Octavia Estate hybrid: the reality?

[brightncheerful]

Day 1. Dealer charged the battery approximately 50%. Then drove the car to me, approximately 20 miles. On arrival, Mrs Bnc and i played (for about half-an-hour) with the electronic boot, sunroof, door locking, changing the clock to 24 hour format, radio stations, etc. etc. I drove to buy some petrol about 0.5 mile distance each way and to get the feel of e car a couple of miles up and down the by-pass. Charge indicator 5%, 3 miles remaining.

Mrs Bnc says that we could park the car at the charging hub in the town's main car park free of charge for 30 minutes, which would save us having to pay 50p for shopping that might only take 10 minutes or so. Assuming it takes 3 hours to charge 100%, ie, 33% per hour, half-an-hour equates to about 15% which equates to 9 miles. Which is not as far as Waitrose.

[servodude]

Assuming it takes 3 hours to charge 100%, ie, 33% per hour, half-an-hour equates to about 15%

Would be interesting to know how closely this assumption matches the real world performance
At the cell level when charging to full the last 10-20% will generally take longer
The current in tapers off as the charge in the battery increases and eventually it gets so low that the charge controller decides to call the battery "full"

It might be that they've accounted for this in the way they present charge info to the driver
- or it might be that you get more in during your first hour than you expect

Enjoy your new car
- sd

[GoSeigen]

Enjoy your new car

I thought is was bought for the dog's enjoyment??

GS

[servodude]

Enjoy your new car

I thought is was bought for the dog's enjoyment??

GS

Enjoy... driving the dog around in... your new car

-sd

[AF62]

Day 1. Dealer charged the battery approximately 50%. Then drove the car to me, approximately 20 miles. On arrival, Mrs Bnc and i played (for about half-an-hour) with the electronic boot, sunroof, door locking, changing the clock to 24 hour format, radio stations, etc. etc. I drove to buy some petrol about 0.5 mile distance each way and to get the feel of e car a couple of miles up and down the by-pass. Charge indicator 5%, 3 miles remaining.

Mrs Bnc says that we could park the car at the charging hub in the town's main car park free of charge for 30 minutes, which would save us having to pay 50p for shopping that might only take 10 minutes or so. Assuming it takes 3 hours to charge 100%, ie, 33% per hour, half-an-hour equates to about 15% which equates to 9 miles. Which is not as far as Waitrose.

It should take less than 2 hours to charge the 13kW battery the car has on a 7.4kW charger.

However as you have found that is a reasonable amount of effort for 1/2 gallon of petrol, which is why an awful lot of plug in hybrids are never plugged in - with the exception where plugging in gets you free parking where they do, much to the annoyance of Battery EVs who actually want to charge!

[88V8]

Dealer charged the battery approximately 50%....

At least you're trying to use the battery. I have read that many hybrid owners never run on battery, having bought the car solely because mug taxpayer is subsidising the purchase.

Couple up the lane have a Lexus hybrid. They drive to Switzerland in it. I presume it has a fairly large battery.

V8

[Howard]

Dealer charged the battery approximately 50%....

At least you're trying to use the battery. I have read that many hybrid owners never run on battery, having bought the car solely because mug taxpayer is subsidising the purchase.

Couple up the lane have a Lexus hybrid. They drive to Switzerland in it. I presume it has a fairly large battery.

V8

That used to be the case, but now the £2,500 subsidy is only applied to cars which can travel more than 70 miles by battery alone. This excludes virtually all PHEVs (I believe there may be a few electric vehicles which have a very small petrol engine which can be used to extend the car's range which qualify).

See:https://www.gov.uk/plug-in-car-van-grants.

And there are company car, benefit in kind, tax breaks but only for cars with an electric-only range of over 130 miles.

https://www.edfenergy.com/electric-cars ... ad-company

Disclosure: I was one of the lucky drivers who did get a grant against a PHEV in 2016. But I plugged it in every night.

We'll see what B n C's experience is, but I can't see the point in plugging a PHEV into a public charger as it will take a long time to add just a few miles to the range. I suppose, if an owner of a PHEV is really mean they might enjoy getting a few pence advantage from a free facility and free parking?

With most new BEVs with larger batteries and fast charging one can add 100 miles range in well under half an hour - but it will cost more than charging at home!

regards

Howard

[swill453]

We'll see what B n C's experience is, but I can't see the point in plugging a PHEV into a public charger as it will take a long time to add just a few miles to the range. I suppose, if an owner of a PHEV is really mean they might enjoy getting a few pence advantage from a free facility and free parking?

With most new BEVs with larger batteries and fast charging one can add 100 miles range in well under half an hour - but it will cost more than charging at home!

With the same fast charging why couldn't you fully charge a PHEV in less than half an hour?

Scott.

[Mike4]

We'll see what B n C's experience is, but I can't see the point in plugging a PHEV into a public charger as it will take a long time to add just a few miles to the range. I suppose, if an owner of a PHEV is really mean they might enjoy getting a few pence advantage from a free facility and free parking?

With most new BEVs with larger batteries and fast charging one can add 100 miles range in well under half an hour - but it will cost more than charging at home!

With the same fast charging why couldn't you fully charge a PHEV in less than half an hour?

Scott.

I'm not an expert but my guess is you could, if the PHEV manu had fitted it with a high-enough current charge controller. But I suspect PHEVs only have relatively low-current (and therefor cheaper) charge control installations.

