How To Drive A PHEV Properly (Plug-In Hybrid - High MPG)

[@garymatthews1280]

Things I’ve learned from a 2017 Volt. Keep it in electric only mode when you are going slow or when your round trip is less than your range. Use Regen braking all of the time. For longer trips and when you are on the highway, save the battery and run on gas because you’d otherwise use the battery range up faster. Also, you’ll get better mileage in the flats. If you have a lot of hills you will use your battery quicker. Also, besides heating the cabin while you’re plugged in, put a couple of pounds of extra air in your tires.

[@Nochancet.v]

Regen braking works as your driving to so it kinda costs in ev pure mode Regen is better in petrol mode try it out

[@vevenaneathna]

the volt was so far ahead of its time. 16-18kwh phev, that wasnt a big suv. aerodynamics helped it reach 40-75 miles of range, i personally get 45-55 mi in my 2013 gen1 volt (with 140k miles lol). right now the typical (median) range of PHEV's you can buy here is only 21 miles. the upper quartile of phev range is only 26 miles, laughable. you have to use median instead of average when talking about phev range because the chevy volt is such an outlier and skews everything. the more EV range a phev has, you get an exponential reduction on the wear and tear of the vehicle because you end up shifting all gas miles to hwy, where the engine runs at a stable rpm range. they have shown that if you only ever drive on the hwy, motor oil can literally go 100k+ miles without showing signs of degradation/engine damage. still a good idea to change volt's oil every year or two because of water ingress, especially since their PCV valves tend to break down and let humidity in the engine crank case. I put 35k miles on my volt last year, mainly commuting to hospitals for med school rotations which all had chargers, while my partner would use the car when i got home to commute to her hospital which also has a charger. we averaged over 100mpg, mainly due to some road trips, which means the combustion engine only had about 10-15 hours of use the entire year for 35k miles. put in a 240v charger in my garage and that thing was "fast" charging 2-3 times per day. compared to my last car, 02 civic which got ~28mpg avg, we saved $2,100 in gas last year, which is about 1/3rd what we paid for the car. I put solar panels on it and expanded the low voltage battery to 4kwh of lifepo4, which further boosts range, especially in winter, and hooked in a micro inverter to charge the house and offset ~1-2kwh/day, saving us more money.

[@rixmale]

Thank you! As an American, it baffles me that more people don't use these cars!! My boss let's me charge at work, so I use VERY LITTLE gas. I fill up once a month. (And it's 27 miles to work.)

[@alisthomelife]

There goes the reason not everyone has the convenience and short commute as you and the lack of security with charging accessibility freaks people out. Phev is the safe way

[@philwolski]

"Arriving home with a half full battery is ridiculous". 100% spot on! Similarly, preserving charge in case you might LATER go into a Zero emission zone is ridiculous (where in the UK do we have zero emission zones?). I typically do under 100 miles per day in my PHEV, so rarely do I leave EV mode. I charge up every night and my Mazda CX60 delivers at least 88 MPG even on my longest (100 mile) regular journey. My one caution with PHEVs; do check before signing up to an EV electricity tariff that you will genuinely benefit. A PHEV has a small battery compared to a full EV. In my case, it was cheaper to stay on a 37p/kWh tariff than switch to 12p/kWh overnight and 40p/kWh daytime as my other electricity requirements are disproportionately higher than those for charging my car. To be fair, I do have a hot tub, and a large house, but do the sums.

[@pppscooby]

With the way ev sales are going i think phev is the way to go, public chargers are not springing up fast enough and tesla aside don’t appear to be that easy to use, so given i do less than 20 miles a day with the odd long trip every 3 months or so i think phev is the the safest way to not be stressed about range for those long trips.

[@Urbanspacefox]

Yeah PHEV is a good stop-gap solution esp with the BEV vs FCEV debate ongoing…

[@Johan87577]

I drive a ICE car today, I'll get a PHEV next. Chargers is not enough built out in my country I wouldn't feel comfortable with a EV. Maybe in 3-5 years when it time to change car again.

[@geolykos]

The problem with most PHEVs is the boot space you lose and the additional cost. In a GLC for example you lose 150l of boost space and have to pay £3500 more for a PHEVs. Then add another £900 for the charger and 10% more for insurance. Also with electric only mode you lose 50-70% of the car's power.

