8am this morning, I ran another test –
The battery was fully charged and showing 100%, I proceeded my 5 mile journey in sport mode and got to my destination with 100% battery remaing. The return journey home was via the same route but, in HEV mode. I returned home with 100% battery.
For both journey’s, the PHEV screen was displayed for monitoring purposes. The outward journey from the moment, I pulled off the drive, the display showed the engine was charging the battery but, the battery was at 100%, so it couldn’t have been charging and nothing more than a generic display?
The return journey in HEV mode, was less clear cut, because it did use 2% of the battery (hybrid), but charged fully when I climbed the hill returning home.
Also by starting in HEV mode, the cabin is up to temperature much quicker than letting the engine run on tickover for the initial part of the journey.