Consumer poo-poos claimed PHEV and Hybrid fuel consumption figures

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johno1234

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#3053806 23-Mar-2023 15:04

MikeAqua:

Every vehicle I've owned achieved poorer than advertised fuel economy. Not surprising, if you look at the standard test conditions.

The only exception (IME) is diesel vehicles on long trips. The economy seems to be excellent during long trips at open road speeds.

If I really milk it, I can drive our 2.2 tonne diesel SUV from Auckland to Whangamata (there's some significant hills and twisty bits) at 7.0L/100km for the trip. Once or twice hit 6.9. It is so heavy that accelerating guzzles the juice, with the instantaneous consumption topping out at 40L/100km. With a little concentration I can drive that trip almost without touching the brakes for corners.

Electric cars are still much better suited to commuting than long trips.

Batman

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#3053828 23-Mar-2023 16:22

openmedia:

Juicytree:

For reference, I have a PHEV Prius Prime and a hybrid RAV4. We are retired (no commuting). The Prius is used for shorter journeys to our nearest city - 70kms return and as a shopping basket in the village we live in. it is regularly plugged in at home. The RAV4 for longer journeys, usually greater than 200 kms. The Prius is presently running at 1.9 litres per 100 km and the RAV is fairly stable at 5.4 litres / 100 k.

We recently rented a Hybrid RAV4 in Oz and I was very impressed. We had a mix of distance and local driving which averaged 5.4 l/100k, and needed roughly 1/2 a tank for our ~500km usage. I loved the fact the engine wouldn't start when you we're initially reversing out of a parking bay etc. My ICE CX-5 is currently averaging 8l/100k as we're not doing as much distance driving these days.

Based on typical usage at home a 50-80K capable PHEV would reduce our petrol use to nearly zero except for longer trips away, so I'm keeping an eye on some newer vehicles. It would be great is a PHEV could run a lot closer to the battery limit before cutting over. We tested a KIA PHEV a couple of years ago and we could only get about 60% of the battery range before the engine would automatically cut back in.

really impressed that Toyota can churn out such good fuel economy with hybrid battery capacities from 1.3kWh (corolla) to 1.9 kWh (highlander). rav4 has 1.6kWh battery.

also can't believe these batteries can last for decades with such high discharge cycles.

am i missing something

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#3053830 23-Mar-2023 16:24

MikeAqua:

Every vehicle I've owned achieved poorer than advertised fuel economy. Not surprising, if you look at the standard test conditions.

The only exception (IME) is diesel vehicles on long trips. The economy seems to be excellent during long trips at open road speeds.

was reading some reviews - apparently the BMW 3 series petrols do better than their already lower than peers rated fuel consumption. (not by much, but hey)

Scott3

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#3053831 23-Mar-2023 16:24

johno1234:

Senecio:

Because the battery is never completely empty. Before the battery gets that low the car will change driving modes and essentially act like a non plug-in hybrid. Reserving battery power to supplement the ICE engine just like a Prius or any other non plug-in hybrid would.

This won't really hold true if you are driving from Auckland to Taupo though, will it? The amount of battery assistance would be vanishingly small?

Similar to any other hybrid.

Engine shut down, and regen on descents or when slowing down.

Engine tuned for economy not peak power (rely on the electric side for bursts of hard acceleration.

Not as dramatic as in the city, but generally will still comfortable beat the non hybrid version of the car.

Of course for PHEV's, it depends on how much they have optimized for electric running, and how much for hybrid mode running.

An example which is almost entire optimised for electric running would be the BMW i3 REX. When running in hybrid mode, economy is something like 8 - 10 L/100km of high octane fuel. A toyota aqua is would use half that... i3 Range extender is a scooter engine which is optimized to be lightweight, not highly efficient. It also lacks a mechanical link to wheels, the ability to heat the cabin from it's waste heat etc. Very much a backup / rare use intent (in line with it's mission as a Mega City Car, and tiny fuel tank size).

At the opposite side of the spectium is the toyota prius PHEV & prime. largely designed as a non plug in hybrid, just with the electric side of the powertrain a little improved, and a bit bigger battery for plug in use. Very efficient in hybrid mode, but electric mode is weaker than the i3 (needs to fire up the engine for hard acceleration etc)

I think the Mitsubishi PHEV's fall somewhere in the middle.

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