[@philipinsley927]

I have a first generation Leaf. 24 kWh battery. Tiny compared to most BEVs now. A brilliant car in every way BUT it rarely goes more than 60 miles in a day. The max battery range is 80 to 90 miles. I have driven 150 and 170 mile journeys and recharged 2 or 3 times on the way. Charging to 80% takes no more than 20 minutes. My last journey from London to S Wales (170 miles) took 6 1/2 hrs because every charger on the 3 stops I needed was occupied. The charging infrastructure is just not there yet. My advice, if you only have one car, buy a hybrid.

[@doctoruttley]

Same driving on my part and I just got myself a PHEV. Love it. Haven’t stopped at a petrol station since I picked it up a few weeks ago. 🤯 I do plug it in at night.

[@chuckstang8140]

I love my Ford Escape (kuga) PHEV. I commute between 20-30 miles each way to work in Los Angeles. My latest tank of gas ( 89 octane) was Feb 4th. It is now May 21st. I still have 51 miles on the gas tank. I drive in eco mode always. I use the regenerative braking and engine as much as possible. I drive between 55-65 miles per hour unless I have traffic. Currently, I have 2374 miles on this tank averaging 247 miles per gallon. The escape was supposed to get 37 miles per battery charge but I seem to be doing quite a bit better. I drive it in a normal fashion but I am still careful like I was with my Ford Taurus. I got a fully loaded Ford Escape for the price of a base, plain Toyota rave 4 prime and I couldn’t be happier with my choice. I drove the rav 4 and didn’t like the feel of the transmission. The ford is smoother. And I got all the goodies I wouldn’t have gotten with the Rav 4

[@iantrott9152]

An excellent video :) After four years with a Leaf last year I had to get an Outlander PHEV as that was what was offer with Motability. I drive it mostly as an EV, over the last 18 months and 16,500 miles I’ve averaged 230mpg which isn’t bad from a large tractor :)

[@Andersljungberg]

Remember that the engine oil must be allowed to pump around in the engine from time to time. otherwise in the worst case the camshaft can become dry and the rest you can guess

[@itsfahys]

Lot of phevs have a maintenance mode because of the issue you describe , turning on the Engine for a period so it doesn't seize up. I dont know if this applies to all phevs, but its good advice to engage it occasionally if thats not the case. I remember when i had the bmwi3 rex, youd hear the engine coming on every few weeks i recall for 5 minutes or so.

[@11wtwood]

@@itsfahys Correct. My 2020 Ford Fusion Energi went through a several day period of running on gas until it was satisfied the oil was free of moisture that can build up from condensation due to lack of use. It was still in regular hybrid mode so my mileage was in the 40 mpg range. When in EV mode (where the gas engine will still run if I exceed the battery only range) I get about 76 mpg.

[@brec5879]

Well done@iantrott

[@bjs7442]

I can beat that on my Volvo XC90 recharge but its a meaningless mpg because that is assuming when the car is running on electric only it is running free of charge which of course it isnt. When my electric range is exhausted I am doing 30mpg on petrol only. Now the price of electric is nothing like 1/10 the cost of petrol as it was 2 years ago and now its borderline whether its a good idea buying a PHEV rather than a latest spec diesel.

[@peterjones6640]

I have a PHEV and I regularly do a 100 mile round trip journey ( no ability to charge for the return journey) and I get depending upon the time of year between 75 to 85 mpg, using the petrol engine when the car is moving at a steady constant speed and the EV mode during acceleration, or otherwise when the engine would be working hard ( on hills etc). The advertised electric range of the car ( Ioniq) is 39 miles the best I have done is 35 miles ( non motorway mix of urban and single A roads). The display only registers up to 99.9mpg so can never see how much better I could do.

[@johndillon1226]

Hi Peter. I am the same as you but do an average of 150 miles per day. Do you think I should stick with diesel or would a Phev do the same

[@peterjones6640]

@@johndillon1226 I actually changed my car to an EV about 7 months ago. My view would be keep the diesel as long as you can, if you can charge at home you,might consider an EV something like an MG4 would easily do 150 miles a day.

