Variable EV range and poor fuel consumption also a burning smell??

7825 Views 25 Replies 18 Participants Last post by Alex Ivanov, Feb 6, 2018

Hi Ron PHEV Owner

Discussion Starter · Nov 7, 2014

Hi,

Been a PHEV owner for 5 months and done @ 6k miles.
I drive it very sensibly as middle aged and not a racing driver....if I wanted a fast car I would not have bought a PHEV!!!

The car itself is lovely to drive, as you would expect as it is not cheap!!
However, increasingly the range on Electric and fuel consumption is variable to say the least and interested to see if others have had the same issues.

Advertised they say you have a 32 mile range, but know this is advert not real life.
However on a FULL charge we see a range varying from 24 to 28 and one occasion we got 30 mile.......yippee!
80% of journey's are the same route back and from work, so any hills/descents level themselves out.
A/C is off, as is heated seats, etc, etc..............I do use the radio (what a naughty boy I am!)

However, in reality driving like a Vicar on the ECO setting, we see only @ 50% of the range on electric that is shown and literally within 100 yards we lose a mile on the range.

This can be on standard driving but also we are next to road works with 50mph average speed and when range showed 26 miles, I got 14 miles ACTUAL.
Yesterday a 14 mile range only achieved 7 miles in reality on ECO.

Petrol consumption is very (unacceptably) high. Last week we covered 310 miles and used 38 litres (8.35 gallons) of petrol = 37 miles to the gallon. But then you take into account that @ 100 miles were just run on Electric only for short back to work journey and the rest on motorway driving we are down to @ 25 miles per gallon on petrol. 200 miles were motorway at 70 mph.

On a full charge and a full tank the quoted figures are a range of 500-550 miles, in reality we never get higher than 320-340 miles total range – this is @ 35% lower than advertised.

The car has been back to the dealers......who unsurprisingly say nothing is wrong and they have not touched or altered anything....however now the Bluetooth doesn't work and keeps cutting to radio sporadically mid call and then back to the call.

They have suggested not running on brake regeneration or D0 or D1, which we have done and tried with no real difference other than the car free wheels quite fast as no natural engine braking, also on ECO (which I do as standard)

Also we get a burning smell (rubber) when the car is charging from the engine or has no charge and kicks in to charge.....the dealers accept there is a "Hot Smell" but nothing to worry about.

Having done 6K miles I would have thought the car would have settled in and I can make a judgement based over months rather than days and weeks

Is anyone else having these issues??

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Stu

· #2 · Nov 7, 2014

I've not measured my overall mpg, so can't help there, but I get the burning smell as well. I've heard, on internet, it's something to do with some sort of coating on parts of the car that smells like that when it heats up.

One thing I have noticed just in the last week is how much the cold weather reduces the battery range. I've gone from about 26 mile range to about 19 from a full charge and that's without adding any extra load such as heating, lights, a/c etc. I gather this is normal.

The only drawback, for me, is that's it's completely changed my driving and now I want to go full EV.

Cheers

Reactions: 2

Hi Ron PHEV Owner

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 7, 2014

I would love to get 19 miles as at best I have had 17-18 on a full charge.
I was speaking to a neighbour who has the Nissan Leaf, on a full charge he is showing 90 mile range, but achieving @85 ACTUAL, which is pretty acceptable, but I only seem to get 50% ish on the stated range

smartie

· #4 · Nov 7, 2014

It goes to show that PHEVs with small batteries are not the panacea that some on here are claiming.

Reactions: 4

Eugene Lambert

· #5 · Nov 7, 2014

smartie said:
It goes to show that PHEVs with small batteries are not the panacea that some on here are claiming.

Sigh. Not so smartie. One probably broken plug-in hybrid does not an argument break.

Reactions: 1

smartie

· #6 · Nov 7, 2014

Eugene Lambert said:
Sigh. Not so smartie. One probably broken plug-in hybrid does not an argument break.

2 above mentioned with under 20 miles range - not unexpected in the colder weather given you only have 32 to play with in the most favourable conditions.

Reactions: 1

Robwiz

· #7 · Nov 7, 2014

The quoted EV range is as accurate as manufacturers' published mpg figures – i.e. only achievable over the standard test cycle under laboratory conditions.

Cold weather and wet roads both have a significant effect on reducing EV range. Your battery won't accept as much charge when the weather is colder – think of it as your petrol tank contracts in colder weather.

