Optimal Motorway Speed

Took delivery of my PHEV around mid June and been using it to tootle quite happily in and out of central London, just drawing power from the battery then back to the office to charge - all the time enjoying the lack of a congestion charge to pay!

However, i had to undertake a round trip to Stafford last week - first long trip (approx 260 miles all told) and could almost see the fuel meter running down visibly!

I'm pretty sure that i shouldn't have used CHARGE mode having read previous threads, and also i didn't put it in SAVE mode which seems to be the thing to do.

Are there any other tips for conserving fuel and power on longer motorway runs and what's the optimal motorway speed for the PHEV in terms of fuel efficiency?

I really do like how well-informed a lot of the posters are here I purchased this vehicle primarily as a business decision but since taking possession of it my knowledge of all things electrical and automotive have increased exponentially! Thanks to all you knowledgeable posters …

Ronson

Use your cruise control! A constant speed is the most economical, despite brake regeneration.
In this situation setting B0 (not possible in combination with Cruise control) and letting the car roll along by its own momentum will save quite some petrol.
If you want to go all the way in driving economically slipstreaming trucks is a good trick as well, but I hate driving this way.
And remember, you are dragging at least 1900 Kgs, a modest CX value and a large frontal area along. the laws of physics will not be denied....There is no way you can compete with a slippery, lowslung turbodiesel.
As for speed, consumption in general will go up exponentially, so driving at 60 instead of 70 will help. I don't

Ps. Due to the small tank the fuel meter will run down rather spectacularly compared to your previous car, despite maybe consuming the same amount off petrol.

Hi

Exactly what jaapv said, constant speed, large gap in front so you can coast to lose speed rather than braking, the lower the speed the better, anticipate what's happening ahead and learn to relax and enjoy the calm that the PHEV brings to driving.

Kind regards
Mark

I agree with previous two comments. If you have ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) it works brilliantly, use it as soon as you hit freeway/motorway. I am not too sure if ACC uses conventional braking or regenerative one. Next time I go on freeway, I'll check it but being very smooth in its operation slowing & accelerating it gave me the impression it is using regenerative braking.

Depending on your required EV range once you get out of freeway and existing EV range at the time given you need to decide which mode to use, Charge or Save. Some scenarios are below.

1.You are on freeway with 20 km EV range left and you need 10 km EV range at destination. Drive in EV mode until EV range comes down to 10 then hit save button, once out of freeway get out of Save mode to switch to EV mode.

2.You arrive to freeway with 30 km EV range left and you need 20 km EV range at destination and 15 km EV range on your return trip. Hit save as soon as when you arrive to freeway, get out of Save at destination, drive in EV mode at urban destination, this will bring your EV range to 10 km. On the return trip on freeway drive in charge mode until your EV range comes up to 15 then switch to save and get out of save to drive in EV mode in urban area to reach home with zero EV range.

Of course these scenarios can be changed indefinitely but I suppose looking at the examples you would get the idea.

Optimal speed is I would say 100-110 kms/hr. At 130 and above ICE can not supply any charge to drive battery at all.

Hi!

I have just been driving from Sundsvall-Stockholm in Sweden and home again (42+42 swedish miles (metric)).
On the way down I had a full battery and I put in "Save" directly to save battery for Stockholm city driving.
It was 25 degrees celcius outside, AC put on 21 degrees in the car.
I had Bluetooth or SD-card music on the whole time, and the navigation running.
I drove with speeds approx. 10km/h over the speedlimit (oooppss) and it's a 110km/h speedlimit most of the time.
The car had consumed 0,76 liters/swedish mile on the way down.

On the way home, the battery was "empty" so I drove on "Normal".
The rest of the things as on the way down to Stockholm.
Then the car consumed 0,8 liters/swedish mile.

So it's not so big difference between "Normal" and "Save" (when having an empty battery) is my first impression.

BUT, when I tested to put in "Charge" when I drove in 110km/h, the car consumed 1,13l/swedish mile.
So my opinion so far is to not use the "charge" button if you don't have to.

Any reflection on that?

//Patrik

panosdl said:

BUT, when I tested to put in "Charge" when I drove in 110km/h, the car consumed 1,13l/swedish mile.
So my opinion so far is to not use the "charge" button if you don't have to.

Any reflection on that?

//Patrik

Click to expand...

Hi

I'd totally agree. Using charge mode will use more petrol than using save mode or normal depleted battery mode. Only use it if it enables you to use EV mode for an urban part of your later journey at speeds below about 42mph and only charge just enough, not more.

Kind regards
Mark

panosdl said:

BUT, when I tested to put in "Charge" when I drove in 110km/h, the car consumed 1,13l/swedish mile.
So my opinion so far is to not use the "charge" button if you don't have to.

Any reflection on that?

//Patrik

Click to expand...

I wonder what would've happened if you did the same journey, but just left it alone on the way back and let the car do it's thing? Would you have come back with a bit of EV range? Would the economy have been better? Or the same? Or worse? I doubt worse...

panosdl said:

Hi!