[@TheophilusPWildbeest]

I've got a bmw 330e, I use the battery save function (set at 100%) as a button to switch to petrol when I think I need to. This is important because I know what other journeys I'm going to make in the day, so sometimes I switch to petrol even when hybrid mode doesn't want to, but it means I've got battery available for my journey home later in the day. As you said, I always make sure I get home with minimum battery left, very important that. Last week I had to fill it up for the first time since August, I got 199.2 mpg, but mind I hadn't been very far due to lockdown etc, just work and back mostly. And all this switching modes is good fun, it adds a whole new dimension to driving when you can totally change the car's behaviour from smooth electric, to eco-hybrid, to hybrid, to petrol, to sport (which is petrol and electric together). Other cars can't do that!

[@bobgc1954]

Volvo cars do the same

[@smallmj2886]

I just keep it simple. Charge whenever possible and keep it in EV mode until the battery is out. I can't be bothered to fuss beyond that. I burn less than half the gas than I did in my last car and that is good enough for me.

[@chrishayes4785]

As a Lacashire lad now living in California, it was great to hear a lad talking proper. Although the comments you make are obvious to most who take the time to watch the video, the point you make about plugging it in, using all the electric up before you at a point where you can charge it up, is why the video was very well received. Its common sense that way too many people just ignore, and then complain they don't get good enough mileage. I have ordered a BMW X5 45e plug un hybrid just waiting for it to come in. In the US the PHEV get a $7500 tax credit, because its assembled in the US, making the car cheaper than the none PHEV X5 40i. Very good video.

[@hankthetank185]

Finally! Someone who know’s what they are talking about regarding PHEV’s. We have a Kia Niro Hybrid and can’t afford a BEV so I’m thinking a PHEV could be the most affordable option. We only use our car for school runs in the week and the occasional drive to in-laws and family and friends. The weekly school run is a 16 mile round trip. The only downside is we can’t charge at home. I would be interested to see what a PHEV would be like to live with if you can’t charge at home. I’ve subscribed to your channel to see what other vids you have.

[@oateater5044]

I probably wouldn't recommend one if you can't charge at work or at home. May as well forgo the battery weight by going hybrid.

[@peterball8241]

During lockdown I got over 500mpg on my Outlander PHEV. Commute 8 miles each way. Love your reaction when the engine started, not range but fuel anxiety, a common experience with PHEVs.

[@Lewis_Standing]

You most certainly did not. This does not take into account the electricity used. EVs quote 150-190 mpg for just the electric. You can see this over at EV database, sadly Mitsubishi are lying to you.

[@peterball8241]

@@Lewis_Standing Correct, maybe a better way of putting it was: I had to put a gallon of petrol in for every 500 miles travelled. Charging at home you forget about the pennies spent on electric.

[@davidwright1752]

@@peterball8241 would you buy this can again or is there a better PHEV now. I really prefer the owners opinion to what a car salesman tells me.

[@peterball8241]

@@davidwright1752 There are probably better PHEVs but I have driven Mitsubishi for 25 years. I also bought it used which made it more affordable. After 5 years of ownership I don't regret the purchase and would buy another if Mitsubishi weren't pulling out of the UK.

[@davidwright1752]

@@peterball8241 Must admit I never gave the Mitsubishi I thought I really did not know they were that good thank you for the info. It’s a vehicle that would work in my situation

[@uTPH1]

Had my used 2017 Prius PHV for 9 months. 5600 miles total at average 285mpg. Key tips: Always plug in at home, don't take any unused battery home, use EV in traffic, pre-condition (cool or warm) if you can, keep climate control at a minimum to be comfortable. 4.9miles/kWh is very good - most I have got is 4.4 in the summer.

[@thesingingshade7984]

Great Video for those who are sitting on the fence about whether to go ev or phev Very informative

[@black5f]

We just got one. It's mainly the wife's but the EV range is more than enough for either of us to go to work and back, haven't used any petrol in the two weeks we've had it! And yet still capable of long journeys as a prime mover. And in traffic or town ... no pollution at all. No need for a £900 charging point, they fully charge in about 5 hours off a normal 13A socket. I think they are excellent. Very comfortable etc. And that's from someone who owns a '96 Z28!

