Eco Button

[jaapv]

Well, a differential does not deliver equal power either, unless it is locked....

 

[maby]

Well, a differential does not deliver equal power either, unless it is locked....

On a decent 4WD, it should be a limited slip differential.

From the point of view of the behaviour I think I'm seeing in the Outlander, I think it's beneficial - there is no need for 4WD at high speeds on good road surfaces. There are plenty of conventional drive 4WDs that attempt to switch to 2WD at high speeds in the interests of reducing fuel consumption and wear on systems - the problem is that these are mechanical systems and the switching is not necessarily fast enough to get you out of trouble if you lose the back-end while in 2WD mode. Provided Mitsubishi have got the programming right, the Outlander should be able to react in milliseconds to events, thus giving the best of both worlds.

 

[7055]

ok - I did a lot of experiments on my way home this evening and I believe that it spends quite a lot of its time in 2WD. I was running with a flat battery, cruising round the M25 at between 50 and 60 mph and keeping an eye on the MMCS energy flow display. Most of the time, this just showed the engine driving the front wheels and charging the battery but no drive to the rear wheels. The battery would charge up till the EV range showed one mile, then it would run EV till it was flat again. If I hit the accelerator hard, it would kick in drive from the battery to the rear wheels. If I pressed the 4WD lock button, then it showed continual drive to the rear wheels. The ECO button did not seem to influence this behaviour.

Sorry, that is contrary to the official PDF by Mitsubishi. It is a software bug that it does not show the rear wheels driving the car.
It is always in four wheel drive, regardless of the ICE.
http://www.mitsubishi-outlander-phev.com/Documents/EN/01.Outlander%20PHEV_E.pdf

Scroll to page 5.

It can't be a software bug, it's shown in the owner's manual:



It's also shown in the brochure

PARALLEL MODE
"The engine provides most of the power, with assistance from the motors WHEN REQUIRED"

Seeing as how the engine is not connected to the rear wheels, it must be 2wd during these circumstances

If it was really in 4wd all the time like you say, what would be the point of the 4wd lock button?

 

[anko]

In parallel mode, a little torque is applied to the rear wheels, to maintain the 4WD characteristics of the car

so says Mitsubishi. Is not reflected in the MMCS energy flow diagram.

There is even some power fed to the front motor to prevent it from dragging. This is also not reflected in the MMCS energy flow diagram nor in little info screen in the dashboard.

4WD lock can do several things that normal mode does not necessarily do:

- maintain same wheel speed front and rear
- evenly distribute power over front and rear wheels
- ...

There has been a stiff discussion on what exactly it is :mrgreen:

 

[jaapv]

I don't really care what it is exactly, as long as it works - and it does.

 

[Kim]

Tried the "Eco-Button" today for the very first time, but for 37 km (my usual work way) it didn't show any FWD action at all.
Only for a few short moments, on an ever so slighly downhill part, there was a RearWD-only action to see in the flow-a-gram...

 

[maby]

Tried the "Eco-Button" today for the very first time, but for 37 km (my usual work way) it didn't show any FWD action at all.
Only for a few short moments, on an ever so slighly downhill part, there was a RearWD-only action to see in the flow-a-gram...

I don't think there is any particular link between the selection of ECO mode and the balance of 2WD vs. 4WD operation.

 

[george]

As it is now the ECO button is USELESS.
MITSUBISHI must convert it to EV only function, then the button will be USEFUL.

Obviously the electric heater can be operational in EV only mode, the software must just switch the heater temporarily off when the electric motors ask high power, at millisecond time resolution. :ugeek:

 

[maby]

As it is now the ECO button is USELESS.
MITSUBISHI must convert it to EV only function, then the button will be USEFUL.

Obviously the electric heater can be operational in EV only mode, the software must just switch the heater temporarily off when the electric motors ask high power, at millisecond time resolution. :ugeek:

You are probably right - the current programming of the ECO button brings very little benefit so Mitsubishi may as well make it the "EV only while there is charge left" button.

 

[jdsx]

You are probably right - the current programming of the ECO button brings very little benefit so Mitsubishi may as well make it the "EV only while there is charge left" button.

Help! admin, someone has hijacked maby's account :lol: :lol:

 

[maby]

You are probably right - the current programming of the ECO button brings very little benefit so Mitsubishi may as well make it the "EV only while there is charge left" button.

Help! admin, someone has hijacked maby's account :lol: :lol:

:lol: I don't think I've ever objected to the idea of it, just questioned the value of it! Provided they don't make it mandatory and don't insist on me paying for an option I don't want, they are welcome to reprogramme a button I don't use!