I have just been driving from Sundsvall-Stockholm in Sweden and home again (42+42 swedish miles (metric)).
On the way down I had a full battery and I put in "Save" directly to save battery for Stockholm city driving.
It was 25 degrees celcius outside, AC put on 21 degrees in the car.
I had Bluetooth or SD-card music on the whole time, and the navigation running.
I drove with speeds approx. 10km/h over the speedlimit (oooppss) and it's a 110km/h speedlimit most of the time.
The car had consumed 0,76 liters/swedish mile on the way down.

On the way home, the battery was "empty" so I drove on "Normal".
The rest of the things as on the way down to Stockholm.
Then the car consumed 0,8 liters/swedish mile.

So it's not so big difference between "Normal" and "Save" (when having an empty battery) is my first impression.

BUT, when I tested to put in "Charge" when I drove in 110km/h, the car consumed 1,13l/swedish mile.
So my opinion so far is to not use the "charge" button if you don't have to.

Any reflection on that?

//Patrik

Click to expand...

Tallies with my experience.

OK!
It sounds like you others have the same opinion. Then I'm not "out of range" in my thoughts. ;-)
If anyone have another experience I would be glad to hear about it.

Best regards!

//Patrik

Just back from a 1500 km trip to Norway. Overall comsuption including some overnight charging was 4,1lit/100km.
If you shall climb a steep sepentine mountainroad like the "Trollstigen" you have to have batterypower. So use chargemode half an hour before the climb makes sense.

With a empty battery the car goes in seriell mode and makes a very heavy noise and smells like something burns. Putting in chargemode on the climb does not help as you can't force the car in parallell mode if the speed is below 70km/h.

Long downhill slopes gave a good regeneration and the longest EV range was impressing 68 km.

//PAA

The smell is normal and will disappear over time. It is probably the coating of the exhaust.

paa451843 said:

Just back from a 1500 km trip to Norway. Overall comsuption including some overnight charging was 4,1lit/100km.
If you shall climb a steep sepentine mountainroad like the "Trollstigen" you have to have batterypower. So use chargemode half an hour before the climb makes sense.

With a empty battery the car goes in seriell mode and makes a very heavy noise and smells like something burns. Putting in chargemode on the climb does not help as you can't force the car in parallell mode if the speed is below 70km/h.

Long downhill slopes gave a good regeneration and the longest EV range was impressing 68 km.

//PAA

Click to expand...

This is a very interesting post for me, as it pretty much describes what I do around every month or so - but a few questions....

How long were you gone for and how many nights did you charge approx?
What approx speed did you travel at? How did you drive - acc on? Overtake where you could? Or just sit there and to with the flow?

I also assume that your economy figure isn't for 'Swedish miles', but as per normal?

Yes, the comsuption figure is "normal" ,one swedish mile is 10km so in Sweden it's 0,41 lit/mil.
The trip was 5 days with 2 overnight charging and one fast charging (80%). 400 km was highway driving at aprox 110-120 kmph. Rest of the trip was narrow winding roads at 80-90 kmph. It's hard to drive any faster in Norway.....
There where some very long downhill runs thats improwe the comsumpion a lot.
All the charging was free of charge.
Driving mode was ECO with ACC on, no soundsystem.

//PAA

paa451843 said:

Yes, the comsuption figure is "normal" ,one swedish mile is 10km so in Sweden it's 0,41 lit/mil.
The trip was 5 days with 2 overnight charging and one fast charging (80%). 400 km was highway driving at aprox 110-120 kmph. Rest of the trip was narrow winding roads at 80-90 kmph. It's hard to drive any faster in Norway.....
There where some very long downhill runs thats improwe the comsumpion a lot.
All the charging was free of charge.
Driving mode was ECO with ACC on, no soundsystem.

//PAA

Click to expand...

Fantastic! At least I know what I think is possible then, because that's pretty much the description of driving around Tasmania, or at least what I do here, and it's also the figures I need to make this work too lol. The main reason in the Pro list according to what I gave SWMBO for buying a PHEV is that it'll be cheaper to run than the Camry hybrid (which I average about 6.5-7 when I take one), so if it can have a 4 in front of it then I'll be really happy!

panosdl said:

Hi!

I have just been driving from Sundsvall-Stockholm in Sweden and home again (42+42 swedish miles (metric)).
On the way down I had a full battery and I put in "Save" directly to save battery for Stockholm city driving.
It was 25 degrees celcius outside, AC put on 21 degrees in the car.
I had Bluetooth or SD-card music on the whole time, and the navigation running.
I drove with speeds approx. 10km/h over the speedlimit (oooppss) and it's a 110km/h speedlimit most of the time.
The car had consumed 0,76 liters/swedish mile on the way down.

On the way home, the battery was "empty" so I drove on "Normal".
The rest of the things as on the way down to Stockholm.
Then the car consumed 0,8 liters/swedish mile.

So it's not so big difference between "Normal" and "Save" (when having an empty battery) is my first impression.

BUT, when I tested to put in "Charge" when I drove in 110km/h, the car consumed 1,13l/swedish mile.
So my opinion so far is to not use the "charge" button if you don't have to.