[@homomorphic]

When I had my Volt (Ampera to you chaps) I drove almost exclusively on battery. I typically only visited the gas station once every 1500-2000 miles. That is basically what is known as "maintenance mode" (running the ICE enough to keep it from seizing up) and I had a 80 mile per day commute at the time.

[@davidfrench409]

I think it''s a shame that more people didn't 'get' how that car worked. It was a great idea.

[@Soepsliert]

When getting on a dual carriageway I usually leave it in electric mode until getting to speed, because accelerating in petrol is less efficient than on electricity. This also ensures that the petrol engine can warm up in a nice relaxed fashion instead of requiring full power when it's still cold. Average fuel consumption in our Passat GTE is about 70 km/L (1.6 L/100km, don't know what that is in mpg from the top of my head).

[@jamesreynolds5776]

Fantastic! 1.6L/100 km 👍👍

[@GOTMATHS.ONLINE]

By my calculation 1.6L/100km is about 177 mpg

[@bluey-fd9ur]

The magic figure is 273 .Divide it by the one you know and it will give the other e.g. 27.3mpg = 10l /100km , 9.1l/100 = 30mpg

[@philmbridges]

I have a Toyota Prius Phev, and i love it! Looking to fill up with petrol every 4 months. Saving a fortune on diesel! Drives superb and excellent in all areas. The trick is, just charge it up, as you state. My last car was a Jaguar.

[@art322]

Great car! Your Prius PHEV will do 70mpg on motorway on pure petrol as well. So you you’ll match most diesels even when your battery’s flat. I am thinking of upgrading to one of these from a normal Prius but I’m worried about the small boot. Do you find it an issue?

[@philmbridges]

The is a lttle small but the the backseats fold down ,so for us no problem. Makes it very versatile.

[@Spyder7223]

After watching a couple videos and being on the fence about going electric or not, I think you've convinced me, hybrid is the way to go. Thanks man, now to see what PHEV is right for me.

[@madmitten5]

PHEVs are great in the right situation, and if you do the no-brainer stuff in this video. In my case, I generally drive short distances, and by keeping my Outlander PHEV charged and, especially, pre-heating in the winter, I sometimes go months without getting gas. But every year I do a long 10-15 hour drive (I'm in Canada - it's big!) when the fuel economy is still ok, but where I don't need to worry about recharging.

[@itsfahys]

Some great advice there on driving a phev, particularly about Pre Heating or Pre Cooling the car, which will stop the Petrol Engine coming on to warn the car on a Cold Day, and also to use the Full EV range every day and plug in again every night. Was doing some calculation and the Ioniq Plug In Pre 2019 model has a rough range of 50km which doesnt sound like much, but i rarely do more than that most days with commuting to work. Thats a potential range on Electric of 350km a week with only charging it once overnight or roughly 1,400km a Month or up to 18,200km a year on Electric potentially. You could also Plug In the Car at work or other Slow Charger locations during the day to extend that range even further. Now most PCP deals give an allowance of 15,000km a year , so you can start to see where it can work. I personally do longer Trips at the Weekend into areas of the West of Ireland where charging is a bit limited, or there may be other reasons like travelling with Time Deadlines where you dont want to stop to charge for 40min or dealing with Broken or ICED chargers. The downsize though is efficiency when using the Petrol Engine isnt going to be great as your carrying around a Petrol Engine, Electric Motor, Gas Tank, Battery and all the Electronics that go to manage all this complexity. Id also imagine Servicing is going to be costly if anything is gone wrong, so id definately be looing fora car well within its Warranty otherwise could prove very costly. Thanks again for a great video.

[@scotsshuggie]

Being a Scotsman I totally agree with you, Plug the car in............

[@errcoche]

Another nat's chuff tight "sweaty" here seconding that motion.

[@keithware5314]

A very good informative video for the unitiated. I use the same tactics on my PHEV to get the best results and of course always plug in at home. Thanks.

