New member / soon to be Owner

[GolfjunkyC60]

Hi all,

I have just ordered a GX4h in solid white. as i suspect with most business users it was the massive savings in Tax that has made me go for this but i do still think its a nice car and the '4' has some nice options on. Its on a 10 week delivery so exciting times ahead.

any pearls of wisdom that i should immediately know ? i should elaborate, i will be doing 4.5m to and from work each day and the normal family stuff at the weekends. i average 800-1000m per month. i have no idea about modes or paddles. looking through your posts i see that most of you are annoyed at repeat newbie questions but to be honest it is sometimes hard reading through pages of posts from people knowing what they are talking about and not putting it in simple easy bullet points for new owners. if there is such a thing somewhere and i have missed it i am sorry.

thanks in advance

Greg

 

[Regulo]

Welcome, Greg.
Well, there's not much to tell, really! Just like any new car you've ever owned, the worst thing I found was learning where all the switches were, what they did, and why they did it. I have to admit the MMCS still has too much information flapping around in it for my liking, but I just set it as I want it, and leave it. That seems to be common to many cars now, too many distractions in the cabin, when all your attention needs to be on the world outside. You will get phenomenal mpg with your pattern of use - even allowing for electric charging, I think you'll be very impressed. Drive it, and enjoy. I've had my 4H for 15 months now, and still want to get out in it as much as possible. I'm never annoyed by repeat newbie questions, I was a newbie myself, once!

 

[TheBunyip]

Hi GolfjunkyC60,

I have only had my GX4hs a week after a three month wait so I am still enjoying what may prove to be an extended learning curve. I read lots on this forum during my wait which was worth the effort even if quite a bit went straight over my head on first reading.

Although a marketing document. I found this a good place to start. https://www.mitsubishi-media.co.uk/doc/1526/Outlander PHEV 16MY press pack Oct 2015

This series of short videos is also useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca3A_OiFRAY&list=PL1jrwxAZBR6lHVeXE4iN6SAMbNCH-xCyS There are other interesting videos on You Tube that are worth wading through.

Your 4.5 mile commute and weekend family stuff could well see you achieving better than the much derided "official fuel consumption figures". Providing you charge up at home on a regular basis. That would upset a number of folk on here who wanted the official test lab result in their real world high mileage use. The lure of the PHEV's (UK) BIK tax benefit seems to have stopped some from buying a car which actually met their particular transport need, In your case you might find yourself having to refresh the fuel in the fuel tank every three months if your weekends do not include any lengthy, petrol burning, non EV runs.

I take your point about the old hands being a bit put out by the repeat questions from the newbies. On another car forum where I was a moderator some years ago I finished up writing a series of posts for new drivers. I do not know enough to even start such a thing yet but there are a good few here (like Regulo and several more you will soon identify) who are trying to help us newbies out. So do not hesitate to ask your questions.

This "Tips and Tricks" post looks like the beginning of a collection of good ideas for us newbies. http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1779 worth a read too unless of course if you have not already found it..

You will find that the owners manual for the Outlander PHEV is a bit of a monster when you eventually get yours. It is not the sort of thing you can digest in one or two sessions. If you fancy it you can download the Owner's manual for the MY14 PHEV here http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=866 Our MU16 will have a few differences but not too many.

I hope you enjoy many profitable hours researching this great bit of evolving technology. I have found lots to admire and enjoy in what Mitsubishi have produced and fully expect to learn to live with a few foibles that are inevitable in a volume manufactured product.

 

[jdsx]

Hi all,

I have just ordered a GX4h in solid white. as i suspect with most business users it was the massive savings in Tax that has made me go for this but i do still think its a nice car and the '4' has some nice options on. Its on a 10 week delivery so exciting times ahead.

any pearls of wisdom that i should immediately know ? i should elaborate, i will be doing 4.5m to and from work each day and the normal family stuff at the weekends. i average 800-1000m per month. i have no idea about modes or paddles. looking through your posts i see that most of you are annoyed at repeat newbie questions but to be honest it is sometimes hard reading through pages of posts from people knowing what they are talking about and not putting it in simple easy bullet points for new owners. if there is such a thing somewhere and i have missed it i am sorry.

thanks in advance

Greg

Fwiw, I thought Hypermiler's tips in this thread for a beginner were pretty good:

http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=632

HTH!

 

[GolfjunkyC60]

Thanks for the responses, i am having a 13amp outside socket fitted at work so i can charge it everyday (apart from when i cycle to work on a mon/fri) question is should you always wait for it to run down the charge or can i top it up everyday ?

My other q is, do you have to pay to use the ecotricity points at Ikea and such places?

I really wanted a BMW 320d tourer but the maths just dont add up at this time in my life, im hoping to save about £150gbp per month

thanks in advance, Greg

 

[ChrisMiller]

I haven't seen anything on this forum to argue against keeping the electricity topped up, which is what I do. Li-ion batteries can react badly to being totally discharged, but the car electronics won't (normally) allow this to happen.