Any reflection on that?

//Patrik

Click to expand...

After 8 weeks
Total kms - 2740 kms and used 65.8 ltrs
= 3.9 ltr/100 kms

+++++++
1702 miles
14.5 gal
= 117.3 mpg
+++++++
I agree with most of what has been said.
If I can drive my local commute in the EV range, thats what I do with ECO on.
If driving a longer way, I will use the 'save' for highway/high speed (above 80 kmh to 110 kmh). This lets the Outlander do its thing ecomony wise.
If driving in city traffic, always EV with ECO on. I only use 'charge' now if the battery is low and in advance of driving in a city area.
Not much to be gained by charging the battery with the engine and getting home with lots on EV range.

Goldie said:

After 8 weeks
Total kms - 2740 kms and used 65.8 ltrs
= 3.9 ltr/100 kms.

Click to expand...

This excites me no end, and I hope I too can say the same thing shortly...

Goldie said:

snippy, snippy.

Not much to be gained by charging the battery with the engine and getting home with lots on EV range.

Click to expand...

Why is the thinking not flipped around? I seem to see the thinking that you save in the start or the middle of the journey, so that there is enough electric to go home with, but if course any electric you come home with in this scenario is wasted. Why not use all your battery in the first part of the journey so there's now wastage, and then petrol after that. This scenario obviously only works if your journey is a mirror image of course i.e. Like me you drive the same road, albeit 35 k's one way into work and then back again. My theory is I'll just let the car do it's thing, and about halfway home on the return trip I should be on petrol. Of course I have the fun of having about equal parts 60/70/80/100 on my travels, so that is lending my thinking this way.

Why is the thinking not flipped around? No because I am starting to think you get better value by using battery (EV) in low speed areas and save mode in high speed areas (100 kmh - 60mph). I read somewhere that the Outlander PHEV has been designed by engineers and not accountants. They made the petrol part of this hybrid to operate very efficiently at high speed. It seemed good when I read it anyway

If I'm on a journey of say 40 miles with a mix of road types, I tend to try to save around half my ev range for the way home. I find it too depressing to do all on the outward 100% ev and then watch the % dropping on the way home! I also use save on the faster or uphill parts (I know the advice to use charge on hills) so I can save ev range for slower lanes or queues at junctions. If you use all the ev on the outward run, you risk sitting in the traffic on the way back (as I did today) with the engine on. I do the same trip each Friday - it is about 44 miles and I first managed to do it on 84% ev, today on 88% even with a/c on the way back (28 deg outside!)- was quite pleased with that. I need to try it using all the ev on outward route and see what % I return, but it feels alien to me to do that and I am pretty sure it would be nearer 70%.
H

Speaking as an ex-Prius owner, I'm coming to the conclusion that the Outlander is really two cars sharing a single body shell.

The hybrid systems in the Prius are tightly integrated - they have to be because the battery pack only has a range of a couple of miles. The car is continually playing the petrol engine and the electrical drive off against each other to get best fuel economy - the battery is more a temporary store for excess power coming out of the petrol engine and the electric motor is more akin to a turbocharger, allowing the car to turn in decent acceleration from an engine which is objectively lacking on power and has a terrible power curve.

The Outlander is less tightly integrated. You have an electrical transmission which can receive its power from either the battery pack or from the generator attached to the engine - with a special case at high speed where the engine can be physically coupled to the wheels. The car's default behaviour is to run as pure electrical till the battery goes flat, then fall back to pure petrol with an electrical transmission until you recharge the battery. You have a limited ability to modify this behaviour with the "Save" and "Charge" buttons, but it is never going to be the tightly integrated hybrid system that the Prius is. I guess that you might slightly improve the fuel economy by playing with those buttons, but I doubt that the overall impact will be very high.

maby said:

Speaking as an ex-Prius owner, I'm coming to the conclusion that the Outlander is really two cars sharing a single body shell.

The hybrid systems in the Prius are tightly integrated - they have to be because the battery pack only has a range of a couple of miles. The car is continually playing the petrol engine and the electrical drive off against each other to get best fuel economy - the battery is more a temporary store for excess power coming out of the petrol engine and the electric motor is more akin to a turbocharger, allowing the car to turn in decent acceleration from an engine which is objectively lacking on power and has a terrible power curve.

The Outlander is less tightly integrated. You have an electrical transmission which can receive its power from either the battery pack or from the generator attached to the engine - with a special case at high speed where the engine can be physically coupled to the wheels. The car's default behaviour is to run as pure electrical till the battery goes flat, then fall back to pure petrol with an electrical transmission until you recharge the battery. You have a limited ability to modify this behaviour with the "Save" and "Charge" buttons, but it is never going to be the tightly integrated hybrid system that the Prius is. I guess that you might slightly improve the fuel economy by playing with those buttons, but I doubt that the overall impact will be very high.

Click to expand...

I think this is a good general explanation/description on what the PHEV is going. If you have picture of the power sources displayed (found under the TRIP button center tab), even with a very low battery charge, the battery is, at times, still supplying power to both front and rear wheels. This tab is almost as good as watching TV.