Battery Charge/Save Buttons

[LastTemplar]

Hi everyone, just got my 3h model 2 days ago and I love it
I read through the whole user manual a couple of times but I am still very interested in how those two buttons next to the gear shift work. The manual seems like it was translated with google translate and I cannot clearly understand what those buttons do.
Could anyone explain what exactly the Battery Charge and the Battery Save buttons do?

Thank you!

[elm70]

Welcome

Both CHARGE and SAVE ... cause to start the ICE (sometime not immediately, but, that's a different story)

When hitting CHARGE ... the ICE start and does charge the main battery (note ICE will continue to run also when the car is not moving, it may stop only in case of regen breaking)
When hitting SAVE ... the ICE start (if the car is moving) .. and the ICE run just for keep the battery charge level constant ... so in practice ICE start for cover eventual electric energy consumption ... you should experience that the ICE should stop when the car is not moving.

When and how to use CHARGE and SAVE is a long discussion ... in practice ... normally it is better tolet the car to do everything in automatic mode


PS: Both CHARGE and SAVE do nothing if the battery is over 80% fully charged ...

[ThudnBlundr]

When the battery shows as empty, there is still around 30% of charge left, which the car uses as a reserve. When the ICE starts, it tries to run at its most efficient, which typically means with a wide throttle opening. So that the engine doesn't run away, it uses the surplus ICE power to recharge the batteries, and the range slowly increases. When it has added about 2 miles range, it goes back to EV.

When you select the Save button, it basically does the same process as above, but keeping the range about the same as when you pressed the button.

When you select the Charge button, the engine will still try to run most effieciently, but won't switch off till the batteries are nearly full charged or if you're putting a lot of power into the battery via regeneration. I'm not sure exactly what the charge is when the ICE stops running.

Charge can be useful if you're going into an EV-only zone, but it is quite expensive. It typically takes 3 miles of petrol to charge for 1 mile on EV. Save can be useful if you're doing a motorway section followed by some town driving at the end. As it behaves much the same as if the battery is showing empty, there's little downside as long as you do empty the battery in the end.

[Edit] D'oh! Beaten to it! Agree with the previous post, and I didn't realise it was 80% [/Edit]

[LastTemplar]

Wow, thanks so much for such fast replies guys
this makes much more sense now, very good explanations. Do you use these buttons often? I feel like I would rather not touch these and let the car figure out everything on its own.
Also, is there anything on the dashboard that tells if the vehicle is currently running on ICE or Power? I can't usually tell if the ICE is running, it's so quiet compared to my previous car, which was a Diesel Nissan X-Trail

[elm70]

Wow, thanks so much for such fast replies guys
this makes much more sense now, very good explanations. Do you use these buttons often? I feel like I would rather not touch these and let the car figure out everything on its own.
Also, is there anything on the dashboard that tells if the vehicle is currently running on ICE or Power? I can't usually tell if the ICE is running, it's so quiet compared to my previous car, which was a Diesel Nissan X-Trail

I have been using mainly the charge button

During holidays trips, which I can't recharge my car by the main (like I do when I'm at home) ... I do the following:
- When running between villages, so not using any autobahn ... I like to click on charge and use B3 when I'm between villages at speed over 70km/h ... and then run in EV mode inside villages ... the PHEV design is not efficient when running in hybrid mode with speed below ~65km/h ... so not only crossing a village in EV mode is better for the people of the village, but as well, it is more fuel efficient too to run in pure EV mode when driving slow

- When I cruise on autobahn ... I like to use CHARGE ... for have 10/15km of EV range .. and then switch to EV mode for 10/15km ... and charge again ... this because I believe making the ICE to run continuously for longer time then on normal automatic mode (every 2km) it sounds more efficient to me

Only issue ... you should all time remember to switch off CHARGE .. else if CHARGE is on .. and car is standing at a traffic light .. it is a big waste in efficiency

Other challenge ... when using CHARGE ... is that when arriving at destination ready for charge the car from main .. ideally the EV range should be zero ... and it is not always easy to save or charge the exact km needed for reach the destination which is normally outside the high speed street which should be beneficial to be done with CHARGE on (but just for get the exact needed EV range for arrive at destination)

PS: I did notice that using charge the ICE kick in in a more lazy mode ... while SAVE does kick in almost in full power mode ...

[LastTemplar]

Thanks, that's good advice

[anko]

Charge can be useful if you're going into an EV-only zone, but it is quite expensive. It typically takes 3 miles of petrol to charge for 1 mile on EV.

I strongly believe it is a misconception to think Charge mode is expensive. Charge mode burns as much fuel as normal mode and / or Save mode with the same nett result. The only difference is who is in control over the start / stop pattern, you or the car.

Btw: what does "It typically takes 3 miles of petrol to charge for 1 mile on EV. " really mean? Do you mean to say it requires 3 miles of driving to gain 1 mile of ev driving? If so, what does it say about the cost of running Charge mode?

[jaapv]

Don't defy Internet wisdom, Anko. You'll get flamed...

[anko]

Don't defy Internet wisdom, Anko. You'll get flamed...

Maybe just this once ....

[Regulo]

Also, is there anything on the dashboard that tells if the vehicle is currently running on ICE or Power? I can't usually tell if the ICE is running, it's so quiet compared to my previous car, which was a Diesel Nissan X-Trail

Probably the easiest way is to use this: