Just ordered!

[maddogsetc]

Well, have just taken the plunge and ordered . Have been a Disco (Land Rover) owner for 8 years, been waiting for a new model but got tired of paying for 22.5mpg etc.

First read about the PHEV about a month ago (on a Disco forum!) and been waiting for the dealer to get their demo, which I was the first to drive 'out of the box' on Tuesday. Managed 52mpg over 30 miles mixed driving with less than 25% starting charge. Probably 80% + of my mileage is trips of <30 miles so am hopeful that I will manage way better than that.

Dealer can't believe his luck with this car - selling them like hotcakes! :shock:

 

[Hypermiler]

Hi maddogsetc
Congrats! We ordered a few weeks ago having only driven the diesel but have now tried the actual phev. Am a bit nervous of buying from a manufacturer that doesn't have the best reputation in the uk per jd power etc but fingers crossed it will be reliable.

Same as you I do lots of fairly short journeys with the 2 kids - needed some more room having coped with a polo for long enough. Will also use for family hols instead of Prius. Also wanted option to tow in future. We tend to keep our cars a long time so this is a long term investment. Our Prius still drives like a new car and battery is fine so hoping similar tech in phev will last.

Who are you getting your home charger from - British gas?
Cheers
H

 

[maddogsetc]

Hi Hypermiler, thanks, when do you get yours? Seems mine should be here mid-June

I was a bit nervous about going to Mitsi too but in my case nothing to do with the manufacturer's reputation, having come from Land Rover! That said, I have loved the Disco and feel a bit like a cheating husband not buying another! Bit sheepish about owning up to it!

Biggest difference is leaving the comfort of big posh shiny polished showrooms for an old-fashioned grease monkey garage :lol:

But I just couldn't justify paying >£50k to buy and getting mid 20's MPG any more.

What did you think of the PHEV? I was really pleasantly surprised at how nice it felt to drive. Am used to 'slow' so the acceleration wasn't a problem for me, but the ride was smooth, refinement good and although the interior isn't up to the standards of LR, Audi, BMW, VW etc, it's not at all bad.

A few little niggles - the brake regen paddles work opposite to what they say (- decreases, + increases :? ) and why did they leave the cupholders in the boot :roll: But I'm sure these will pale into insignificance when I think of all the fuel I'm saving.

Haven't investigated the charging thing yet. Are there others apart from BG available?

 

[jaapv]

Unfortunately charging is still a bit primitive in the UK. Why don’t you get a charger that runs from a standard wall socket? My car came with it included over here in Holland, even if we have a decent charging infrastructure in place (over 1000 public charging points in central Amsterdam alone)

When visiting the UK I simply plug it in wherever the house owner allows, using a plug adapter (13 Amp fuse!)

 

[Hypermiler]

Hi

Charging - yes it comes with normal domestic socket charger which takes 5 hours vs 3 hours on a special home charge unit. In the uk we have a government grant to provide free home chargers and there are lots of companies installing (not just British gas who Mitsubishi recommend on their uk website). There is a list of approved chargers on the OLEV website and easy to find installers on net. We registered online with British gas but they've not been in touch after about 2 weeks...

Agree the public charging system is not great and I am unlikely to bother with those as they don't tend to be cost effective.

Driving the phev - yes very smooth and quiet, especially after driving the diesel a couple of weeks before. Totally agree re braking paddles - apparently the minus increases engine braking as it is supposed to be like changing down a gear (so why do they number them the wrong way round?). By the way I saw a discussion re brake lights and whether they come on when using paddles - our guy said they do come on (not sure at what B level) so we will look a bit daft coming down steep hills with brakes on all the time!

If you are interested in saving fuel, check out hypermiler.co.uk but ignore the daft comments on slipstreaming etc!

Timing - promised by end June but hoping mid June. Just debating about the paint and leather protection and whether to trade in the polo or sell it ourselves...

Cheers

 

[maddogsetc]

Just heard I should be getting mine w/c 16th June

This forum is really promising - some good contributions and informative discussions. One of the things that made ownership of my present/last car so successful was the existence of a really good forum so it's really encouraging that we have such a great start here already

Need some extra smilies though, not enough options to choose from :ugeek:

 

[apyds]

Are you in the UK maddogsetc. Mine is due on 20 June. Hear the boat is landing in Bristol today and told about 10 working days after that. Literally, counting down the days :!: :!: :!: :!: :ugeek:

Gotta say this is a really good forum as well! Thank you.