Ecotricity are currently free, both for the 'club card' and per use, they seem to be at most motorway services and (as you note) IKEA stores - they emphasise that they reserve the right to introduce a fee in future (I assume our taxes are subsidising them at present).

Most of the low-power (UK standard 3-pin socket) chargers require a fee to be in the club (something like £7.50 a month is typical) and often for each use (over 10p per kWh which is more than my marginal rate at home) - some public sector buildings may have free ones, as may workplaces (sounds like you've got your own). For my personal use, this doesn't make sense, but if I was driving > 10 miles every day to park somewhere that had one, that view could well change.

 

[GolfjunkyC60]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaa delivery is now 4/4/16. cant wait. now wishing 8 weeks of my life away :lol:

 

[jaapv]

Don't worry about operating the car and paddles and stuff, the car's electronics are smart enough to drive it as-is and get good results. Just a few tips - use the Save button on the motorway to save some electricity for urban driving, if needed the Charge button to build up charge if desired in similar situations, also run on Charge in the mountains and use the paddles to brake on a slope downwards, like you would shift down in a normal car.
The rest is chasing the last percent point.
Oh - and disable stability control when driving up a slippery slope with 4WD Lock engaged.

 

[ansellrk]

Just jumping into this conversation cos Jaapv mentioned 4WD.

I'm getting my new PHEV in 6 weeks (well 37 days but whose counting) and I live in sunny North Wales. I do a lot of mountain stuff and getting the PHEV was based on the savings in BIK + having a good vehicle to handle those odd off road moments. My existing temporary company car is a Merc Estate C220 which is awful on anything except motorways!

I've not seen a lot about 4WD so, how good is it off road? What tips are there for saving me being embarrassed when I can't get my 4x4 over a grassy field? I won't be doing anything extreme but I'd like to think the PHEV can handle a bit of snow and mud on a fair gradient?

Thanks

Rob

 

[GolfjunkyC60]

Thanks for the advice.

so when i take delivery is there anything i should buy, i heard somehwere that i may need a lock from Halfords etc to use public charges ?

what points can i use?
i think there is different types of connectors but have no clue
is it just the Ecotricity card i need to sign up for ?

one further point is that now i am taking earlier delivery i will be going from loughton, essex to Poultons park (peppa pig world) on the 8th. any tips as i dont think we will be stopping for very long at any service stations if we do as its only about a 2hr drive. i dont think i can charge it at the hotel (Holiday Inn Fareham) or at Peppa pig world. just read a horror story about a Leaf owner not being allowed to plug his car in at Peppa pig world.

thanks in advance
greg

 

[GolfjunkyC60]

what on earth does all this mean ?????

 

[jaapv]

Huffin'and puffin'. A good example of making something simple look complicated. Disregard, it is full of mistakes.

You can charge the car in four ways:
3-pin domestic outlet, using the charge box provided 10 amps - 5 hours
Mennekes type 2-type 1 cable (not supplied), using any normed charging station - 16 amps -3.5 hours
Tethered charging station with type 1 plug - 16 Amps -3.5 hours
ChaDeMo fast charger 125 Amps. - 30 minutes up to 80%


Errors:
All other options listed ( 32 and 22 Amps) are not relevant as the car will only accept 16 Amps max through the Mennekes port.
- a normal 16 Amps station will charge in 3.5 hours, not 5.

 

[GolfjunkyC60]

Thanks, so should I buy another cable? Is this the norm?

 

[jaapv]

You don't really need it for the UK, but if you want to use public charge points on the Continent you need it.

 

[GolfjunkyC60]

Thanks. Do I need a lock for the one supplied?

 

[maby]

Thanks. Do I need a lock for the one supplied?

That rather depends on the nature of the places that you live in and visit really, doesn't it? I've never felt the need to lock my cable and it has never been stolen but, on the other hand, we live in a fairly quiet semi-rural place with off road parking. If I were leaving the car on charge in an inner city environment, I might think differently

 

[jaapv]

When in dodgy circumstances I park with one wheel on the cable. On "real" chargepoints it will lock into the chargepoint with a swipe of the membership card and can only be unlocked by a swipe with the same card. Mostly the car-side plug will take a small padlock. I have never `(yet?) heard of a cable being pinched, though.

 

[anko]

Errors:
All other options listed ( 32 and 22 Amps) are not relevant as the car will only accept 16 Amps max through the Mennekes port.

Although the car will not be fit from the additional amps, the information is not wrong. When you happen to encounter a 22 or 32 amps charging station, the car will need 3.5 hours to charge from empty to full.

The chart simply lists all known (Is it complete? don't known) types of charge stations and what you can expect when using those.

As for the 16 amps stations, they consider them rated 3 kW and not 3.7 kW as we would do. At 3 kW, 3.5 hours would not be achievable. But 5 would indeed be way too much.

 

[jaapv]

That begs the question: why rate a 16 A 240 V charge point at3000 W ? I have a run of the mill one at home and it charges the car in exactly 3.5 hours.