[@mrholloway104]

I've had an Outlander PHEV for 2 and a half years and over that time it has returned an average of 52 mpg and 3.7 miles per kwh. Its plugged in overnight and much of my driving is short local trips. I've been using it as described in this video. Currently part exchanging it for a new all electric MG5 Long Range

[@iurimerlini3923]

I owns a PHEV and fully agree with the concept expressed in the video 💪👍

[@pablogulias3752]

My daily commute is between 20 and 35 kms, and my Volvo XC60 has a full electric range of 40 kms. I use it as you recommend, and unless I have to make a long journey, I do not use any petrol at all. For people like me, by the way, I charge it at home every night spending 0,35 euros per full charge, is perfect!! And when it comes the time of enjoying, its 340 hp combined are great too!! I am absolutely delighted with the change from my previous Q5 diesel. But what I like the best is the feeling of driving in absolute silence and the smoothness of the electrical motor. Great “lesson” on how to use a PHEV!!

[@martinwinboltlewis7393]

My last fill up on my Mini Countryman PHEV using the method you describe was 116.42 mpg. One fill up per month!

[@peterball8241]

My strategy for longer trips is "EV mode" below 40 mph and engine on above 40mph in "Save" or "Charge" mode on my Outlander PHEV.

[@praeparatus_supervivet]

Tip of the day: I opted for a 100 miles long charging cable so my kuga is always connected wherever I drive. Love the video... 😆 I'm gonna go n get me a PHEV of me own now!

[@doctoruttley]

Just bought a PHEV and appreciate this video. Thanks mate! 👌🏻😎👌🏻🇨🇦

[@johndoyle4723]

Yes all good points, I used to have a PHEV, but now gone full EV. I always tried to get home with zero electric miles left, I would save the battery for the last few miles from the motorway to my home, yes a bit sad, but I enjoyed it. BIK needs to change to avoid the obvious abuse on company cars.

[@davidfrench409]

I'm not sure what the breaks are but I definitely think that you should not get any kind of 'allowance' for having a PHEV if the company pays your fuel as well. There's little or no incentive to plug in in that situation.

[@cpierce803]

Very well done and helpful. Our first PHEV arrives next month! Appreciate videos that explain the “why”.

[@apacherider7110]

I have a Mer A250e. It states the electric range is 42miles. My commute to work is 42miles, via 3 motorways. It runs flat as I as park it at work but on the way home I have approx 4miles range left as its mostly down hill home. If you dont have the range then use IC drive to get to dual carriageway or motorways, it uses less power on these roads as the vehicle is in motion. Moving off uses a lot of energy. Also use IC drive on hills to save the battery range and use E drive downhill as you get regenerative braking. Regenerative braking is not a new thing, have worked in the forklift industry for 40years and we used it on electric trucks since then.

[@deadslota]

I filled up my phev the other day (it starts complaining if I haven't in over 3 months), put in 15l, i'd traveled 2400+km, or 370+mpg. plug it in

[@Swerve744]

What vehicle are you running.

[@JonOvalle]

Thank you brother. The conditions here in Florida demand more consciousness while driving due to the long distances and the city traffic.

[@veedubgeezer]

This is great advice. I assumed this was the best way to use a PHEV. You know more than the car does about your journey ahead. The electricity prices didn't age well though

[@mawalker6921]

Great video. I drive a PHEV Volvo XC60. I plug in at home and work and do a 42 mile commute. First 10 miles are country and town roads so full electric. Then dual carriageway way for 20miles and finally 12 miles on slower roads. By forcing the car to stay in electric I arrive at both destinations with 0 range but average 85mpg!

[@Harringtonation]

Helpful information, thanks! One question though (I have an xc60), when battery goes to zero, will the car restart?!

[@reversoworld5348]

This is really useful. I’m considering a 550e BMW hybrid and this helps me understand how to exploit it fully.

[@robroche14]

Just got kuga hybrid and wondered how was best to use the driving modes. This video was very informative without all the jargon. From one Yorkshireman to another thanks for the heads up.

[@Mububban23]

I’m hoping my next car is a PHEV. I’d use no petrol for my working week, but do a longer run to visit family on weekends. Local shops though would use zero fuel. And chargers here are rare, and distances for road trips can be long. So 90% of the time it’d be an EV with zero range anxiety 👍

[@praeparatus_supervivet]

I'm in Sweden and I'm thinking go getting one. Same as you short daily trips to work and back and visiting family or going on a little road trip in the weekends where I need the added petrol engine range. I can charge it at work. I just worry about the battery in cold weather temperatures here during January and February.