 

[Hypermiler]

Hi both
I am getting excited too - keep measuring the distances of all my journeys and thinking - "yep that should be all on ev!" Drat - smilies don't seem to work on the ipad!
Apyds - do you have a charger yet - any thoughts on British gas vs others or whether to bother with 30 amp?
I think this forum is essential when getting such a new and different car especially when the dealers don't have all the answers!
Cheers H

 

[apyds]

Hi both
I am getting excited too - keep measuring the distances of all my journeys and thinking - "yep that should be all on ev!"

Absolutely; I have been doing that for the past two months since ordering this car. Worked out the distance to take both kids to school, then to work and back as roughly 29 miles - every time I drop them off now I keep thinking if I drive carefully enough I should be able to do all that on EV. As soon as I get this car I am going to volunteer to drop the kids off (my wife will be impressed) :lol:

Apyds - do you have a charger yet - any thoughts on British gas vs others or whether to bother with 30 amp?

I should mention (for those not in the UK) that the UK government is paying for charging points to be installed at peoples homes for free up to 12 AMP.

I went with Chargemaster as they can fit it faster than British Gas (they apparently have fewer customers but build the charging points for British Gas). When they installed I paid the extra £90 for the 30 Amp to be future proof. One downside was that the charging cable that comes with the PHEV does not fit the 30 AMP so you have to buy the charging cable for an extra £132 for the 16 Amp 3 meter or £145 for the 16 Amp 5 meter from here:

https://evconnectors.com/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=j1772&product_id=122

I wasn't really that bothered as the cost of the cable comes out of the business (as I suspect it will be the same for most people who buy this car). Also you have to bear in mind that the PHEV cable that comes with the car is only 12 Amp. So if you want faster charge times you're going to have to invest in a 16 Amp cable anyway so its worth paying the extra.

 

[jaapv]

Hi

Charging - yes it comes with normal domestic socket charger which takes 5 hours vs 3 hours on a special home charge unit. In the uk we have a government grant to provide free home chargers and there are lots of companies installing (not just British gas who Mitsubishi recommend on their uk website). There is a list of approved chargers on the OLEV website and easy to find installers on net. We registered online with British gas but they've not been in touch after about 2 weeks...

Agree the public charging system is not great and I am unlikely to bother with those as they don't tend to be cost effective.

Driving the phev - yes very smooth and quiet, especially after driving the diesel a couple of weeks before. Totally agree re braking paddles - apparently the minus increases engine braking as it is supposed to be like changing down a gear (so why do they number them the wrong way round?). By the way I saw a discussion re brake lights and whether they come on when using paddles - our guy said they do come on (not sure at what B level) so we will look a bit daft coming down steep hills with brakes on all the time!

If you are interested in saving fuel, check out hypermiler.co.uk but ignore the daft comments on slipstreaming etc!

Timing - promised by end June but hoping mid June. Just debating about the paint and leather protection and whether to trade in the polo or sell it ourselves...

Cheers

Actually the Paddles work as follows:

The righthand one works as advertised, decreasing the braking effect and the lefthand one increases the braking effect - in steps from 0 through 5. Level 0 = no braking effect, freewheeling, 5= maximum braking effect, passenger complaints :mrgreen:

BUT: the righthand one also functions as an on-off switch by pull-and-hold. And by switching on it comes in at level 2.
One can also set the braking by the Selector Lever by pulling left and down, and increase levels that way up to 5 by repeated pulls, but you cannot reduce the braking levels that way, nor switch it off

Using Adaptive Cruise Control will switch off the regeneration level as well and revert to standard level 2.

The thing that I find couterintuitive is that one has to shove the Control Lever forward in order to reverse.


I would recommend Waxoil paint protection. There have been complaints about microscratching by carwash machines.

 

[maddogsetc]

Hi all, Apyds & Hypermiler, yep I'm in the UK, guessed you were too (Apyds), from the comment about needing a boat earlier in the year :lol:

Like you both I'm looking forward to saving the weekly trip to the petrol station to hand over £100+, am a bit nervous about the occasional longer journeys that we do (like trips to the Alps for example :?: ) so it's encouraging to read others' experiences on here.