Many of us have learnt to adapt to get the best range and economy from our cars. Gentler acceleration, lower cruising speeds, anticipating junctions and easing off/using regen, not using the heater/aircon as much all make a difference. The Outlander is a big vehicle with a large frontal area so I'd expect its range to drop off pretty steeply at speeds above about 40 mph.

Motorway driving is hard on EVs because there's less opportunity for topping up the battery with regen under braking.

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Reactions: 3

Hi Ron PHEV Owner

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 7, 2014

Robwiz,
I understand your comments and my driving style has altered and all the points you have stated I am already doing.
As regards the weather, this range is the same in summer as I have had the vehicle since June, but the weather has changed over the last week or so.
The question is still out there as regards what EV range PHEV users are getting on the range display after a full charge and what they are getting in actual miles when driven.
The garage suggested turning off regen braking to reduce the resistance when driving, which helps with performance/speed take up, but not necessarily on range.
Also do you really want to be going up and down the paddles depending on whether you are going up or down a hill?
As regards motorway driving on normal cars 56mph is the optimum for range so on a average speed stretch of motorway 50mph is not that far off.......what are you saying is the optimum speed for EV??
I still think the key question for me is what display range and actual range PHEV users are experiencing after a full charge............

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Lee Dalton

· #9 · Nov 7, 2014

Hi Ron PHEV Owner said:
Robwiz,
I understand your comments and my driving style has altered and all the points you have stated I am already doing.
As regards the weather, this range is the same in summer as I have had the vehicle since June, but the weather has changed over the last week or so.
The question is still out there as regards what EV range PHEV users are getting on the range display after a full charge and what they are getting in actual miles when driven.
The garage suggested turning off regen braking to reduce the resistance when driving, which helps with performance/speed take up, but not necessarily on range.
Also do you really want to be going up and down the paddles depending on whether you are going up or down a hill?
As regards motorway driving on normal cars 56mph is the optimum for range so on a average speed stretch of motorway 50mph is not that far off.......what are you saying is the optimum speed for EV??
I still think the key question for me is what display range and actual range PHEV users are experiencing after a full charge............

Optimum speed for an EV depends massively on the motor/gearing and aerodynamics. For pure range, something like 20mph. In reality around 40-45mph (ie, steadily twisting A roads) tend to be the best in my experience.
Motorways are absolutely the worst for range.
Almost completely the opposite of a petrol car

Reactions: 1

John2

· #10 · Nov 8, 2014

Hi Ron PHEV Owner said:
Hi,

Been a PHEV owner for 5 months and done @ 6k miles.
I drive it very sensibly as middle aged and not a racing driver....if I wanted a fast car I would not have bought a PHEV!!!

The car itself is lovely to drive, as you would expect as it is not cheap!!
However, increasingly the range on Electric and fuel consumption is variable to say the least and interested to see if others have had the same issues.

Advertised they say you have a 32 mile range, but know this is advert not real life.
However on a FULL charge we see a range varying from 24 to 28 and one occasion we got 30 mile.......yippee!
80% of journey's are the same route back and from work, so any hills/descents level themselves out.
A/C is off, as is heated seats, etc, etc..............I do use the radio (what a naughty boy I am!)

However, in reality driving like a Vicar on the ECO setting, we see only @ 50% of the range on electric that is shown and literally within 100 yards we lose a mile on the range.

This can be on standard driving but also we are next to road works with 50mph average speed and when range showed 26 miles, I got 14 miles ACTUAL.
Yesterday a 14 mile range only achieved 7 miles in reality on ECO.

Petrol consumption is very (unacceptably) high. Last week we covered 310 miles and used 38 litres (8.35 gallons) of petrol = 37 miles to the gallon. But then you take into account that @ 100 miles were just run on Electric only for short back to work journey and the rest on motorway driving we are down to @ 25 miles per gallon on petrol. 200 miles were motorway at 70 mph.

On a full charge and a full tank the quoted figures are a range of 500-550 miles, in reality we never get higher than 320-340 miles total range – this is @ 35% lower than advertised.

The car has been back to the dealers......who unsurprisingly say nothing is wrong and they have not touched or altered anything....however now the Bluetooth doesn't work and keeps cutting to radio sporadically mid call and then back to the call.

They have suggested not running on brake regeneration or D0 or D1, which we have done and tried with no real difference other than the car free wheels quite fast as no natural engine braking, also on ECO (which I do as standard)

Also we get a burning smell (rubber) when the car is charging from the engine or has no charge and kicks in to charge.....the dealers accept there is a "Hot Smell" but nothing to worry about.

Having done 6K miles I would have thought the car would have settled in and I can make a judgement based over months rather than days and weeks

Is anyone else having these issues??

Overall what is your lifetime mpg?

Can you preheat or do you have the Gx3h?

I remember the smell but wasn't bothered though it might be best to have the dealer check it.

I found I would plan my trips to include an ICE segment if I was working outside EV range. ICE was good for heating the cabin, on motorway ramps etc so I would try to schedule it to run to its best advantage. The battery save mode can help with this so you could run EV off highway and ICE on highway so each is playing to its strengths. If I expected a high power requirement I would get the ICE to fire up early to warm it up. Quite complicated! The Zoe is so much easier....will I make it to the next charging point or not...

Reactions: 1

Dr Madnar Petrovich

· #11 · Mar 3, 2015

Been owning my Mitsubishi PHEV since august 2014. I have the burnt smell in my car still, and the car dealer, motorforum, say it is perfectly normal. If I die from breathing exhaust I will haunt those #%@&.

The fuel consumption have been variying on my car. Its like it have some periods where the consumption is low, very low acctually. 0,3 litres pr 10 kilometer even with the AC thingy running. It still maintains the heat in the car, and the engine only runs every now and then. When I put on charge or save the engine work alot more, and the consumption rises to 0,8 litres pr 10 kilometer on save, and 1,2 litres pr 10 kilometer on charge.

But now and for a while when the car was new the engine runs no matter what I do. I drive on normal and the AC thingy running, and now the consumption is 0,9 litres pr 10 kilometer. The only way to use less petrol is to turn the AC thingy off and run on electricity only. I just think it is funny that the car is "moody" like this. I have tried it out in snow, summer, dirt, mountain and almost everything you can think of.. No, not that!

All in all I like the car, but if there is any answer to what makes the car behave so differently in periods (of weeks), I would like to know.

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Hi Ron PHEV Owner

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 4, 2015

I have been back to the dealer several times and even their PHEV specialist has been out and experienced the aroma so to speak and said something was not right.
Local dealer had car for 1 week and could not replicate ....but car was being used as demonstrator as I had theirs....so I suspect it never ran out of charge to get the smell started.
Issue raised with Mitsubishi direct on 29th January and as of yet Mitsubishi not even responded or made contact!!

This despite several chases made by me and also the finance company who I have escalated it to......which is not very impressive!!
My car does behave differently and sometimes without any logic.in very cold weather we have seen a fully charged EV range of 24, yet when weather is warmer it is down to 21.
Also petrol consumption varies..........all very confusing but don't seem to be getting much TLC from Mitsubishi

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Olivier

· #13 · Mar 8, 2015

Like a lot of forum posters, I've noticed the smell and the EV range and has gone down markedly with the lower temperatures. I've got 13 central london miles to work and in summer could do the return trip entirely in EV. In winter, battery range is gone by the time I get to work.

The electric heater can draw up to 6kwh according to the trip computer and it's almost as if that was too much for the output of the battery and required the ICE to help powering the drivetrain. Now that the temperatures are going up, the ICE doesn't start quite as much and the range will be going back up.

jdsx

· #14 · Mar 8, 2015

You have to treat the 'range' as a GOM (guess o-meter). I live up a hill, and in the cold weather I have seen the 'range' at home down to 20 miles or less. But if I drive to work (mostly downhill!) and recharge there, the 'charge' usually goes up to about 26, even in the cold weather. Realistically, I rarely get to the stage where the ICE cuts in, but I would say real range in winter is in the 15-low 20s range. I was getting about 24-30 in the summer.
Regarding the strange smell - yes I have heard quite a few people complain about this, even after several thousand miles....

Reactions: 1

Zebra1922

· #15 · Mar 9, 2015 (Edited)

I too get the strange smell, but after reading the forums And the fact the car is yet to burst into flames, I'm not concerned.

EV range from 16 to 30 miles (who knows why it varies so much even in similar conditions). Where do you get the 500 mile figure from? Mine says 350 max when everything is full to bursting.

jdsx

· #16 · Mar 9, 2015

Paul Ellison said:
Where do you get the 500 mile figure from? Mine says 350 max when everything is full to bursting.

My figure when everything is full is usually over 400 miles....

Reactions: 1

Zebra1922

· #17 · Mar 10, 2015

Yeah, but you get 150mpg. I suppose that's aligned to Mitsubishi's published figures. I obviously need more EV only running and less heater use (brrrrrrr)

Reactions: 1

John B

· #18 · Mar 13, 2015

Hi Ron PHEV Owner said:
Hi,

Been a PHEV owner for 5 months and done @ 6k miles.
I drive it very sensibly as middle aged and not a racing driver....if I wanted a fast car I would not have bought a PHEV!!!

The car itself is lovely to drive, as you would expect as it is not cheap!!
However, increasingly the range on Electric and fuel consumption is variable to say the least and interested to see if others have had the same issues.

Advertised they say you have a 32 mile range, but know this is advert not real life.
However on a FULL charge we see a range varying from 24 to 28 and one occasion we got 30 mile.......yippee!
80% of journey's are the same route back and from work, so any hills/descents level themselves out.
A/C is off, as is heated seats, etc, etc..............I do use the radio (what a naughty boy I am!)

However, in reality driving like a Vicar on the ECO setting, we see only @ 50% of the range on electric that is shown and literally within 100 yards we lose a mile on the range.

This can be on standard driving but also we are next to road works with 50mph average speed and when range showed 26 miles, I got 14 miles ACTUAL.
Yesterday a 14 mile range only achieved 7 miles in reality on ECO.

Petrol consumption is very (unacceptably) high. Last week we covered 310 miles and used 38 litres (8.35 gallons) of petrol = 37 miles to the gallon. But then you take into account that @ 100 miles were just run on Electric only for short back to work journey and the rest on motorway driving we are down to @ 25 miles per gallon on petrol. 200 miles were motorway at 70 mph.

On a full charge and a full tank the quoted figures are a range of 500-550 miles, in reality we never get higher than 320-340 miles total range – this is @ 35% lower than advertised.

The car has been back to the dealers......who unsurprisingly say nothing is wrong and they have not touched or altered anything....however now the Bluetooth doesn't work and keeps cutting to radio sporadically mid call and then back to the call.

They have suggested not running on brake regeneration or D0 or D1, which we have done and tried with no real difference other than the car free wheels quite fast as no natural engine braking, also on ECO (which I do as standard)

Also we get a burning smell (rubber) when the car is charging from the engine or has no charge and kicks in to charge.....the dealers accept there is a "Hot Smell" but nothing to worry about.

Having done 6K miles I would have thought the car would have settled in and I can make a judgement based over months rather than days and weeks

Is anyone else having these issues??

Hi all

Ditto burning smell issue with my PHEV that I have now had for a month. Not noticed it this week though.

Fuel consumption is slowly improving as I have measured from the tank fill up - was 42mpg now up to 47mpg. (389 miles)
It appears to be the warm weather is making a difference. When cold, the engine runs & I suppose you have a very expensive heater under the bonnet.

Bluetooth also very intermittent. I think if I use the pick-up button, the phone connects, if I forget, it doesn't receive incoming calls. I'll keep experimenting.

Fuel display is crap, basically. Nearly got stranded as the hybrid indicator starts to panic at 50 miles to go and goes from 30 miles to empty in about 100 yards.

New problem: On setting off in the morning, the regen braking doesn't adjust using paddles or gearlever (what was the point in that??? only seems to adjust one way). After 10-15 mins running the regen comes back. Odd.

The seatbelt shackle in the roof at the back rattles annoyingly

Note to self to wedge something in there.

These are fairly minor things and I must say overall I'm very please with my Outlander and I love driving it.

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MoonCat

· #19 · Mar 13, 2015

I'm guessing the regen thing is that the HV battery is full from being charged and thus there's nowhere for the extra regen to go. Once the battery has a bit of capacity to store the regen again, it does.

Reactions: 1

John B

· #20 · Mar 13, 2015

I had considered that mooncat but I thought how full is fully charged as battery indicates 26 miles against supposed capacity of 32 and you star using it pretty quickly so should have some spare to fill. Also, this didn't happen until a week ago (or I didn't notice it).

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