[@lfin386]

After 12 months with a Corsa e BEV I made the decision to change to an Astra PHEV which I pick up next week. Loved the Corsa ( except perhaps the appalling winter range) but couldn't stand the stress of worrying whether a Rapid charger would be either working or not in use. Spending time in the pouring rain trying to nudge a charger into use is no joke. Clearly the infrastructure has not kept pace with the increase in EV ownership. So until that improves, for me PHEV is the way to go . As usual, good clear video - thanks

[@margaretgaal937]

This was very helpful. I am trying to learn how this type of car works as it seems like a good idea. But getting the whole story of Living with a plug in hybrid is not so easy to find out. I learned a lot in this review, thanks.

[@glynmoore3730]

Considering a Grandland hybrid and I would expect to drive it exactly as per your video, but I'm grateful for your "instruction". For the vast majority of my drives I would be driving battery only, thus keeping the battery topped up at home overnight at under 10p/kwh. I'd take a hit on my more rare long drives, but overall it would be a big money saver, and the Grandland fuel only mpg is only slightly less than my current Mokka petrol. Thanks for your upload.

[@RWBHere]

Thanks, Andy. My brother-in-law is a Scot, and has a PHEV. He moans about high fuel consumption (under 45 mpg), but will not listen to people who try to tell him how to use the car properly. He 'can't be bothered with the hassle of plugging it in'. That attitude costs him money, so his next car will be a Diesel. There is no helping some people. 🤷‍♂️

[@kevinmacleod6761]

Does him being a Scot make a difference?

[@garrycroft4215]

I have a 30,000 mile test for you in a Mitsubishi PHEV. manufacturer said 150 MPG. I got 105 MPG the battery degradation on these is awful it dropped from 34 miles to 22 otherwise it was a lovely car to drive and own with no other issues. I've had my new i3s for 5 days now and love it. 150 MPG equivalent. Lol

[@22pcirish]

Really informative. We are about to take delivery of a Peugeot 3008 PHEV on my wife’s mobility. The tips for driving here will be very useful. Thank you.

[@fuzzywuzzy4193]

I have a 71 plate 3008 and my advice is charge it and run in hybrid. You'll get 240mpg if you don't and run on fuel its 28mpg horrendous. Great car though 👍

[@stephandolby]

On a related note, I like how Skoda have put the blind spot monitoring light on the inside of the wing mirror *and* made it big, presumably because if it's a small light in the usual place, it's much harder to notice. Also, this might convince people to actually use their mirrors.

[@justhadtostartacivilengine4253]

That!

[@Twisterpins1649]

The Nissan QASHQUI has the blind spot aswell

[@simonmoorcroft1417]

The problem with PHEV's is they are neither 'fish nor fowl'. I understand they are a stepping stone to a BEV, but they are woefully inefficient. Whichever way you look at it, they are either a ICE vehicle that has to carry around a heavy under ranged battery pack or a short ranged EV that has to carry around a heavy petrol/diesel engine. They only exist to fill a regulatory requirement-and according to the latest info-they do not even do that without fiddling their emissions figures. I also understand that they are a necessary evil until battery prices come down and EV's get cheaper. I think what they should have done with PHEV's is give them a minimum battery range of 70+ miles. I know most PHEV's are based on ICE vehicle chassis, so to do this they should remove the ICE power pack from the engine bay and replace it with a full electric power train and a compact efficient petrol generator unit that can act as a range extender/charger if required. The space created in the engine bay and by the reduction in size of the vehicles fuel tank could then be used for extra batteries and a 7kwh charger unit. I know this is similar to vehicles like the Prius, but that vehicle is still too much of a compromise. The engine is still too big and is sometimes used to drive the vehicles drive train directly. It is far more efficient to have a small generator that runs at a constant rpm to charge the batteries as required and let a fully electric power train propel the vehicle. So in summary make PHEVs into a true stepping stone to a BEV. A lighter generator instead of a heavy engine, faster charging and a moderately sized battery pack that gives you a reasonable commuting range. You can then run on electric most of time on your average journey, but if your battery range drops below 15 miles on a journey for example the generator could switch on and at least give you the ability to reach a charge point.

