There’s one thing that I’m in a quandary about PHEV’s though and perhaps you can answer it for me? As I understand it, PHEV’s are primarily designed to be driven in the mode where the car automatically switches between petrol and electric. That way the engine and the battery work together to give the stated bhp. If the power split is say 160bhp petrol plus 80bhp electric (giving 240bhp combined) if you use the electric only mode you are driving a very heavy car with just an 80bhp engine. I can see that making sense if you live in a very built up area and most journey are slow and stop-start, but we are semi-rural and are on clear 40-60 mph roads within minutes. We are also a few miles from a motorway that we use frequently. I’m concerned that full EV mode won’t be as sensible for us given how we use our car (I don’t fancy driving a heavy 80bhp car for all our shorter journeys) and therefore would most likely want to utilise the petrol engine and battery together most of the time. What I don’t understand is if you use the car like that, what would be the petrol mpg equivalent when you deduct from the mpg shown in the car the daily recharging cost?
As with everything each car is made slightly differently. I had one before going fully EV and that worked best if I took control of what was powering the wheels. Anything over 40mph I had the engine do the work, anything below and it was electric. Also, around town I’d go electric for as far as possible, just because that’s the most relaxing and efficient way to do it. For long journeys, I’d stick with petrol all the way, saving electric until I’d left the last main/high speed road. Once driving around the destination town, the electric would kick in and, at the point where I needed it most, the relaxing drive would be available.
Others only really have limited ability to decide which power was doing what and some used the electric to boost the petrol which was helpful getting around lorries going uphill but not so much when you get where you’re going to a flat(ish) battery.
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Mark