@kezo We are now back from a short break in Suffolk, so the Tucson has had it’s longest run since we got it.
The outward journey, at a steady 70 mph, including some running around when up there, was 289 miles. I started with a full charge and when I refuelled with petrol and calculated my true mpg equivalent (including charge cost) it came out at 47.7 mpg, which was better than I had expected and pretty much identical to what my previous BMW 2.0i would have achieved on a journey of that length at that steady speed.
The return journey (preceded by a little bit of running around the day before) was 280 miles and was obviously on petrol only. We did the return journey non-stop at a steady 70mph and averaged 36.7 mpg, so 10 mpg less than by not starting with a charged battery (and 10 mpg worse than our previous ICE car would have been). As a point of interest, the fuel computer in the car was spot on for this particular journey (the only time it is, as it wasn’t overstating due to the battery usage). Interestingly, HEV mode wasn’t recharging the battery much (thankfully, as we know it’s damned thirsty when it does)
This trip was the best example yet of the impact of driving our PHEV on a long journey with and without a fully charged battery, and it’s a 10 mpg difference. It’s amazing how much difference it makes hauling a heavy / dead battery around. Conversely, prior to the trip, I’d had a few weeks of multiple shorter journeys that were mostly within the EV range, totalling 320 miles, and the true mpg equivalent if the charge costs were converted to petrol was 61 mpg.
So I now have a very clear view of the difference between varying types of driving and running costs with the PHEV over similar distances (280-320 miles each);
Local journeys, almost all on battery = 61 mpg equivalent
Long journey starting with a charged battery = 47.7 mpg equivalent
Long journey with depleted battery = 36.8 mpg
Two words of caution though. Firstly, all journeys were in warm weather. As we know, battery range is worse in colder weather, so mpg would be worse then. Secondly, the longer journeys were at a steady 70mph. Even creeping up to mid-high 70’s seems to result in a bigger adverse hit to mpg than was the case in previous ICE cars (presumably due to the extra weight), so had I been making more pace on the journey mpg would have been worse.
A useful exercise which has crystallised my thought on how a PHEV suits us (or doesn’t)!
