Ideas to max-out your MPG

[Kaboom]

Hi All,

It has to be said that the Outlander PHEV is a very frugal vehicle indeed - even when you've run out of drive battery.

But are there any ways to eke even more miles from the drive battery and fuel tank? ...I think so.

A while ago on this forum someone suggested taking the regen-braking down to B0 to get extra MPG.
I'm happy to report that this really is working for me and my MPG is up: the Outlander wheel bearings are so excellent that it freewheels for ages without using any fuel or drive battery.
So this has become my focus; I still use the regen-braking, but only to slow my descent on a hill, or any other time when the freewheeling gets to be too fast.

I have also discovered that cruise control automatically sets the regen-braking back up to B2 - so I am using cruise control less... :roll:

Anyone else up for trying this?

Thanks,

 

[greendwarf]

Kaboom,

This is exactly how I drive the car around Sarf Lundun. On my usual routes there are plenty of gentle inclines where coasting works a treat in B0 and especially in slow moving queues.

I did learn to use Cruise Control (no ACC on Gx3) when in France at half-term on the autoroutes and thought it probably gave a smoother drive even with B2 as the car was better at adjusting the throttle than I could do. - can't say about consumption though, as I didn't track it. Interestingly, on return to UK I didn't think it worked as well on our motorways - probably due to more traffic and the need for more frequent road speed adjustments.

It is a pity you can't set the regen to a particular default value as I put the car into neutral each time I stop (traffic lights etc.) and so have to remember to flick the paddles when I pull away.

 

[anko]

How about this: http://www.themotorreport.com.au/58513/2014-mitsubishi-outlander-phev-economy-review

They say they have beaten the 1.9 l/100km figure by Mitsubishi by 0.2. In fact, they have done slightly better, as the 1.9 l/100km assumes you drive 77 km between charges. They did 80. Had they stopped after 77 km, the consumption would have been even a bit lower.

 

[Stvtech]

I would agree that B0 makes more sense for better mpg, and that is how I generally drive mine.

When lifting the throttle the car slows down noticeably if the regen setting is anything above B0.
Due to the inefficiencies involved, you will always need to take more power out of the battery to get back to the same speed, than was put in by the regeneration that caused the vehicle to lose speed in the first place.

Gentle use of the brake pedal uses regen and doesn’t seem to use friction brakes, so to my mind, other than hill descent, using any setting other than B0 and coasting a lot makes little sense if economy is your main goal.

 

[dajoen74]

The B0 setting is also the default for me. I try to use B0 as much as I can. But it also depends on the roads. When I know the road very well I try to do inclines without leaving the ECO range of the powermeter. Just before I reach the top I make sure I am in B0 and coast down when I reach the maximum allowed speed I increase B so I can maintain that speed.

I do think that using the Cruise Control will give almost the same effect as I see that while on cruise control on a long street doing 50km/h most of the time to power meter is leveled at 0 power, sometimes charging a bit, sometimes using power.

For me it's a fun car to drive.

 

[RazMan]

Am I missing something here? Surely when you are cruising at a constant speed (under say 74 mph) you are using very little power and if you need to slow down then you either lift off the accelerator to use regenerative braking or, in a more urgent stop, the physical brake. Why on earth would you prefer to accelerate up to cruising speed, freewheel (therefore slowing down) and then accelerate back up to cruising speed again? It must drive the following traffic crazy, having to brake / accelerate / brake all the time simply to keep up with you or avoid rear-ending you!

 

[Kaboom]

Hi,

Great to read you're all doing it already.

Happy Easter!

 

[greendwarf]

Am I missing something here? Surely when you are cruising at a constant speed (under say 74 mph) you are using very little power and if you need to slow down then you either lift off the accelerator to use regenerative braking or, in a more urgent stop, the physical brake. Why on earth would you prefer to accelerate up to cruising speed, freewheel (therefore slowing down) and then accelerate back up to cruising speed again? It must drive the following traffic crazy, having to brake / accelerate / brake all the time simply to keep up with you or avoid rear-ending you!

You are correct that in heavy cruising traffic then it would be annoying for others - although coasting is unlikely to result in "rear-ending" unless the following driver was going to hit you anyway However, in Sarf Lundun traffic does not travel at a constant speed there is always an acceleration/braking pattern with gaps between cars opening and closing. So, apart form the obvious coasting down inclines, it seems to make sense to coast up to the back of stationary traffic at traffic lights, roundabouts, junctions etc. when the opportunity arises in B0 rather than rush up and then brake as in a normal car. The advantage of using B0 for this instead of B2 etc. is if the lights etc. change before you get there then you don't have to immediately accelerate to restore the power "lost".

 

[CharlieH]

While doing my first motorway trip, I used mostly B0 and on the first leg starting with full battery I averaged 50MPG over 110miles.

on the return with no battery I was struggling to get above 40mpg, but then I tried to charge the battery while driving and then use the battery, over the last 30 miles or so this improved my MPG upto 44MPG ??

Was this a coincidence of the road/hills or this this a better strategy for driving with a flat battery ?