[@caponatatv]

Partialy agree. Don’t forget the more you charge it, the quicker you “kill” the battery. I prefer to save the battery for short drives and use hybrid for longer journeys. If you come back home with some battery left use it tomorrow….

[@SkaBob]

We got a Niro PHEV, so far getting around 77mpg. My subaru needed gas every 300 miles, this one goes over 700 per tank and the tank is smaller as well. Drive it in EV mode on the back roads and city street, once I get on the highway I switch to hybrid and run on gas as needed, then back to EV when we get off the highway and stay in EV until I get to work. At work we can charge back up for free. My goal is to get to home and work with only a mile or two of range left, if I'm getting home and still have 10 miles of EV left I know I'm not using EV enough. On days I don't go to work and stay local I can drive in EV the whole day.

[@markh7288]

I have a PHEV, it’s brilliant! I get 80km in summer range and just under 70km in winter. I have filled the very small petrol tank 3 times since I bought it in July. I drive the vast majority of the time on electric power, charging it every day from only the normal 3 pin plug at home.

[@markh7288]

We use a lot of electricity, I don’t see an appreciable difference since we bought the cars. The cars have a very large step up in power, so no regrets there either, except you do notice the extra weight when driving enthusiastically on country roads.

[@jforsten9216]

Great video! We've had an '07 Toyoda Camry hybrid, it was good for what it was. Now we have an '18 530e we've had for a month. Daily commute ~22 miles. Almost every day electric mode only. I didn't think to take it out when on hwy where gas engine would be very efficient. Thanks

[@winterdragon007]

I'm going to pick up my Passat GTE next week and what you're trying to explain is more or less what I had figured out on my own. But I did pick up a few tips here and there that I'll certainly use. Great video

[@tureq85]

finally somebody with some common sense!!! phevs are not every journey/ commute!! do your research before getting one

[@miller1520]

Good vid, mate. You're quite right. But I think I can speak for some of the folks you address. I drive a Volvo V60 d6 2016. I always try to use it as efficiently as possible but it's quite demanding, not a relaxed drive at all. I'm continuously calculating range, pushing buttons and tripping the computer to work around software bugs. Example, when the batteries are fully exhausted (pure mode) the diesel engine will kick in and begin to recharge the batteries, at a whopping 12-13 liters to 100km. There is no way around it, I assure you. Which is why I only use pure mode when I know my round trip is shorter than 25km. Anyway, my point is that especially on older phev's, the software can be buggy or was poorly designed. And after a while a guy gets tired driving his car as if it were a space shuttle. I just want to get home from work. So I do charge it everyday and then just leave it in hybrid. And btw, my preheater will always use the batteries first, even when it's plugged in. Another fancy feature, on paper, but completely useless in practice.

[@user-jt1jv8vl9r]

This video perfectly outlines why PHEVs are never going to work for the mainstream driver who just wants to get from a-b. I can't see many of my colleagues at work pre warming their car or following a checklist to make sure they are using the battery as efficiently as possible. When you drive on the petrol engine you are driving a heavier more inefficient car than if you just drive a lighter petrol car. It's the worst of both worlds if you ask me: IMO. A useful stepping stone to get people used to charging etc maybe, but I would rather my next car be a full EV. How many people really think about the economy of a vehicle once bought? They just fill up when the tank is empty. They might drive a little slower but that is it.

[@Vegan123]

Greetings from Ireland - many thanks for the informative videos. Subscribed !

[@rogersylvain6428]

Best PHEV video I’ve found yet.

[@azzeea2949]

Good video. I think PHEV's are the way to go. Best of both worlds and you won't get range anxiety. I was waiting for you to tell us which make/model of car it was you were driving, and you mentioned it in the 14th minute. Lol!

[@Garrison169]

It;s the WORST of both worlds and range anxiety is a thing of the past.

