Battery mileage

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SS2115

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 5, 2023
Messages
76
I had started another post 'freeway charging' but it seemed to take a bit of a left turn so thought to start a new one.
History: I took delivery of a used 2020 Outlander PHEV early January and drove it home 1092klms during which I saw after dividing drive settings and habits a battery mileage climb to 66klms remaining. Very pleased.

However, since then the cars been doing all the short trips around where I live which is why I got rid of the gas guzzling ICE only car and went to the PHEV - three days or so of EV and lower petrol requirements.
I've charged the car with its provided single phase unit a couple of times. The most charge I seem to get out of it is 33klms.
By using the B5 setting while driving and turning on Charge, the most i can get the battery up to is 24klms and this shows an almost full battery gauge and I can feel the B5 isn't as strong which the forums tell me to expect when the battery is getting full - ie: regenerative braking dials itself back.

So in this respect its disappointing. I thought with a full charge I was supposed to get about 50 - 60klms EV?
Its the 2.4l motor with the 13.8kW battery pack.

Can anyone shed any light on this? Is there something I need to do to get my EV klms back?
The vehicle has just turned 32,000klms and is like brand new.
 
There are a huge range of factors that affect range.

The most common is driver behaviour, rapid acceleration and hard braking will reduce range.
(I think we've had a poster who discovered that their son was driving the car like a 'boy-racer' and the guessometer was accurately reflecting the result of that behaviour.)

Low temperature reduces range.

High temperature reduces range.

Carrying extra load reduces range.

Driving uphill or into headwinds reduces range.

Adding a cargo box to the roof reduces range.

Driving at higher speeds reduces range.

Under inflated tyres reduce range.

The guessometer looks at everything that is happening now, and what happened on your last trip, and then tries to guess how far you'll get if everything stays exactly as it is now. You can see it instantly drop if you put the air-conditioner on for example.

If none of the above apply to your circumstances, start looking for faults.

For example, if the handbrake is on, or sticking, or calipers are sticking, those things can create a sudden drop in range.

Remember though, the guessometer can only provide a guess, it may be way off the actual mileage that you achieve.
 
So I drive 1.7klms to work 3 days a week. Tiny uphill when I leave the driveway, very long slope downhill to the main road and from then on dead flat till office.
Yes - do have the air on all the time - its summer here in Sydney and not stinking hot but very humid.

Two days a week I climb a long windy hill to pick up mail at the PO and I turn the charge on so the engine is running and charging. Then I still leave the Charge on and B5 as well all the way down the same hill to the main road and its flat to the office. Trip of 3.4klms.

Just me in the car plus a spare tyre in the back and a briefcase.

Weekends I drive around a bit more - mostly flat once on the main road to shops, family, beach etc and up to about 9 - 12klms. But even with Charge on all the time with B5 it won't go over 24klms and will drop reasonably quickly despite me only ever driving in the green zone of the power meter. I have never actually gone to the point of the motor cutting in - the EV on its own is perfectly adequate. In all the weeks I've had the car now the engine has only run when I've elected it to by switching to Charge.

It very easily charges to 24klms no matter how long I have Charge and B5 on but will not go over. Its not the length of the drive being too short because as i mentioned, the blue gauge is topped out and the regeneration dials itself back.
And plug in charger has seen between 28 - 33klms but no more.
Yet on the big trip down from Qld to Sydney it saw 66klms but now no more than half that.

I really had hoped to obtain at least 50klms after a good charging session - plug in or forced charging while driving but it seems unobtainable.
 
What on earth is a klm? It's km, simple. The SI unit of distance is the metre, m. 1000 of those is a kilometre, km.
 
Remember, the guessometer doesn't tell you how far you can go on a charge, it's just a guess.

From the information you've given, it sounds like you are charging most of the time, this will also confuse the guessometer, because it is trying to work out how far you'll get before you need to charge again, based on recent history and what you're currently doing.

Finally, "Charge mode" will not charge the battery above 80%, this is to protect the battery.
 
The brakes feel fine. Vehicle has only done 32,000 kilometres.

I purchased from a huge Mitsubishi dealer on the Gold Coast and it went through their workshops and came out 100%. They gave me a new 7 year/150,000 kilometre warranty and 8 years on the battery - its a 2020 model.

There doesn't appear to be any rolling resistance from the brakes and they pull up well and straight. Very good actually for an 1880kg car and my 100kg aboard.
 
AndyInOz said:
Remember, the guessometer doesn't tell you how far you can go on a charge, it's just a guess.

From the information you've given, it sounds like you are charging most of the time, this will also confuse the guessometer, because it is trying to work out how far you'll get before you need to charge again, based on recent history and what you're currently doing.

