100km or around 8 if I do not press the charge button.

Click to expand...

Are you now saying you get better fuel economy on on trips when you use Charge mode :shock: Or do you mean, when you use Charge mode to make it across towns in EV mode? As you described in your other recent post?

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Hey anko, been awhile ( I have been stuck on a big work project and have been purposely not coming on here so I will not be distracted),
In parallel mode if that petrol motor is going to run, at any speed, charge button is pressed and I get slightly better fuel consumption after eving (is there such a word) on the built up charge than leaving the phev to its own device and even better when avoiding serial mode with said built up charge. Why better in parallel mode than Phev's own logic, because of hysteresis or lag in the changing state of charge discharge IMHO.

I get noticeable better fuel consumption that my own wife and kids copy me now. :lol:

Regards Trex.

Hey there. Great to have you back.

If you say you get better economy by building up enough EV range on parallel speeds, so that you can EV at lower speeds, then I would agree. But the "hitting charge when the engine is running" needs some explanation. For how long do you engage charge mode?

Just hitting the charge button when the engine running has no impact whatsoever. At least none that I have ver seen. Fuel consumption does not change, nor does charge current into your drive battery. All you can do is prolong the period of parallel driving. Again, if you do that to build up sufficient SOC for an upcoming period of slower driving that is fine. All beyond that is futile. IMHO.

The FAQ of Mitsubishi Australia says frequent use of the charge button can lower fuel economy by as much as 20%. I have sent them an email asking if they could clarify. Unfortunately, they never responded.

anko said:

Hey there. Great to have you back.

If you say you get better economy by building up enough EV range on parallel speeds, so that you can EV at lower speeds, then I would agree. But the "hitting charge when the engine is running" needs some explanation. For how long do you engage charge mode?

Just hitting the charge button when the engine running has no impact whatsoever. At least none that I have ver seen. Fuel consumption does not change, nor does charge current into your drive battery. All you can do is prolong the period of parallel driving. Again, if you do that to build up sufficient SOC for an upcoming period of slower driving that is fine. All beyond that is futile. IMHO.

The FAQ of Mitsubishi Australia says frequent use of the charge button can lower fuel economy by as much as 20%. I have sent them an email asking if they could clarify. Unfortunately, they never responded.

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Thanks, good to be back and stop thinking just about work 7 days a week.

How long do I engage the charge mode? 8 bars out of 16 max normally depending on what is ahead a far as towns or even terrain . This is not because of your decrease in fuel flow as you have stated before but mainly because I am impatient and the 1/2 charge will get me through most slow sections therefore avoiding series mode. Takes about 1/2 hour to get to 8 bars. You can go to 12 bars before the rate of charge slows down by much. If said charge is not needed for awhile press charge button again and ev and then repeat.

You stated "all beyond that is futile. IMHO" Well not according to my fuel economy figures which my family try to copy. :lol:

I think this is why:
Electropaedia states : "During charging the chemical reaction lags behind the application of the charging voltage and similarly, when a load is applied to the battery to discharge it, there is a delay before the full current can be delivered through the load. As with magnetic hysteresis, energy is lost during the charge discharge cycle due to the chemical hysteresis effect."

Mitsi Aust are wrong by my fuel consumption figures. But hey, it might just be my Phev.

Regards Trex.

I have approximately the same strategy, Trex (avoiding serie mode as much as possible, hitting Charge for future EV mode in town), and I am very satisfied by my fuel economy too

Grigou said:

I have approximately the same strategy, Trex (avoiding serie mode as much as possible, hitting Charge for future EV mode in town), and I am very satisfied by my fuel economy too

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Yes it makes a noticeable difference for me.