[jmboule]

Wondering if anyone could help me with this.

35 miles motorway trip on sports mode using ICE at 60 - 70mph. Arrived home with approx 25+ miles Electric charge from 0 miles battery. I noticed higher fuel consumption because it appears the car drives only upto 5th gear. Battery charging quickly whilst driving.

Driving same distance on HEV mode. Normal fuel consumption, averaging around 54+ mpg and EV milage is maintained albeit with approx - 3 to - 4 miles less EV miles from start.

Question: Should I drive on sports mode with the knowledge of increased fuel consumption but gaining some EV mileage or just stay normal?

Just to add that sports mode feels really great as the vehicle is very responsive making overtaking a breeze.

 

[iooi]

Wondering if anyone could help me with this.

35 miles motorway trip on sports mode using ICE at 60 - 70mph. Arrived home with approx 25+ miles Electric charge from 0 miles battery. I noticed higher fuel consumption because it appears the car drives only upto 5th gear. Battery charging quickly whilst driving.

Driving same distance on HEV mode. Normal fuel consumption, averaging around 54+ mpg and EV milage is maintained albeit with approx - 3 to - 4 miles less EV miles from start.

Question: Should I drive on sports mode with the knowledge of increased fuel consumption but gaining some EV mileage or just stay normal?

Just to add that sports mode feels really great as the vehicle is very responsive making overtaking a breeze.

Only you can answer that question, as it depends on do you want to spend more on petrol to gain a very small amount of EV mileage?

So how much EV distance did you have when you set off? when in sport mode.

 

[Back again]

It will cost far more to charge up using the ICE than by plugging the car in (even at extortionate public chargers). As I understand it the mode that allows the car to increase charge whilst driving is only of any use should you need to enter a city with enough charge to avoid using the ICE.

 

[jmboule]

Only you can answer that question, as it depends on do you want to spend more on petrol to gain a very small amount of EV mileage?

So how much EV distance did you have when you set off? when in sport mode.

0 EV mileage.

But if I can gain that extra 23+ EV mileage, does it not make up the extras fuel consumption?

 

[iooi]

0 EV mileage.

But if I can gain that extra 23+ EV mileage, does it not make up the extras fuel consumption?

Thanks.

How much did the MPG drop in sport mode for the same trip? As you would have to work out the cost of home charging compared to the lost MPG used to gain the charge.

What you really need to do is do the trip in sport mode. Then do the same trip in HEV mode. Try it with full EV charge & empty EV charge. See what the difference is in MPG & EV charge at the end.

Which is why it has been worked out, that charging at a public charger for a PHEV, Yes depends on the price, is more expensive than simply running on ICE, again depends on the cost of fuel.

If you get 30 miles from a full EV charge & it costs as much as just over 1/2 gallon of petrol, then it is not cost effective to use a public charger. Unless it is a free one.

 

[billynibbles]

Wondering if anyone could help me with this.

35 miles motorway trip on sports mode using ICE at 60 - 70mph. Arrived home with approx 25+ miles Electric charge from 0 miles battery. I noticed higher fuel consumption because it appears the car drives only upto 5th gear. Battery charging quickly whilst driving.

Driving same distance on HEV mode. Normal fuel consumption, averaging around 54+ mpg and EV milage is maintained albeit with approx - 3 to - 4 miles less EV miles from start.

Question: Should I drive on sports mode with the knowledge of increased fuel consumption but gaining some EV mileage or just stay normal?

Just to add that sports mode feels really great as the vehicle is very responsive making overtaking a breeze.

As a further example, I recently drove from near Bridgwater in Somerset to Warrington, Cheshire, a journey of 200 miles or so. On the outbound trip, I started with a fully charged battery using M5 and M6 mostly. By Bristol, my MPG looked fabulous, something like 400 mpg in automatic mode. Then of course it started to reduce as I got closer to Warrington. The overall was 72 mpg. On the way back, I just used the conventional hybrid mode, having had no chance to recharge and got 62 mpg.

Gratifyingly, the above figures do seem to tally. If you view the first trip as a 170 miles trip on petrol at 62 mpg (like my return trip) but with an extra 30 miles thrown in for 'free', you arrive at 200/170 x 62 = 73 mpg , not a million miles from what I actually seem to have achieved.

Then I repeated the trip - first leg the same as before. On the way back, I used Sport Mode, and noticed that it was really slow to improve the mpg figures, struggling to peak somewhere around 45 mpg. However, 25 miles from home I had enough 'juice' to get home without using the ICE so was able to observe the mpg improving. Finally got home with around 59 mpg showing. So not too much difference to my original 62 mpg and a whole lot more fun to drive (for most of the way). Both drives uneventful so took about the same time as each other.

I'll have a look next time I'm cruising in Sport Mode by switching to manual gear changes. I suspect you're right about 5th gear.

 

[jmboule]

5th gear on the motorway equals increased consumption.

 

[billynibbles]

5th gear on the motorway equals increased consumption.

Your theory is correct. Drove back from London to Somerset today. Got cruising on the M3 in Sport Mode - took control of the gears, and yes, it was in 5th. There was no problem changing to 6th, but I suspect that would a) improve MPG but b) slow down the rate at which it accumulates battery miles.