PHEV electric range dropped?

[ausphev]

G'day all.....new to the forum.

Had an Aspire PHEV for about 6 weeks now, Ive only charged it about 5 times so far.

I noticed after the first few charges when I started the car (aircon off) before driving it said 48 or 49klm EV range.

Last 2 charges that figure had dropped to 40-41klm when the charge has finished and I start the car for the first time.

Surely the batterys have not deteriorated already? Or am I missing something?

Thanks, RB

 

[gwatpe]

Hi ausphev, there is a lot to read here, and you are in good company.

The battery range has become part of a lot of discussions in topics on many threads.

I would expect that what you are seeing is the car adapting the range, based on the way the PHEV has been driven in the period averaged over approx 30mins before the car was last powered down. This may sound daft, but this is how the battery range is calculated by the car.

My suggestion is to only record the kWh the car takes to refill the battery with a full recharge from the empty indicator, ie when the car enters series or hybrid mode in EV mode.

If you have an Australian release PHEV, then you need to enter say the electricity cost at $100 per unit. The car will then record on the graph charge cost screen kWh x 100. The computer has a fault that does not scale the graphs properly on the AUS released car. You will then have some record of each maximum recharge amount. If the maximum kWh for any single full charge is displayed as over 1000 then the battery capacity is probably in spec.

We will have to wait some more time before a bug fix is released that solves the problem. Should really have been done yesterday, but heh we have already parted with coin, so we will have to hope it is fixed in an update. Maybe the fix will also include some real display of usable actual battery kWh.

 

[maby]

As gwatpe says, the figure you are looking at is just an estimate based on your recent driving style and can be very inaccurate. The important figure is actual range achieved - run your own tests. The best range achievable - Eco mode, no heating or aircon, no lights - seems to be just over 30 miles or 50 km. It is very dependent on conditions and driving style, but I did manage 29.5 miles a couple of days ago without going to any special action. Eco mode does seem to make quite a difference as does heating, aircon or lighting.

 

[MadFrankie]

As gwatpe says, the figure you are looking at is just an estimate based on your recent driving style and can be very inaccurate. The important figure is actual range achieved - run your own tests. The best range achievable - Eco mode, no heating or aircon, no lights - seems to be just over 30 miles or 50 km. It is very dependent on conditions and driving style, but I did manage 29.5 miles a couple of days ago without going to any special action. Eco mode does seem to make quite a difference as does heating, aircon or lighting.

Agree

My drive to and from work is 16 miles each way. From a full charge my readings suggest I can do 34 'electric miles', so maths would suggest I could get to and from work on one charge...

In reality, on my way to work I use up 21 'electric miles' and 19 on my way home. That's in eco mode with air con and stereo on and driving in the 'eco' range as much as possible. So if I was to fully charge up over night while the car suggests I could get to work and back on it, in reality I can't.

Why? Well, my journey is up and down hills, stop start at traffic lights and roundabouts and involves general around town driving. (Being more up hill to work and down coming home, hence the difference in to and from work 'electric miles')

As mentioned before, take ALL readings on the PHEV with a pinch of salt as they are so dependent on lots of different inputs.

Just to add to the mix, I've been testing the regen on drives to and from work now I've got my basic expected values, and I can do the same regen paddling and braking at the same places in my journey and I can get different results, (only 1 mile extra but a mile is a mile), so again as much as you think you are driving the same, subtle changes in speed, weather conditions, traffic will affect it.


I've got to a point where I now ignore the numbers flashing at me from the dash. I know roughly where I can get to on one charge driving normally and then work off from there...it's easy to get too bogged down with a mile here and there.

 

[maby]

...
I've got to a point where I now ignore the numbers flashing at me from the dash. I know roughly where I can get to on one charge driving normally and then work off from there...it's easy to get too bogged down with a mile here and there.

It is, indeed! It costs around 14p to drive an Outlander PHEV one mile on petrol - nowhere near enough to get into a tizzy about it...

 

[Regulo]

After a full charge I've seen EV ranges from 39 miles to 24 miles displayed. I usually manage between 24 and 29 miles around town, on the trip meter, regardless of what the car estimates when I start out! So, as said, don't worry about what the display tells you, it's guess is as good as yours. I find my driving style has changed since getting my PHEV, gently does it is now my watchword, and I'm enjoying my new laidback style!

 

[MadFrankie]

Just to add to the points above, for the first time I went further than my range suggested.

Forgot to change last night so had 11 'electrical miles', the trip to work is 16 real miles and usually use 21 'electric miles' getting there...

Today, I got to about 100m away from my work as the 'electric miles' ran out on the screen.

It's all voodoo I say.

 

[maby]

You probably continued to run on EV for a fair time after the screen showed no "electric miles" - you really need to display the energy flow and wait till the engine kicks in to know when your battery is flat. when I ran my test earlier in the week, the "electric miles" were zero and the battery meter showing empty a good couple of miles before the engine kicked in.

 

[ausphev]

thanks for all the replys. estimated range went up yesterday and right down today after high speed country drive with aircon on (30deg C today here)

 

[gwatpe]

I think for clarity we need to make a clear distinction between ESTIMATED and ACTUAL range values in any discussions.

We all know the estimated range displayed is fiction. For the same trip in similar road conditions, the actual distance traveled for X number of kWh should not change that much, but it still can.

I am fortunate to have a colleague just down the road with a PHEV Aspire as well and I get to compare driven km on only battery with local regional relatively flat driving conditions. In the end, it really is only kWh required to fully recharge a completely flat battery that is going to be a reliable guide for drivers on what a battery can deliver, range wise, while EV driving. The different driving styles between people makes the range traveled on a single recharge very subjective.