Explanations please!

[birdsofaphever]

We had our brand new car delivered on Tuesday, with literally no run through from the driver. As a result, we are learning on the job as it were, but thought I'd try & pick your brains a little. I've studied the manual & browsed the various topics here & my questions are:

Can I charge the car just plugged into a standard socket in my house? We don't have a drive so would just have to plug the charger into the car then run the cable up the path & into the hall. There is a 3 point plug included in the kit.

What does ICE & CVT mean? Both terms I keep seeing on the forum.

What's this thing that it's not good in the winter?

Any top tips (in plain English!) to get the most out of the car?

Thanks very much in advance!

 

[Phevnumpty]

We had our brand new car delivered on Tuesday, with literally no run through from the driver. As a result, we are learning on the job as it were, but thought I'd try & pick your brains a little. I've studied the manual & browsed the various topics here & my questions are:

Can I charge the car just plugged into a standard socket in my house? We don't have a drive so would just have to plug the charger into the car then run the cable up the path & into the hall. There is a 3 point plug included in the kit.

What does ICE & CVT mean? Both terms I keep seeing on the forum.

What's this thing that it's not good in the winter?

Any top tips (in plain English!) to get the most out of the car?

Thanks very much in advance!

I'm only a few weeks ahead of you, and a numpty, so my non-technical response is:

I charge my PHEV via a standard socket and an extension lead and a RCD (residual current device). There is a thread on the forum somewhere with all the in's and out's of using extension leads.

ICE on this forum is Internal Combustion Engine and CVT is I think Constant Variable Transmission, ie the auto box does not have 'gears'.

Winter will maybe reduce the electric range when fully charged a tad but the real killer is using the windscreen demist /aircon/ heated rear screen which will severely reduce the electric range if used full blast (watch your EV range drop when you put them on full blast, then go back up when you turn them down/off).

Not sure of any top tips except if you plan your journeys to be about 30 mile round trips and you will be laughing!!

Enjoy your PHEV.

 

[anko]

CVT = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission

Don't worry to much about it, as we don't have one of these. We have only one fixed gear, used at speeds above 60 MPH.

Edit -- that should of course be 40 MPH (or approx. 65 km/h)

 

[mikehep]

Depends on which car you have. 4hs I can preheat and defrost or cool in summer. You hear a clunk when the charger comes on when heating the car. This then puts charge into drive battery to replenish what is being used by heating the car.
Don't understand last comment of only 1 gear and above 60 mph
CVT will allow ICE to scream away at modest speeds but then " catches up" with itself and sound level drops
Mike

 

[jaapv]

Yes -only the PHEV has no CVT at all...
My advice would be to read the forum to find out how the car works - there is a vast amount of information.

 

[gwatpe]

CVT = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission

Don't worry to much about it, as we don't have one of these. We have only one fixed gear, used at speeds above 60 MPH.

"anko" means the parallel hybrid mode of course.

My PHEV has been seen to engage PHM "Parallel Hybrid Mode" as low as 66kph, GPS, and disable at about 62kph, GPS, on some occasions. Other times, has been seen to engage about 80kph, and disable at about 70kph.

here is a pic of my PHEV at 62kph for some time, about 5min, pictured here, in PHM

There are a lot of parameters that modify how our PHEV operates, that a driver has little control over.

Some of the forum members, myself included are attempting to record PHEV data in a hope of documenting some of the system operations so others may benefit from specific driving styles to suit certain conditions. EV range and petrol economy seem to be polarizing some discussions, as individuals place different priorities on their values, and there is conflicting data, when the PHEV uses battery and ICE together.

There will be times when your driving style returns poor fuel economy or low EV range, and other times when the weather has a similar effect. Other times will have seemingly unexplained bonus EV range, or brilliant petrol economy.

The terrain plays a major part, and how the battery is used for a drive contributes significantly to returned petrol economies.

The trip computer, accessed through the dash screen menu, can be used to guide a driver on average petrol consumption, if reset at the right time, and there is an average EV in the history part of the MMCS.

MMC have not made the instrumentation user friendly, despite spending effort on graphics. Depending on your age, reading the absurdly small fonts on MMCS displays may be a challenge, certainly at night.

The PHEV can be a brain training exercise as a driver becomes confused when real driving distances on available petrol and battery don't seem to correlate with PHEV estimates.

I have no doubt that over the coming months, as you extend your PHEV driving style comfort zone that more questions will require explanations.

 

[anko]

"anko" means the parallel hybrid mode of course.

Of course he did And he messed up when trying to convert km/h to MPH Should have read 40 MPH or 65 km/h.

 

[maby]

CVT gets mentioned quite often and it is certainly true that the PHEV does not have it in the conventional sense, but while it is in serial hybrid mode, the car does behave in very much the same way as a CVT vehicle - engine speed is relatively decoupled from road speed. It's when you get into parallel hybrid speeds that the single speed gearbox is engaged and it is definitely not a CVT car.

 

[levant]

to me I fill with Petrol 35 litres every week and that takes me around 600 miles in total for combined journeys
My journey is 95 miles a day. I charge the care twice. at home and at work
so 50 miles electric and 45 miles petrol

Happy with the fuel/ electricity economy

I use preheating. heating during the journey and lots of regen breaking

Best wishes

 

[Nomissr]

Can I charge the car just plugged into a standard socket in my house? We don't have a drive so would just have to plug the charger into the car then run the cable up the path & into the hall. There is a 3 point plug included in the kit.

I was fortunate enough to have free charger installed courtesy of HMGov! (Via Chargemaster). During the survey I was informed that the supplied car charger should only be plugged into a dedicated house socket. The charger draws 10a so the ring circuit the plug is on should not have any other excessive loads. We have a garage with a freezer on the same circuit and that would have been ok! However the location of the garage and the plug meant that parking was going to be a nightmare so we went for the full install! Not being an electrician I'm not sure about the use of an extension lead and 10A draw?

Think the chargemaster scheme is still running but now costs £195? if your car charger can reach the house then I think u can have a tethered charge point with a 5m lead attached?

Hope this helps?

Good Luck