[richlist]

Some do.....I don't know about Skoda but the Range Rover PHEV has the same size battery & electric only range as the Octavia and that takes. 50kW - 150kW chargers and will fully charge from flat in 30 minutes.

I believe a 7kW charger adds 18miles range per hour. It's not much but as someone reminded me the other day....it's a long way to walk!

[Howard]

We'll see what B n C's experience is, but I can't see the point in plugging a PHEV into a public charger as it will take a long time to add just a few miles to the range. I suppose, if an owner of a PHEV is really mean they might enjoy getting a few pence advantage from a free facility and free parking?

With most new BEVs with larger batteries and fast charging one can add 100 miles range in well under half an hour - but it will cost more than charging at home!

With the same fast charging why couldn't you fully charge a PHEV in less than half an hour?

Scott.

I'm not an expert but my guess is you could, if the PHEV manu had fitted it with a high-enough current charge controller. But I suspect PHEVs only have relatively low-current (and therefor cheaper) charge control installations.

Yes, you are right. Our BEV is compatible with a 50kW charger. You'd have to pay for this energy input (around 30p per kWh for the supplier I have used). I guess a PHEV maximum input would be a lot lower and free chargers tend to be low power. The high power charger I have used has fluid cooled cables. (And sensibly, after a delay, to encourage a fast turnover, there is a penalty charge for leaving a charged car attached.)

regards

Howard

[richlist]

We are all different.....

Some want to save the planet.
Some want to save money.
Some just want a cheaper company car.
Some are totally sold on electric.
Some can't see the point of them.

They can't all be right and they can't all be wrong. Which one do you belong to ?

[brightncheerful]

They can't all be right and they can't all be wrong. Which one do you belong to ?

In my case, I was just about to buy a diesel Octavia Estate when I was strongly advised not to (having regard to my driving needs) by my contact at a local garage whose opinion I trust unreservedly. Having come so far in the decision, the only other car that the dealership had in stock on a par with what I was wanting was the one's I've bought (for the dog to enjoy: so far having sniffed around the outside she seems to like it). the fact that it is hybrid doesn't do anything for me and although Mrs Bnc fancied an electric car I rather think she will come round to accepting that we have a petrol car with less boot space, plus the 'hassle' of remembering to charge it from time to time.

As for your options:

Some want to save the planet.
Not interested. The planet is probably more than capable of saving itself without the help of humans and quite possibly the process would be quicker if human beings weren't around.

Some want to save money.
Too late for that.

Some just want a cheaper company car.
Not applicable: i'm self-employed: different rules.

Some are totally sold on electric.
Indifferent.

Some can't see the point of them.
The point as i see it is that one day when all cars are electric drivers won't need to anything because the whole lot can be controlled by a satellite Itself controlled by government and/or whomsoever has hacked it) - which if and when things go wrong would result in all the cars on the road(s) crashing into one another: the ultimate re-boot.

[nmdhqbc]

The point as i see it is that one day when all cars are electric drivers won't need to anything because the whole lot can be controlled by a satellite - which if and when things go wrong would result in all the cars on the road9s) crashing into one another: the ultimate re-boot.

i often hear these 2 things put together - EV's and autonomous. in reality they are independent. in some parallel universe where ICE cars are great for the environment they could be developed to be autonomous in the same way. it's just that the 2 things are the future so they seem to get put together.

i also hear EV's and over the air updates placed together but again there's no reason why OTA updates can't be done on ICE vehicles.

[Arborbridge]

My solution was to move nearer to Waitrose and buy two rucksacks. We've rarely used the car for a year of course, but now I am slowly being tempted back in. What adds to the temptation is the horrid price and uncertainties/inadequacies/inefficiencies of public transport.


Arb.

[Mike4]

I rather think she will come round to accepting that we have a petrol car with less boot space, plus the 'hassle' of remembering to charge it from time to time.

I think you've mentioned this before but for the life of me, I can't work out why you say it needs charging from time to time.

When the battery is flat, does the engine not charge it?

I thought this was the whole point of a hybrid (ex-tax advantages aside).


(Edit to add the last bit.)

[brightncheerful]

My solution was to move nearer to Waitrose and buy two rucksacks. We've rarely used the car for a year of course, but now I am slowly being tempted back in. What adds to the temptation is the horrid price and uncertainties/inadequacies/inefficiencies of public transport.


Arb.

High risk. Folk with long memories (also London-centric) might remember that when John Barnes department store (part of John Lewis Partnership) in Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage closed down, there was an outcry from nearby residents who'd moved to the locality to be close to the dept store. The store was converted into a Waitrose and a Habitat. Which come to think of it would've suited you had you lived nearby.

When the battery is flat, does the engine not charge it?

Regenerative charging, using the foot brake, apparently.

[Mike4]

When the battery is flat, does the engine not charge it?

Regenerative charging, using the foot brake, apparently.

I'm still curious. What would happen if you elected never to charge the battery?

I think the car would still drive indefinitely, using petrol. I'm not yet convinced you are right about it being mandatory to plug it in and charge the battery from time to time. Entirely happy to find out this might be wrong though!

[richlist]

.....and with a relatively small engine carrying the extra weight of the redundant electric motor, battery & equipment the fuel consumption is likely to be pretty poor.

They are engineered & designed to be used as a package. Why would you buy a hybrid if you aren't going to use the electric feature.

[brightncheerful]

I think my comment was misunderstood. It's not necessary per se to charge the battery from time to time. But if we want to use the electric power to drive the car then the battery would need charging.