I was wondering recently about the best ways to improve mileage from your PHEV. If you are looking for some effective ways to boost mileage and efficiency, keep reading since I will share with you some of the ways I found to improve mileage on PHEV.
PHEVs are different from regular gasoline or electric-powered vehicles. Driving techniques will vary significantly. Once you will be able to hone your driving skill and to master driving techniques, you can maximize the mileage by following some simple steps.
In PHEV vehicles, you can use both your electric or gas engine to ensure optimal driving. You will have to use the gasoline engine when the batteries are fully depleted. In that condition, your vehicle will go to the hybrid driving mode seamlessly. However, the smart driver is the one who uses the electric-powered engine more efficiently to get the best mileage.
There are different types of PHEVs.
So, the features and mileage vary significantly. While some vehicles are more capable to run longer on electricity only, others are specifically designed for shorter trips.
Therefore, specifics steps to improve mileage
- vehicle model
- driving condition
- driving style.
If you understand these three factors, you can drive your vehicle in the most efficient manner while ensuring the best mileage.
In this article, we will focus on some simple things to maximize mileage and driving range in PHEVs.
To read more about PHEVs, start here, and a complete guide on PHEVs here.
Ways to Maximize Mileage in PHEVs
PHEV or electric plug-in hybrids use electrically powered or/and gasoline-powered engines to transfer torque to the vehicle’s wheels.
As PHEVs are designed to power themselves from the energy stored in the electric battery, you should always take benefit of this feature to get the best mileage from your vehicle. It can enable you to maximize both the range and fuel economy.
The PHEVs are highly efficient and come with some specific designs to ensure better fuel efficiency. However, achievable driving can be maximized with simple steps.
You can see the potential driving range through a display on the MMCS screen or the dashboard.
This range is constantly adjusted depending on a few factors that contribute to the energy use of your vehicle. The range will mostly depend on the driving style and driving conditions.
The onboard computer of your vehicle takes everything into account of your previous journey. When the car is driven rigorously, it might assume that the journey is similar to the previous one and then will adjust the range accordingly.
Power-consumption will also depend on your driving style.
If you drive with excess speed, it will certainly use more energy. So, if you are expecting a better range, then consider moderate speed, acceleration, and braking.
Also, if the road has hills or long steeping climbs, it will use more energy. But, you can mitigate it by using regenerative braking that will capture energy when the accelerator will be released to charge your vehicle’s battery. It can help you in a great way when going down the steep hills.
You can move the selector level from D to B to select the level of the regenerative braking manually by using your paddle shift levers around the steering wheel. You just need to hold the right paddle for about two seconds to make your vehicle return to the D setting.
You will find six levels of regenerative braking in most of the PHEVs to complement the driving conditions.
The range of your vehicle is also subjected to the ambient temperature. You can take the example of the extreme cold. A cold temperature might affect the efficiency of your traction battery and can use other items that include air-conditioning and heating. Both these will need electricity to operate and they will use their required electricity from the main traction battery. As air-conditioning systems consume more power, it can drain the battery soon.
You can avoid this condition by pre-heating or pre-cooling your vehicle before the trip to reduce the impact on the environment and that will ultimately minimize the impact on the range.
A heated steering wheel and heated seat can work similarly to reduce pressure on the battery and to preserve the power for driving. Both these are considered more efficient as it will prevent heating in the whole cabin. That can cause discomfort to a single passenger.
In addition to the above, you can also consider using the ECO mode to preserve your battery energy and to improve the overall range of your vehicle. ECO mode is considered very effective since it will reduce power allocation to the air-conditioning and heating units and will also minimize the power in the throttle to encourage smooth driving and to offer a long range as well.
Battery save mode can also be helpful. It will preserve the remaining battery power of your vehicle to be used in the appropriate driving conditions such as the cities and town. At the end of the trip, you should always measure the ECO driving. More Many numbers of leaves prove better driving style.
Do you want more information to boost the mileage of your PHEV? If yes, then we will simplify it. In the followings, you will get the list of some
Do: Smooth & Slow Acceleration
Slow and smooth acceleration will save energy. If you accelerate hard and fast, it will certainly demand more energy and that will drain your battery faster and you will need more fuel.
Do : Use Display Screens
You will have to familiarize yourself with the information display of your vehicle. It will help to monitor how much energy is being used so that you can change your driving style accordingly to get better mileage.
Do : Use the Coast Feature More Frequently
Some PHEV vehicles are equipped with regenerative coasting and braking. That means when you will not press the gas pedal, the batteries of your vehicle will turn to the rotational energy from the coasting vehicle into the electricity. You can reuse it for acceleration.
Do : Be Prepared For Stops
Regenerative braking and regenerative coasting supply the PHEV batteries with free energy. But if you brake suddenly and aggressively, you will not offer enough time for your vehicle to produce that energy. Therefore, it is important to prepare for stops in advance to avoid sudden brakes.
If you are anticipating a stop, you will have to start the braking process earlier than you usually do for your conventional vehicles. You should apply light pressure to your brake and then ride it to the stop while slowing your speed consistently.
It will require practice. But once you will master this art, you can do it effortlessly to get the best mileage.
Do: Use Economy Mode
From the above, you might have an idea of how ECO mode will help to improve the fuel efficiency of your vehicle. By simply pressing the ECO button of the PHEV, the fuel economy can be maximized by restricting some performance aspects such as air-conditioning and acceleration rate.
Do: Prefer Favorable Driving Conditions
PHEVs are able to return better fuel efficiency in proper driving conditions like city driving. The reason is that it will return energies to the batteries through the regenerative coasting and regenerative braking due to the city’s sustained high speed and steady traffic flow.
Also, the higher speed in highway travel will demand more energy consumption from the gas and electric engine. The stop and go traffic conditions in the city will lend repeated coasting and regenerative braking. The slow speed will work as an added benefit since it requires less energy.
Do: Charge Your Batteries
In PHEVs, you should always use the most possible electricity that will save your money and fuel. It will also maximize the driving range of your vehicle. You can recharge your partially charged battery to ensure a durable result. It will not damage capacity and efficiency as well.
Don’t : Be Speed monster
Don’t : Quick Acceleration
You need to accelerate slowly unless you are merging in a busy highway. If you accelerate too quickly, it will drain energy faster from the batteries. In fact, it can switch the driving to the full gasoline engine as it needs to meet the demand of your foot.
Don’t: Hard Braking
You need to moderately and gently use your brakes always. It will kick your regenerative braking to recover energy from the forward motion of your vehicle to store electricity. Hard braking will use conventional fiction brakes and will not recover the energy.
These are a few things that can help you in a great manner to get the best mileage from your PHEV. Make sure that you are using your electric engine more often. Follow all the suitable conditions to improve the efficiency of your electric engine and that will ultimately offer the best mileage.