Owners opinions on T5 Recharge PHEV

[DanishPastry]

WHS.
Sort of wonder if PHEV (or even PE) is the car equivalent of Compact Florescent light bulbs. Better than incandescent, but only a stop-gap until a better solution comes along.
Isn't hydrogen the way to go? Inefficient conversion but perfect for mopping up renewable electricity that is generated when nobody needs it.
No doubt Hugh would advocate methane power

[glency80]

Hi Pete, i am probably going to take the leap to the XC40 hybrid as a company car, essentially saving me a couple of hundred quid per month on BIK tax!

I am a high mileage motorway driver though, every other weekend i do a 169 mile round trip twice. I'm interested in what you have said about increasing the fuel consumption as i am really concerned on the mpg on the motorway with it being a petrol engine. I can start the journey with a full battery but the return 84 miles because of turnaround time and not being able to full charge will be not be on the electric.

I'm wondering if the cost saving in tax will be eaten up in petrol!

Thanks

Emma

Consumption- on my regular 72mile trip I get about 80mpg if setting off with a full battery, PROVIDED I remember to set the very familiar route on the satnav. The clever car then uses electricity for the urban bits of the route and petrol on the motorway, deploying each fuel where it is most efficient.

My worst was a brisk criss country drive in sport mode, starting with an empty battery- 18mpg, but in sport mode it’s an indecently quick car.

Multiple local errands done on electricity bump up the average very nicely.

Top tip, the Harmon Kardon stereo upgrade sounds sublime. The standard fit system in our first XC40 was mediocre for a 40K+ car

Glass roof and blond leather give an interior ambience nicer than any black coal hole of an interior- just a pleasant place to sit.

Our first one broke down twice in the 6 weeks we had it, but the replacement car has been fine so far.

Pete

[Deleted User 2507]

I am a high mileage motorway driver though, every other weekend i do a 169 mile round trip twice. I'm interested in what you have said about increasing the fuel consumption as i am really concerned on the mpg on the motorway with it being a petrol engine. I can start the journey with a full battery but the return 84 miles because of turnaround time and not being able to full charge will be not be on the electric.

I've done 7000 miles in 3 months mainly motorway and its OK. Depends if you can charge at both ends though?

180 miles with a full battery at the start and it's about 45 mpg, but if you do 180 back without a full charge it drops to around 40 mpg. This is at a steady 75 usually on cruise. You can self generate in hybrid mode. I've had it less than 30mpg too mind you when driving "briskly" It really all depends how you drive obviously.

My total mpg for all 7000 miles is sitting around 48 mpg overall, and has been up as high as 52 mpg when doing more electric than petrol.

I'm quite happy with this though.

The built in satnav manages the electric better than when using Android Auto, but I just prefer google maps so I tend to manage my own battery, holding the electric for all non motorway driving.

[Peter8642]

Hi Emma, 84 miles each way,I think you will get 75 or 80 mpg on your outward journey, and about 40-45 on the return. Alternatively, the Satnav can do its clever thing both ways if you wish- just set your home as the final destination, and your actual destination as a waypoint. The car will then use half its electricity on the outward journey and half on the return. Overall consumption should then be a bit better than using all the electricity on the outward trip.

If you can do your weekday commute on electricity, the fuel you use at the weekend will be offset by using none in the week to give an impressive average.

Pete

[Tech57]

Had my T5 Recharge hybrid just over a week, covered 1200 miles at approx 200 a day mostly dual carriageway. Using the battery at 70, forget it. Braking and steering are obviously electronic in nature so feedback is non existent. That said it’s really pleasant to drive in urban areas on electric power and for a three cylinder 1.5 in this heavy car the engine does have some get up and go.
Fuel economy on short journeys where you can really use the electric will be great, for me it’s pitiful at 42 mpg coming from a diesel BMW 320 giving 65mpg without trying and 82 mpg being really careful. I currently refuel every 2nd day and charge every day. Therein lies another bone of contention. The On Call app is rubbish. According to Volvo site you can set a recharge schedule to utilise cheap rate energy, in reality this option does not appear in the app. My company has also outlawed diesels due to resale values.

[Peter8642]

Hi tech57, take a look at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2385 page 2 of the thread regarding charge timer glitch- my first PHEV suffered causing me to reject the car.

The workaround is to set a timer on the socket or wall box that you plug in to, but Volvo have promised a fix for their software sometime never.

Pete

[Tech57]

Hi tech57, take a look at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2385 page 2 of the thread regarding charge timer glitch- my first PHEV suffered causing me to reject the car.

The workaround is to set a timer on the socket or wall box that you plug in to, but Volvo have promised a fix for their software sometime never.

Pete

Thanks Pete
That explains a lot, hope they find a fix for it as that’s a pretty serious flaw. Car won’t precondition unless hooked up to the mains. I was hoping to charge from 12 at night till 04:30, precondition till 04:45 then go to work. my outside socket is an IP66 RCBO enclosure so adding a timer isn’t possible.

Mark

[Peter8642]

I think you can still set a timer to precondition the car.

If you can access the wiring to your outdoor socket inside the house, insert a timer and set it midnight to 7am the socket will then be powered up for charge and precondition. If you leave home at 4.45 you might need to start around 11pm to get a full charge- 1 hour of daytime electricity is still cheaper than running on petrol.

I’m curious- a BMW 320d is a hard act to follow. How does the Volvo compare for comfort and enjoyment on your 200 mile routine?

Pete

[Deleted User 2507]

I just plug mine in at midnight these days with the schedule issue. It was working for me until they parked it for a while.

You are correct the OnCall app is a roll a six to start application, you never know what you are going to get. Can try 4 times to set a Parking Climate timer and it times out every time. So fed up with it this week and the snow and ice I tend to just manually start Parking Climate 30 mins before leaving as the car is still plugged in from my overnight Octopus 5p charge. That always seems to fire first time (touch wood famous last words )

Anyway I've decided to change my career goals and the car is going back with the job in a couple of months. This is my first foray into the White Elephant world of PHEV and plugging in and it was very underwhelming, as much as it is being rammed down our throats this is the future, it just isn't. The infrastructure isn't ready and imho I'm not sure it will be in 10 years.

Probably going to go back to a last hurrah in a diesel as I have to buy my own car again I think that says it all.

[Logical Rhubarb]

PHEV cars are nothing more than tax solutions for companies, both the car manufacturers and the companies that drive them.

Any perceived climate benefit is what the car manufacturers are pushing but in reality the majority of company car drivers don't ever plug them in. This removes any climate or economy benefits and makes the car's much more polluting that petrol, or even diesel.

The true magic bullet for economy or climate will be the fully electric, but not at present technology.

I'll give it another 10 years before the tech is there, and another 10 years after that before the country's charging infrastructure is up to spec.

Obviously there are some exceptions, and some people will plug their PHEV in to try and make the most. But they're really trying to make the most of a bad job.

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/science-en ... t-54170207

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-46152853