Front windscreen

[duetto]

outlander phev on order basic one. dooes the front windscreen have a heating eliment like the rear window does on most cars.

Also if running on battery how does the heater work, is there a heating element? as the engine will not get very warm running on battery?

 

[maby]

The windscreen heating is blown air like most cars.

regarding the heater, there is a difference between the entry level model (GX3 in the UK) and the higher level models (GX4 in the UK) - the GX3 does not have an electric heater and will always run the petrol engine for heat. The GX4 does have an electric heater and can generate some heat from the battery without burning petrol. Even the GX4 does resort to burning petrol when the ambient temperature gets close to zero - which has caused some heartache amongst some owners.

 

[duetto]

maby.... thanks. I will miss the heating element on my fords windscreen then, melts the frost in seconds no scraping needed.

Now on the heater, on a cold morning, what settings should i run with for the car to warm us up, was going to set it to ECO MODE and for the battery to run as needed.

on our test drive was told best to keep to leave it on ECO and i think there was a B setting too via the gear selctor. The basic outlander has no heater seats either.

Hate first mile or so on a very cold morning till the heater kicks in, any tips please.

hoping to get delivery by february

 

[maby]

Just set the temperature you want and accept that you are going to burn petrol. If you have selected a comfortable 20-odd degrees, I don't think that Eco is going to do much for the first few miles - it is going to burn juice.

 

[duetto]

OK thanks for that info, still on a learning curve.

 

[Ozukus]

I have a GX3h and on frosty mornings it takes about 3-4 minutes to defrost the windscreen, unless I use de-icer spray. Within 5 minutes you have reasonable heat coming from the engine to warm the car.

Once this has occurred the engine will cut in and out and restart when your interior ambient temperature drops, though it will also be charging the battery as its not driving the wheels, so the engine running isn't a total waste.

ECO mode won't make a great deal of difference when first heating as it has to get the car to an ambient temperature first, and personally I've seen very little difference between ECO mode and non ECO mode, though I do have quite a light foot.

The B settings only have to do with regenerative breaking and will have no impact on vehicle heating.

You have to live with the fact that over winter you will need to burn petrol in order to obtain a comfortable ride, however did find when it was around 12 degrees was quite comfortable with an extra layer on, instead of what I would have done, which was ditch the coat in the back and turn the heating on.

 

[maby]

The learning curve does not have to be very steep unless you choose to make it so. You can get into the car and drive it as if it were any other modern automatic and you will get along fine. You can study all the books for days, discuss here and devise complex strategies and you might reduce your fuel consumption by a few percent - up to you if you think that is worth it!

 

[anko]

Once this has occurred the engine will cut in and out and restart when your interior ambient temperature drops, though it will also be charging the battery as its not driving the wheels, so the engine running isn't a total waste.

I really think it is the other way around: the generated electricity is used to drive the car but not to charge the battery. When you are waiting for a traffic light, fuel consumption is equal to when the engine is truly idling, so not charging. When you drive away, revs and fuel consumption goes up. You may also notice that, when the engine is started for heating purposes and not because you have depleted your battery, the car will not engage in parallel mode until you reach 125 km/h. Or press Charge.

But indeed, not a total waste.

Side note: In GX4h models (have to get used to that, as we have Business Edition, Intense+, Instyle, Instyle+, etc.) I think some of the generated electricity also goes to the electric heater.

 

[greendwarf]

Just set the temperature you want and accept that you are going to burn petrol. If you have selected a comfortable 20-odd degrees, I don't think that Eco is going to do much for the first few miles - it is going to burn juice.

I'd also suggest set the fan at low speed will also reduce demand on the ICE

 

[maby]

Just set the temperature you want and accept that you are going to burn petrol. If you have selected a comfortable 20-odd degrees, I don't think that Eco is going to do much for the first few miles - it is going to burn juice.

I'd also suggest set the fan at low speed will also reduce demand on the ICE

From the tone of duetto's post, I'm not sure he is too interested in keeping the ICE off under these cold conditions - he seems to be more interested in getting the car warm!

 

[gwatpe]

I really think it is the other way around: the generated electricity is used to drive the car but not to charge the battery. When you are waiting for a traffic light, fuel consumption is equal to when the engine is truly idling, so not charging. When you drive away, revs and fuel consumption goes up. You may also notice that, when the engine is started for heating purposes and not because you have depleted your battery, the car will not engage in parallel mode until you reach 125 km/h. Or press Charge.

:?:

not sure what this has to do with heated windsceens, but

At low speeds with the ICE running, energy is managed to drive the wheels at the selected speed and any surplus charges the battery. Fuel consumption while stationery is about 1.8L/h and all of this is shared between heating and cooling needs and recharging the battery. When you start driving away very slowly, engine revs, stay the same but fuel consumption increases and the generator loading increases in proportion. As speed is increased with increased loading, engine revs do increase as well as fuel consumption. This is not linear, and the PHEV is working out the optimum rpm with supplying the load and generator makes up the differences. The ICE has about a +/-50% fuel consumption range about the average as the computer tries to find the right mix.

I have found that pressing the CHARGE button does speed up the time the PHEV computer takes to engage parallel hybrid operation. I use it routinely to reset the computer battery SAVE point, as I generally find that the computer will tend to cycle the battery 1-2 bars in SAVE mode as it adapts to changing driving conditions. Not sure of the long term implications on battery life. Time will tell.

 

[HarryP]

I'd also suggest set the fan at low speed will also reduce demand on the ICE

Eco does control the fan speed reducing power, but also reduces the drive power to keep you using a light right foot

I find turning off the air con, but keeping the blower on low works well and doesn't sap the battery once you get up and running