Finally, "Charge mode" will not charge the battery above 80%, this is to protect the battery.

Yes - Ive read that.
But even if I was to get 50kilometres range out of the vehicle, 80% = 40 kilometres and I'm only getting 24.

What if I went and used one of these high speed DC chargers? Would that sort of "clear" it by being a more forceable charge? I've never used one but I read you can set them to stop at 80% or 100% full charge.
 
As an owner of a 2020 Exceed with 38000kms on it I generally get between 38-42 kms showing on guessometer after a 240v domestic charge. By driving very casually on flattish roads eg 60kph, for at least the last half of the charge the guessometer has produced a guess of 60km when it had 28000 kms on it, and 50 klm yesterday with 38500 kms driven.
Best advice I can give is dont take any notice of guessometer until approx 30-50% of power is used. It will then give you a slightly more accurate display of kms left based on the current throttle usage of first 30-50% charge.
Hope this helps, my two bobs worth.
 
After the big trip to collect the car and it showed 66 kilometres range, I did run it all the way till the gauge blue had practically disappeared and that was when I did its first plug in charge and only achieved 33klms with the display showing it to be full, and the charger had cut off with the dashboard exclaiming Charge Complete.

Since then I ran it down to 12 kilometres remaining before charging with plug in again, and again I only achieved 33klms when the gauge said full and the charger cut off.

As also stated, I since been 'fooling around" with the driving charge and B5 to see if I can extend the range but the very best they give me is 24 kilometres.

So as you suggest, I'll do a few weeks of running it right out and plug in charging overnight to see if it increases.

I get what you say about it basing itself on my right foot, but I can assure you I don't provoke the engine to come on on its own (unless I push the Charge button).
I'm not into squeezing every last drop out of the petrol tank like some - I'm very happy that the car is so much more frugal than my previous chariot. Even with the big trip I averaged 3.9l/100k which compared to my 13 - 14l/100k car is brilliant.
But at the same time, if the car is supposed to give me between 50 - 60kilometres as an EV before resorting to the ICE, then that's what I want and feel entitled to get. Not 24 - 33.

Thank for the advice - forums are great with helpful contributors.
 
OK.

Given all of the above, I'd like to repeat the recommendation that you check the brakes.

Other forum members have had problems with sticking calipers, and this significantly reduces the range.

The easiest way to check, walk around the car after a trip and hold your hand near (not on) the hubs/discs.

If you have one or more sticking calipers, you'll feel a lot of heat near the wheel.

Note I say near, because if you have a hot disc and you touch it, you can get burned before you register the heat.

(Yes I have made this mistake myself)

:(

If you have a TPMS system that monitors heat as well as pressure, that can be an indication.

(i.e. hot disc heats wheel and tyre on a longer drive)
 
PS. I think we've had one member that was driving with the hand/emergency brake on.

They hadn't realised that the handle has to be all the way down to parallel (with the floor) before the brake is completely off.

(I'm not 100% certain that was on this forum)
 
SS2115 said:
After the big trip to collect the car and it showed 66 kilometres range, I did run it all the way till the gauge blue had practically disappeared

But did you get 66 km actual range driving? I don't think so, as no one else do that range on a full battery....

SS2115 said:
and that was when I did its first plug in charge and only achieved 33klms with the display showing it to be full, and the charger had cut off with the dashboard exclaiming Charge Complete.

Which is a bit low estimate, but how much actual range do you get?

Forget all about the display guessing range, it is only an estimate.

SS2115 said:
So as you suggest, I'll do a few weeks of running it right out and plug in charging overnight to see if it increases.

And do log actual range without fussing around with the charge button or save button.

And to be honest, you will never get 50 - 60 km of actual range, no one else does either.
 
I agree with the above post. Your initial 66km range achievement is creating expectations for recreation in different driving conditions. Don't go by the guessometer.
 
Addressing brakes:
handbrake is electronic. No handle. Switch. Up for on with orange indicator and down for off. I'm old fashioned and don't like it much but it came with the car. It also has the hill assist which I do sort of like.

Good idea about checking wheel temps and I will do so.

No, I don't have TMS. I was a bit surprised it wasn't on an Exceed but I don't miss it.

Addressing the range:
Yes, I also was surprised about getting 66 Kilometers as from all my research into the outlander PHEV it was unrealistic. So I am not expecting it to be that high always.
At the same time, I did expect to see more than 24.
The 66 range did last 5 days though which I was only mentally logging and I estimated about 40 Kilometers. With AC on - it's always on. Sydney is muggy.