I've been looking at the various charging stations and TBH am surprised how many different manufacturers there are, some units looking somewhat smarter than others. I've decided to hold off for a bit because I'd ideally want mine located in a car port / garage which I haven't built yet but I am nervous about the deal being withdrawn prematurely so might have to bite the bullet anyway. I'm able to plug mine into an ordinary outdoor socket for now and as I'll do most of my charging overnight the time to charge is not too big an issue.

Am I right in thinking that, whichever supplier I choose, they provide only the hardware? Or am I signing up to their electricity tariff too?

jaapv - maybe the braking situation is reversed for LHD? Although I've only driven the PHEV (in RHD) once it was definitely the minus paddle which increased the regenerative braking. :? But I'm also pretty confident that on the car I drove the minus paddle was on the left :? :?

 

[jaapv]

WELL, I must confess after 1/2 a year and 18000 Km I have never even looked at the symbols on the Paddles. And yes, the lefthand one (which increases the braking effect) is indeed marked minus. I would like to add that I only started using the paddles after I got really familiar with the car - and not too often even so. They do not do very much for fuel economy in my experience, but setting 5 is quite handy for going downhill.

 

[Cityblueboy]

I ordered mine on Wednesday 4th June. My dealer told me pretty much whatever colour I wanted would be September delivery. I've gone for a frost white Gx4h, changing over from a 2008 LWB Shogun so used to the interior and mmcs. Really looking forward to it. My commute is 38 miles round trip with about 9 of that on motorway. I'm hoping to cut my fuel bill by 75%.

 

[maddogsetc]

It's on the lorry

Looking good for Monday :lol:

 

[apyds]

It's on the lorry

Looking good for Monday :lol:

So envious :mrgreen:

Do you mind me asking whereabout in the country you live?

I'm in the south west and my dealer still insists mine is not going to get to me until next weekend (possibly week Monday). He won't even guarantee that. So peed off waiting for this car :twisted:

 

[maddogsetc]

I'm in Hampshire. Not got a guarantee of Monday yet but as it's showing as having been loaded up I'm optimistic. Apparently all my extras were fitted by Mitsubishi so the dealer just has to do a PDI & charge it (no polish / Autoglym etc. been offered or pushed, unusually :? ).

Been really encouraged by some of the other posts on here about people getting 90mpg etc. My decision making was based on c. 50mpg+ so if I can get nearer to 90mpg the 'payback' period will be better than I'd hoped for.

 

[apyds]

I'm in Hampshire. Not got a guarantee of Monday yet but as it's showing as having been loaded up I'm optimistic. Apparently all my extras were fitted by Mitsubishi so the dealer just has to do a PDI & charge it (no polish / Autoglym etc. been offered or pushed, unusually :? ).

Been really encouraged by some of the other posts on here about people getting 90mpg etc. My decision making was based on c. 50mpg+ so if I can get nearer to 90mpg the 'payback' period will be better than I'd hoped for.

Thanks; hope you get it and enjoy driving it. Guess I'll just have to be a bit more patient.

 

[Highspen]

I was in New Zealand recently on holiday and the media was full of adverts, so I dropped into the local Mits dealer in Te Awamutu to try one. Really struck by it and once home immediately visited Mantles (before the suitcases were fully emptied - if the truth be known) and drove their GX4h. An hour later I was sitting back in front of the salesman signing for a GX4hs - probably his easiest sale of the day I thought, but he has since told me that he has stopped "selling" PHEVs and just has a stack of order forms ready and lets the car do the job for him.

I ordered Atlantic Grey, as their Pearl White demo model definitely made me think "white van" after a short while. A light silver like the new Mazda 6 or Merc might have been a pleasant option, but hey! decision made it arrives on the boat in August so I am just sitting on my hands and quite clearly cruising the web looking for opinion from like-minded individuals.

 

[schlumbel]

Mine has arrived at the dealer a week ago. I also decided for grey which they call medium or titanium grey here in Switzerland. But, as the dealer is still on holiday I have to wait another week until I can take it ;-(
For me the decision was very easy: 10 km to work, charge station at work (no charge) and a free plug at home. And my employer supports economy friendly cars: he takes 50% of the 4-year leasing costs if emission is below 99 g/km CO2, which the PHEV beats easily. So my decision was very fast as there is no other hybrid with such practical value in that price range (and my beloved Camry is 12 now ;-). And the test drive was convincing in all aspects. Great performance and really down to earth design; I'm not a friend of too much "show" in terms of status symbol.
...another 7 days.

 

[maddogsetc]

That must be SOOOOOOOOOO!!!! frustrating :!: