What Have You Done To Your PHEV Today?

Made her ready for winter.
(we had -4C this night already.)

Put winter tyres on, with 16" wheels, mudguards and rubber inside mats.

The snow can start falling.

Before:





After:

I've had mine a week now . I've found out how polite the car is for everything except the sat nav! She's a battle axe ! I said take a u turn!!! Otherwise I've found myself happy with performance to and from work on electric and back roads but when that is depleted I find myself thrashing the hell out of it!!!

Worried someone will steal my £150 cable over night charging and going outside at 10pm to take it off charge is a chore thus far!

Think I've upset the other guys with band new company cars on the street who got insignias and skoda suburbs recently as I wave the £1200 saving in their face!!!!

Keviniomize said:

I've had mine a week now . I've found out how polite the car is for everything except the sat nav! She's a battle axe ! I said take a u turn!!! Otherwise I've found myself happy with performance to and from work on electric and back roads but when that is depleted I find myself thrashing the hell out of it!!!

Worried someone will steal my £150 cable over night charging and going outside at 10pm to take it off charge is a chore thus far!

Think I've upset the other guys with band new company cars on the street who got insignias and skoda suburbs recently as I wave the £1200 saving in their face!!!!

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As has been pointed out before, there is provision in the plug to put in a small padlock which will stop it being unplugged.

Managed to silence the beeping tailgate, thanks to the advice on this forum :lol: Thanks to those who contributed to that thread!
Passed 2,500 miles now, still very happy overall..... :mrgreen:

First trip this autumn to pick up logs for the wood burning stove - almost guilt free :mrgreen:

Could only get 9 bags in the back instead of 12 with the Avensis (so definitely smaller) and found you can't start the car if the tailgate is not fully shut - so no extra long loads poking out the back either

Finally the predicted 4.5 hr charge tonight was done in 2

With the sub zero temps, you will get a little tired of the POSSIBLE ICY ROAD warning message. Stating the obvious seems a bit pointless if there is snow about. I saw it a few times last winter, but have not driven in snow yet.

I passed the 5000 mile point - had the car 4 months. Still only washed it once so it is definitely due a bit of a once over. Probably ought to check the tyres etc. Ashamed to admit we haven't even opened the bonnet yet - no idea where the catch is or what it looks like under there! I might get round to thumbing through the manual now the clocks have changed - haven't looked at it for at least 3 months...
H

gwatpe said:

With the sub zero temps, you will get a little tired of the POSSIBLE ICY ROAD warning message. Stating the obvious seems a bit pointless if there is snow about. I saw it a few times last winter, but have not driven in snow yet.

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Rather amusingly I bought 4 Winter tyres over the Internet on Friday to wake up this morning to be told next weekend is likely to hit 20c in southern England and that 2014 is going to be the hottest year on record for the UK At this rate it will be like an Australian winter and I won't get to use the damn tyres :evil:

I seem to spend half my life dropping the kids off and picking them up from various 'activities'. Normally, for example, I have to park my car some distance away when picking my daughter up from 'Brownies' and stand outside in the cold waiting for them to finish. So it was very nice to put the climate control (heating!) on as I left the car today, and then return 10 minutes later (with daughter) to a lovely warm car. It's not actually that cold here just yet, but it will be soon so I'm looking forward to the winter more than usual this year!
Later I will be sitting in the car waiting for my son to finish football training and I can warm the car up while I sit in it, and not have to run the engine to do so. OK I know I'm still using power, but it feels good not to be polluting the air (at least round here!) quite so much.
It's a slight shame that when it's cold (less than about 7 degrees in my experience), you have to have the car 'off' to do this from the battery, rather than in 'acc' so that I could listen to the radio as well, but I can live with that....

Hypermiler said:

I passed the 5000 mile point - had the car 4 months. Still only washed it once so it is definitely due a bit of a once over. Probably ought to check the tyres etc. Ashamed to admit we haven't even opened the bonnet yet - no idea where the catch is or what it looks like under there! I might get round to thumbing through the manual now the clocks have changed - haven't looked at it for at least 3 months...
H

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The windscreen washer bottle is under the bonnet. Every time I drive the PHEV the windscreen has to be washed, to remove all the dead and smeared insects and the dust. Sometimes have to rewash it during a trip on a bad bug day. Took about 6 weeks to empty the reservoir, so it holds a lot of water. Have it set as a regular reminder on the MMCS to avoid running it dry, as the manual warns the pump could burn out.

jdsx said:

The windscreen washer bottle is under the bonnet.

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Yes, I expect I will fill it sometime but I have probably used it about 10 times so perhaps not getting empty yet!
Cheers for the tip though
H

Hi hypermiler,

I think jdsx was actually commenting on the use of the heater and I was commenting on the washers.

is the forum quote system mixing things up ???

BTW the washers tank holds about 5L. Does anyone know where the tank is for the rear window washer, or is it the same tank with a long pipe.

gwatpe said:

Hi hypermiler,

I think jdsx was actually commenting on the use of the heater and I was commenting on the washers.

is the forum quote system mixing things up ???

BTW the washers tank holds about 5L. Does anyone know where the tank is for the rear window washer, or is it the same tank with a long pipe.

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I'm pretty sure it's the same tank

First charge this morning since last Sunday. My wife boasts she's been getting 5 leaves so presumably all done in EV :mrgreen:

Went down to tyre fitters to look at delivered winter tyres and asked them to keep for me another month - temp today 18c+. Mind you they didn't seem too clued up on this :shock: but then not much demand in Streatham, I suppose.

greendwarf said:

First charge this morning since last Sunday. My wife boasts she's been getting 5 leaves so presumably all done in EV :mrgreen:

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That must be one low mileage motor :shock:

maddogsetc said:

greendwarf said:

First charge this morning since last Sunday. My wife boasts she's been getting 5 leaves so presumably all done in EV :mrgreen:

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That must be one low mileage motor :shock:

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That's what I was thinking - I charge most weekdays and I only use it for local pottering.

maby said:

maddogsetc said:

greendwarf said:

First charge this morning since last Sunday. My wife boasts she's been getting 5 leaves so presumably all done in EV :mrgreen:

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That must be one low mileage motor :shock:

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That's what I was thinking - I charge most weekdays and I only use it for local pottering.

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Lift to the station for me going to work while she's on her way to the shops & then home again. As "oldies" we only need to use the car in London if carrying stuff, otherwise we get free bus & tube 24 hours a day and no bother with parking - ideal EV users

I hope you are going to do some serious mileage at the weekend - it's a rather expensive car to buy to do 1000 miles per year - which would seem to be where you are heading at that rate!

Got back from 5 days away in the car. Covered about 700 miles in that time. Mostly motorway but some very hilly runs between Stoke on Trent and alton towers. Am about a month in on ownership now and am yet to find too many negatives. Kept the speed down to the mid 70s on the motorway and was pleasantly surprised at how many times it flips back to electric drive as it regens on the motorway even on cruise control. Managed to grab a couple of fast charges on the motorway and Ikea (getting the best parking spaces at the same time) which helped on the mileage. On the hilly stuff noticed a few pros and cons. The revs and noise definately rise when hill climbing (it was a 16% hill though) but on the plus side had a couple of 2 mile plus descents and just used the paddles to control speed and regen at the same time. It was a really easy drive on the motorway too. Eats up the miles comfortably. Only saw one other outlander the whole time away. White 14 plate around the a14/m11 area.

maby said:

I hope you are going to do some serious mileage at the weekend - it's a rather expensive car to buy to do 1000 miles per year - which would seem to be where you are heading at that rate!

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You're right, of course, but then it is arguable that I don't need a car at all living in London - even without the "free" travel pass. Much cheaper to hire a car for the odd long journey. However, after 50 years of driving it's a drug I can't give up and I can afford it - no point in leaving the money to the offspring :lol: