Speak EV - Electric Car Forums banner

Worst lifetime MPG ever award

5K views 36 replies 18 participants last post by  Jeffrey Cooper 
#1 ·
So I picked up my used 2012 Ampera on Friday and looked at the lifetime MPG of wait for it - 40mpg.

Then I realised that the solar panel company that were the first owners were using it as an ICE car.!!!

A full service at Vauxhall co formed that it had hardly ever been plugged in. LOL

I now have a fun journey ahead to see how I can improve my lifetime MPG...

Can anyone else submit a worse figure???

I guess the solar guys must have bee using the car as an image booster but not actually using it properly..to be fair they did leave 30gb of banging euro techno music for me to enjoy on the hard drive so fair dos...
 
G
#7 ·
Doesn't surprise me in the least.

I remember posting here a short while back now that Car Magazine's long term test of the Volvo V60 D6 Plug-in hybrid stated they'd not really bothered plugging the car in :rolleyes:

NB. Car seem to have blocked all access to their site, explaining that I've "used up my free views". Given that I get the same message at work, where I've not used up any views at all, I think the code they use to detect freeloaders is shonky. In addition, £2.99 a month? If everyone is going to be asked to stump up £2.99 a month for every www site they visit, then readers, publishers and advertisers are in for a shock.
 
#8 ·
I rang them because they didnt submit the vehicle unlock codes to do software updates, turns out the car was leased from a leasing company. the MD drove it around and i think the car was shared by a few people (explains the very eclectic range of music on the HDD....)

anyway the company was Solar Valley Ltd which after a lot of chasing down are now trading under the name of

Solar Plants

I rang that number and they confirmed they were the original owners of the car but supplied by a leasing company named Arval UK.

Oh well, I guess I bought a 3 year old car, with a nearly new battery...
 
#13 · (Edited)
You are thinking 'BEV' in a PHEV world. The battery will cycle back and forth around 20% whilst in use, and will balance the pack there too, if it thinks it necessary. It's designed to do this. As long as the car is in routine use, ICE only or otherwise, the battery will be just fine.

There is a Ampera that lives near me that never plugs in. What's the point in paying the extra for it if you aren't going to use it properly.
Maybe he just likes the car. Lee... would you sell your if you had to move and didn't have a charge point for a while? I don't think I would.
 
#16 ·
I suppose it's a testament to the Ampera that someone was happy to use it as a traditional car. I have to say I love the quiet and smooth drive and the instant torque. I am going to try the charge lead out. BTW a quick tip on saving on petrol, if you tend to buy a lot of stuff from Amazon, always use vouchers bought from Morrisons - they give you money off petrol. (only works if you happen to have a Morrisons petrol station near you)..
 
#17 ·
So, I've joined the EV club having picked up my 13 plate Volt on Friday....
It appears I may be immediately claiming the worst lifetime mpg crown at 37.8! Previous owner was a leasing company based in London (judging by the satnav recent destinations). Presumably the congestion charge saving was enough of a benefit all by itself.
Looking forward to dragging that mpg up by its bootlaces over the next year or two....

Out of interest, are there any other known Volts in South Wales area?
 
#18 ·
Yes, looks like your car never saw a plug-in charge. That's lower than the typical petrol-only mpg you should get, but is not unusual amongst GM staff cars. There were a small fleet of GM-corporate Volts that appeared for 2nd hand retail in the US after a while, all of which were as yours.

The battery should be in good condition, being constantly cycled around 22% SOC and rarely seeing extremes nor heavy power loads during driving.
 
#21 ·
Just to stick up for the beleaguered solar industry - I run a solar company and am on 105mpg lifetime over 37,000 miles so don't tar us all with the same brush :cool:. Did read something the other day that around 20% of Outlander owners never plug in. Met an owner this week who lives in a flat and only occasionally charges. All a bit odd really. As said many people probably only buy for tax benefit.
 
#24 ·
When I got mine there was 75000 miles on the car (got it nice and cheapish but really wanted it) sept 2012 reg and had done 53 mpg lifetime when I got it. Looking one here before buying it made me think that this was mainly used on the generator (correct me if i'm wrong) and therefore the battery would have been good (and also still covered bythe 8yr/100,000 warranty). I reset the trip counter and I am currently on 1200 miles and 215mpg. The lifetime has risen slightly to 58mpg now.
 
#25 ·
53mpg is probably around 25% battery. I bought likewise, high-ish miles and that sort of mpg. I figure I am going to be mostly EV from now on, so now I'm simply using the 'other half' of the car, so to speak. I'm probably around 2,000 petrol miles a year, so in 10 years there's no way it is going to wear out due to mileage!

I figure there might actually be an advantage to a 'bedded in' engine that it might better survive the rigours of little-use in the future.
 
#28 ·
A new contender here!!

Having an alert still active on BCA (British Car Auctions) for Amperas I noticed one coming up for sale soon with a lifetime of 33.9, or 34.2, depending on which display you look at.

It's a 2015 reg, but MY12, with a nice low mileage of just under 17,000, but can barely have been plugged in ever. Current charge shows 32.5 miles EV and 408 miles petrol, so it's been charged at least once!

Electronics Technology Auto part Multimedia Electronic device


Electronics Multimedia Car Vehicle Technology


Normally BCA don't show these displays, I wonder why they did in this example? Normally it's the satnav on the Electron or main display on the Positiv for the centre stack, then the speedo display on the drivers screen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pcoventry
#32 ·
A new contender here!!

Having an alert still active on BCA (British Car Auctions) for Amperas I noticed one coming up for sale soon with a lifetime of 33.9, or 34.2, depending on which display you look at.

It's a 2015 reg, but MY12, with a nice low mileage of just under 17,000, but can barely have been plugged in ever. Current charge shows 32.5 miles EV and 408 miles petrol, so it's been charged at least once!

View attachment 103368

View attachment 103370

Normally BCA don't show these displays, I wonder why they did in this example? Normally it's the satnav on the Electron or main display on the Positiv for the centre stack, then the speedo display on the drivers screen.
I collected one for Auction on Wednesday - so there might well be a 63 plate white one up there soon! - It was I think on about 49K
 
#29 ·
How on earth can it be that low anyway!? Just tootling around town I get 45+mpg. Even sitting at an indicated 70mph I get 54mpg on a long trip! I assume someone was using it at 85mph up and down the motorway with a lead right foot. Definitely a contender for "most misunderstood car" / "most dumb owner" award. Either that or it was used as a DPD delivery vehicle ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Freebird
#31 ·
Although unclear, I'm sure the Trip A photo shows 16,991.9 miles, just short of 16,993 miles on the odometer. I can only imagine it's only ever had a few charges and only ever been driven at 80+ on the motorway, in winter!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top