Since then, the 33 Kilometers plug in charge seemed to quickly drop and so do the 24 self charge if I let them. If I use b5 and the charge button I seem to be able to keep it between 19 to 24. But as mentioned, never higher and it seems to drop very quickly to around 10 - 12 if I don't switch on charge or b5.

Is there any way to clear the guessometer or set up back to start from a "default/new" to be rid of it's driving history and I can start it again from scratch? Then I can start logging as well and perhaps get a new history around my driving style and local environment.
Is it what they call bmu? I thought bmu was the system automatically compensating for the batteries age. There seems to be a lot of opinion that Mitsubishi have their algorithm for this incorrect.
 
SS2115 said:
The brakes feel fine. Vehicle has only done 32,000 kilometres.

I purchased from a huge Mitsubishi dealer on the Gold Coast and it went through their workshops and came out 100%. They gave me a new 7 year/150,000 kilometre warranty and 8 years on the battery - its a 2020 model.

There doesn't appear to be any rolling resistance from the brakes and they pull up well and straight. Very good actually for an 1880kg car and my 100kg aboard.

The brake callipers are known to stick and significantly reduce the EV range. Be sure to check the temps next time you drive of all brake discs. And don't touch 'em, they would be very hot and you can burn yourself.
 
Sorry. Went for a weeks holiday with family and didn't take the car.

I have an infra red heat gun - I use it for motors and other things in my line of work.
Drove up hill and down hill today - about 4.5 kilometres. Left car completely default - no charge, no B5 etc.

Arrived to office and took wheel temperatures - shone though the spokes to the discs themselves.
Two fronts 402 C and 399C.
Backs 387 and 402.
Ambient temp 20C/road surface temp also 20C. (Sydney overcast and gloomy this morning).

I will keep checking but these are my first readings.

Also today the battery ran down to 9kilometres remaining on battery. I've had it plugged in all day at the office - green light on charger is now flashing. So will be interested to see what kilometres it gives me, but also I will start the log of actual to indicated mileage.
 
Those temperatures are interesting.

They would suggest that, at the very least, you're not using regenerative braking.

Or, the pads are rubbing all the time.
 
AndyInOz said:
Those temperatures are interesting.

They would suggest that, at the very least, you're not using regenerative braking.

Or, the pads are rubbing all the time.

Temps after a slightly longer drive this morning -
Two fronts 379 and 402 and two backs 363 and 374.
Ambient this morning was 22 degC.

Both yesterday and this morning I drove the car 'default' - just hit the Ready button and drove off as per another posters advice to start logging actual mileage and indication mileage.

Yesterday I charge the car on the supplied Mitsubishi charger. It had dropped to 9 kilometres remaining and charged to 32. I didn't expect to feel any regeneration with the battery "fully charged" as per other contributors to this forum - ie: I understood it drops off the higher the battery is.
To be honest I can't feel any difference between default B2, B1 or B3. I feel it at B4 and particularly at B5.

And in regards to the brake pads, disc pads do always lightly rub the surface of the discs - thats normal.

So I'm logging the actual and indicated mileage and I'll monitor the brakes for a while longer but at the moment I don't find them alarming. Later this week I'll have a round trip of about 16 kilometres so it will be a better check than the short drives so far.
 
SS2115 said:
AndyInOz said:
Those temperatures are interesting.

They would suggest that, at the very least, you're not using regenerative braking.

Or, the pads are rubbing all the time.

Temps after a slightly longer drive this morning -
Two fronts 379 and 402 and two backs 363 and 374.
Ambient this morning was 22 degC.

Both yesterday and this morning I drove the car 'default' - just hit the Ready button and drove off as per another posters advice to start logging actual mileage and indication mileage.

Yesterday I charge the car on the supplied Mitsubishi charger. It had dropped to 9 kilometres remaining and charged to 32. I didn't expect to feel any regeneration with the battery "fully charged" as per other contributors to this forum - ie: I understood it drops off the higher the battery is.
To be honest I can't feel any difference between default B2, B1 or B3. I feel it at B4 and particularly at B5.

And in regards to the brake pads, disc pads do always lightly rub the surface of the discs - thats normal.

So I'm logging the actual and indicated mileage and I'll monitor the brakes for a while longer but at the moment I don't find them alarming. Later this week I'll have a round trip of about 16 kilometres so it will be a better check than the short drives so far.

So I owe AndyinOz an apology. I'm such a dill - still in holiday mode I think (too much sun!).
The disc temp readings are missing the decimal point which I couldn't see in the bright sunlight on the first two readings. I read the temps again after a short drive home and in the light of the evening could see I'd been missing the decimal point.
So my readings need to be divided by 10. ie: 379 becomes 37.9.
 
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