Charging while driving with gas engine

depends on the situation. the consensus seems to be about a 20% conversion loss.

 

What does that translate to for MPG of the gas burned?

 

depends on your speed and other factors, but a simplified example would be 50mpg resulting in 40mpg.

 

If that's the case, why would anyone do it then? I guess I can imagine some fringe cases, but they are few and far between.

 

Exactly. Toyota saw volt and copied them.
I could be wrong in my estimate though, just estimating what i’ve Seen here.

 

In some situations where you you want to use electricity for stop and go traffic, construction, city driving. I used this feature when I bought my car and drove it home 1,700 miles. I saw there was a long delay an hour ahead of me and I started charging and that gave me enough electricity to drive all electric through the delay.

Another example is you're going somewhere overnight without a place to plug in. It's probably better for you to use the Charge Mode so you can run on electricity the next day.

 

More likely for some cities in EU and U.K. where there are restrictions to using gas engines in city centers. Charge up prior to entering the restricted area.

I just came back from 400ish mile trip, and I stayed in ECO EV. Coming down mountains I’d “make” a few miles. Even when climbing mountains there would be level places where I went into hybrid where I would have continued to burn gas if I had been in Charge Mode?

 

But that would be less efficient then letting the car do it's thing in hybrid mode. In stop and go then engine also stops and goes, not like it runs the whole time. Instead the ICE is actually propelling the wheels.

 

if you live in an area with low gas prices and high electric cost, it might be cheaper, but probably more polluting.

 

But still more expensive than just running it like a hybrid.

 

Any concrete evidence on this? In my situation, it took me an hour to go 5 miles. If I didn't have electricity, my ICE would have started up 100 times. At least I was putting less stress on the ICE.

 

The evidence is simple math and physics. Every time energy goes through a "transition" there are losses.

That being said, I agree after hearing you averaged 5 mph, that may be a fringe use case where it would be handy to use it for, not for energy efficiency, but to save a little wear and tear on the ICE.

 

So I tested it on a short trip. Didn't have time to charge before leaving. Had a full tank of gas. So here was my test.

- Rural road. Speed at 60 mph cruise control on.
- Charge to 23 mile range or 80%. Before auto shut off.
- Refilled gas tank within 1 mile of shut off.
- 43 MPG while using charge mode.

Note that I get about 56 mpg in hybrid mode on this road.

So loss of 13 mpg in charge mode.

Not too scientific.

Steve

 

How many miles did you travel and how much gas did you put in?

 

whew, i was pretty close with 20%!

 

3 miles per kwh added. So about 19 miles I believe.

 

Ran another test today.

Update - So at 90 Degrees, 60 MPH or about that from no charge.
Took 35 Miles and 39.4 MPG displayed in charge mode when it got to 80%. charged.
AC was on set to 72 degrees.

About the same as the Honda Clarity and Volt.

I wasted my gas so you didn't have to.

Hybrid mode normally gets about 56 to 64 MPG on this stretch of road I drive regularly.

Steve

 

whoa! Did @bisco make a profile pic for the first time in the 13 years he has been on this site?

 

my son gave me his i-phone. a lot of her from @Mendel Leisk and @Raytheeagle