 

[Marksuk]

I always try to deplete the drive battery completely over a journey if possible whether it is 30 or 70 or 200 miles. Generally if travelling over 65 I put it on "save" to retain any charge. Also if it is stop/start or short trips I do try to use it in normal or electric mode.
(No heat being the method to force electric mode). As the weather improves this is becoming much easier.

 

[CharlieH]

Short journeys im fine, I can drive to work on electric only and have used the tips to pre-heat and avoid the ICE starting etc.

My query is really on "long" motorway journeys (just over 100miles). Can it be true that if I drive and charge and then run in EV mode this is more efficient than continually switching between, Parallel, Series and Electric modes.

I need to check my tyre pressures too

 

[Marksuk]

Personally I never use the charge button using the engine to charge the battery as I read it was an in-efficient method.

 

[maby]

Personally I never use the charge button using the engine to charge the battery as I read it was an in-efficient method.

I think it's safe to say that it makes no sense to press "Charge" while you are driving at relatively low speeds in serial hybrid mode and, in particular, in stop-start traffic. There have been suggestions that it can be more efficient to run at higher speeds with Charge selected - I think the jury is still out on that one. I have experimented and not seen any noticeable improvement in fuel economy.

 

[CharlieH]

Ok so my experience was at about 70-80mph and not in series mode but in direct drive, is that parallel.. I think it is.

and I found that driving and charging and then driving in ev was more efficient than letting the car do its own thing.

maybe if I go slower it would sit in series mode ?

 

[jaapv]

Personally I never use the charge button using the engine to charge the battery as I read it was an in-efficient method.

You are not far off, but it is the way to instruct your car that you need maximum battery charge later on, whatever the reason.

 

[greendwarf]

While doing my first motorway trip, I used mostly B0 and on the first leg starting with full battery I averaged 50MPG over 110miles.

on the return with no battery I was struggling to get above 40mpg, but then I tried to charge the battery while driving and then use the battery, over the last 30 miles or so this improved my MPG upto 44MPG ??

Was this a coincidence of the road/hills or this this a better strategy for driving with a flat battery ?

Have you checked the altitude across the trip? I find, even in Sarf Lundun, that I regularly travel journeys where I am gradually gaining or losing altitude and that on gentle down hill slopes I will coast for long periods - of course the return journey up hill will need continuous power, either EV or ICE. So, yes, I think it is more to do with the terrain (and possible wind direction) than any advantage in using Charge and then EV.

 

[Kaboom]

UPDATE

Hi all,

So, after regularly getting around 70 or 90 MPG and being pleased with this result...I can now happily report the following:

My economy has gone up to 123mpg on a whole tank of fuel by mostly coasting on B0

This result is astounding.

 

[kentphev]

UPDATE

Hi all,

So, after regularly getting around 70 or 90 MPG and being pleased with this result...I can now happily report the following:

My economy has gone up to 123mpg on a whole tank of fuel by mostly coasting on B0

This result is astounding.

Gobsmacked! I've been using B5 thinking that harvesting kinetic energy wherever possible was good. What is the journey profile where youre getting 70-90 and 123 mpg or is that your long term mpg with lots of EV-only driving?

This week I did a 280 mile round trip on M25 and M4, started with full battery, did 2 80% top ups and a full charge mid-way. Did steady 50-65mph and averaged 56 mpg.
Didnt use any heating or cooling and temperate was around 13-15 degC.

I used to do hyper-miling in my old Honda CRV and got really good results, although coasting in a normal car is supposed to be dangerous because of increased stopping distances. Since the PHEV starts to regen as soon as you hit the brake the same (hopefully) doesnt apply

 

[Kaboom]

Hi kentphev,

I've kept it as real as possible (as real as hypermiling can be): charging the car whenever reasonably possible and I have been keeping it on eco mode too.
Using B1,2,3,4 & 5 downhill only when it starts to run away from me and when coming up to junctions etc and B0 when not.
Light pressing of the brake pedal brings on the brake lights (for the car driving behind you) whilst still regenerating....

It's mostly local mileage, but I did do about 80 motorway miles on battery save with the heater running and still got this result.

Coasting in the Outlander won't be dangerous, because you never take it out of gear and so are always in control - which is brilliant!

I'm more than happy. Try it and see what results you get...

 

[greendwarf]

Hi kentphev,

I've kept it as real as possible (as real as hypermiling can be): charging the car whenever reasonably possible and I have been keeping it on eco mode too.
Using B1,2,3,4 & 5 downhill only when it starts to run away from me and when coming up to junctions etc and B0 when not.
Light pressing of the brake pedal brings on the brake lights (for the car driving behind you) whilst still regenerating....

It's mostly local mileage, but I did do about 80 motorway miles on battery save with the heater running and still got this result.

Coasting in the Outlander won't be dangerous, because you never take it out of gear and so are always in control - which is brilliant!

I'm more than happy. Try it and see what results you get...

This is exactly what I do in Sarf Lundun. Yes, the car gradually slows down in B0 but, unless you've got someone up close behind, then so what if the speed drops by 5 mph before you blip the accelerator again? I also thinks it makes me a safer driver because I am watching traffic conditions etc. ahead more so as to anticipate how far I can coast without using EV before I have to stop.

I also routinely put the car into N when stopped, saving a bit more power :mrgreen: