Question on T5 Hybrid Range.

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Setanta
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Post by Setanta »

When I sit into a fully charged car the battery range indicates 46km (29 miles) on Pure setting. The best I have achieved on easy driving through 30-50km/h zones, before the petrol engine kicks in, has been 32km (20 miles) - ambient outdoor temp was 17C. I'm curious what kind of electric-only range other hybrid drivers are getting? Also, would you expect any difference in electric-only range between D and B+ modes?
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skimm
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Post by skimm »

Totally dependant on the ambient temperature.
Anything below 15C will reduce your range.

The best I ever got in my T5 Twin Engine was around 28 miles (45km), doing around 40mph ( around 60kmh).

Also, remember that the car needs to be run in - some say its bull sh* but I have noticed that the range has increased since new. So if yours is a brand new - then it should improve over time.

The B mode is essentially energy recovery mode, it does it by (I think) engine breaking so will slow you down when you're coasting. You should use it cleverly by switching it on and off when rolling down the hill etc where you've got more kinetic energy.

Finally, when you're going on a longer journey, switch to hybrid, and use the built in sat nav. The car will recognise you're on a motorway and will switch to petrol where it's more efficient. Otherwise, when sat nav is not on, even in hybrid the car will first use the battery before switching to petrol..

Oh also - don't forget to inflate your tyres. Depending on your personal preferences and perhaps makes minimal differnce, but if you inflate to max prescribed PSI, it should help
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Setanta
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Post by Setanta »

Thanks for that, the car has currently 1400 km on the clock so hopefully I'll get a bit more out of the battery with time.
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m@rk
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Post by m@rk »

I hate to say this but you are looking at this wrong

A hybrid is not designed to be driven on battery until it runs out then become a petrol engine. It is at it's best when it's always a hybrid with the electric motor assisting when pulling away from the lights or when in slower traffic. In addition, when in hybrid mode, even when driving well beyond the range of the battery, an amount of charge is always held (and recouped as and when) so that even if you never charged the car at home ever, you would still get all the benefits of an electrically assisted engine when pulling away or needing more power

Sure if you spend most of your time around town doing short journeys, you may be able to run on electricity all of the time but remember, you have not bought an electric car with a small battery, you have bought a petrol car with electrical assistance to get better efficiency and reduced emissions.
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bba
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Post by bba »

I agree with M@ark - "you have bought a petrol car with electrical assistance to get better efficiency and reduced emissions." - trying to outsmart the car by running it in Pure mode for longer drives than the charge lasts for is counterproductive. I am on my third PHEV from three different makes and this has been clear for all of them. Peculiarly I have seen apparent newcomers attempt this approach on forums for all three.
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lfpcorreia
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Post by lfpcorreia »

I don’t think that’s exactly correct.. Volvo (and other phev makers) clearly state X miles of electric range.

The traction is indeed hybrid but that doesn’t mean you MUST or SHOULD do hybrid every trip. And the 29miles of range isn’t just on traffic lights and slow traffic. It’s there for the whole city journey (up to 125km/h)!

I’ve had mine for over a year now, and after the stay at home ended I’ve been driving whole weeks without the petrol kicking in (ever!). And with enough punch I might say..

Volvo says exactly this somewhere about the recharge line. The fact the petrol kicks - if you accelerate all the way in - is for safety reasons according to the brand.

Regarding the original OPs question, in the winter I see the range going from 28 to 32 km. And around this time of year I consistently do 36km without charging (always the same trip 😉).
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m@rk
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Post by m@rk »

I didn't say you couldn't or even shouldn't but just that it's not the optimal use of the car.

Like you , when we were locked down over Christmas we were going weeks on end without ever using any petrol where as now, I am filling the car up every week
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lfpcorreia
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Post by lfpcorreia »

That’s where we don’t align! The xc40 hybrid only makes sense (on an economical sense) IF you can manage your daily routines with 40km or charge between morning and evening (at the office).

Otherwise the price over the combustion T3 doesn’t pay over time. In my case I break even between the 3rd and 4th year..

In my opinion that is the optimal use case for any hybrid: less co2 and cheaper running costs over time..
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SteveW
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Post by SteveW »

Mine was charged overnight, have had it since April and picked it up just shy of 5000km driven, now just shy of 10k. Max charge has always brought me 40km range.
Now i've been charging it at work during the day, as it suddenly became free of charge. Today my range was 45km...
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m@rk
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Post by m@rk »

lfpcorreia wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:04 pm That’s where we don’t align! The xc40 hybrid only makes sense (on an economical sense) IF you can manage your daily routines with 40km or charge between morning and evening (at the office).

Otherwise the price over the combustion T3 doesn’t pay over time. In my case I break even between the 3rd and 4th year..

In my opinion that is the optimal use case for any hybrid: less co2 and cheaper running costs over time..
You see you are buying purely on running costs thus your maths is different. Note I am a high mileage driver (normally) in a company vehicle. I don't actually have to factor in the purchase price. But also note that I don't actually have a daily commute. I may only drive my car on 2 week days out of 5 but on those two days I could easily cover 400 miles.

To compare, I replaced a car with a BMW 2L Diesel engine that in the real worlds returned 47mpg but turning that into real world numbers, it worked out around £0.13 per mile

My T5 Recharge running costs when you combine the petrol and electricity costs are around £0.12 per mile to date. As you can see, not a huge amount of difference.

But I get a bigger heavier car, I also get an increase in power from 190bhp to 262bhp and importantly, I pay less in tax as well but my real world cost per mile is the same or slightly less.

So far it's win win win

But there is also the environmental side.

When I am doing shorts runs around town or driving at lower speeds around the city, I find the car tends to stick to electricity only. Thus I my tail pipe emissions are much less than if I were just in a T3. So much so that unlike previous cars, my wife tends to use my car quite often when I am working from home for the school run and trips to the shops

So better for the polar bears, much more power than the T3, and running costs similar to a 2L diesel when doing the long distance business trips. I'm sure if I could get a smart meter and reduce my electricity cost at home, the cost would come down further but sadly that isn't an option for me right now. But the key difference is I am driving the T5 Recharge not because it's cheap (because if I wanted cheap I would not be buying a Volvo in the first place) but because it's a great car with plenty of performance and doesn't clog up the air the kids are breathing quite as much as my BMW diesel did.
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