[@martinshillitoe4735]

My issue is that I do a lot of long distance drives that are mainly motorway. 180 to 250 mile round trips are the norm with many others a lot longer. The mpg plummets with a PHEV when doing this kind of driving and makes a mockery of the phev’s green credentials. I had to go full electric. Tbh I’m glad I did. I might need to public charge on the longer runs but it has saved me so much money

[@kbmblizz1940]

Idk why some EV fanboys hate phev so much. I had one in 2017, saved $25k USD on purchase price compared to model 3 which had a 3m queue & had subpar build quality as Elon called it "production hell". Mine had more $ incentives from fed/state than Tesla. I drove it practically free from home solar & free charge at work for 6 yrs. Believe me, I charge EVERY night to get that sweet $.09/kwh EV night rate from PG&E. I drove one summer on just *1* tank of gas. So happy to see gas consumption pegged at >99mpg.

[@randalllewis4485]

Great video. Toyota RAV4 Prime is my PHEV. Great car and with an electric range in the summer of as much as 55 miles. This covers 90 percent or so of my weekly driving, so much that I haven't bought GAS SINCE April. I live where gas is expensive, and electricity is cheap, which makes PHEV an even better option. The ability to charge at home is really important to making PHEV and full EV work best, but I always recommend hybrids over pure ICE cars for everyone.

[@woods19364]

Always use the petrol engine at some point the petrol degrades in time and can damage the engine.

[@randalllewis4485]

@@woods19364 Good reminder. Toyota gives good advice in the user manual about this point, and I follow that.

[@dominiquecharriere1285]

I live in the low emission zone of Madrid Spain so I asked my company to give me an EV so I could park around home, I wanted an EV and for my sins they gave me one. Since I have it simply I don't have a car. I can only use it to go to work, I dared twice to go as far as 200 Kms from the city, big big stress (hard to find a charger that is free and working). My next car will be PHEV, no doubt about it.

[@davidbailey1689]

Great vid. Thanks. I got my Rav4 today so your content is very welcome!

[@lambleys]

Picking an outlander up this week so enjoyed watching this one and great mpg

[@callumweir1116]

Ordered a Peugeot 308 Gt Premium PHEV (180). Should get it around September. Can’t come quick enough since I’m stuck doing 60 miles a day in a Volvo S60 T5! Thanks for the tips!

[@alisonsabin-hope7171]

we've had ours. we bought it for flexibility, we mainly do around town driving but often go further. we average about 1,000 miles for a 45litre tank of petrol. we can live with that lol

[@erikpenabella599]

Although I agree with most of your concept, it should be noted by the individual with the PHEV, how much it cost to charge. If it's a flat cheap rate for energy per kWh, I agree 100%. In San Diego, CA charging between the hours of 4pm and 9pm would be worse for your wallet because the cost per mile is much higher than what the hybrid cost mer mile is.

[@Tom55data]

Thank you for your Video, great as usual. My concern about PHEV and the recent review article issue was done with compliance PHEV's that were specifically made for performance and not efficiency. This is the case with too many PHEV these days that have terrible design..... 1) They are large heavy cars SUV which means the follow apply more. 2) The electric motor is not powerful enough to provide useful driving : and the system is designed to NOT lock out the petrol engine. Even on a small hill the ICE engine will kick in. 3) Catalytic converters on petrol cars do not work until they reach 200 degC. This means short bursts of ICE engine for performance reasons will produce a lot of toxic exhaust, including particulates from petrol worse then diesel. It is normal for a ICE petrol engine to take 5-10 minutes to heat the CAT to working temperature. For town driving in winter the CAT may NEVER reach operating temperature. 4) Too many PHEV cannot heat/cool the cabin in EV mode, again this is stupid design and common in compliance cars. This forces the driver on a hot/cold day to have to use the ICE engine or freeze/boil. I agree completely with your presentation, BUT there are too many cars - even the Ionic - that will not lock out the ICE engine in electric mode, avoid these. Make sure when you buy a PHEV, does the EV lock out the ICE engine under all conditions and is the motor powerful enough (maybe more than 50 kW) to give you town driving that you are happy with. Make sure the PHEV can heat/cool the cabin in EV only mode. I would recommend you get a PHEV with "hybrid-hold" mode as an option - this allows you to keep battery charge (and run as a normal hybrid) until you reach a town at your destination where you can run in full EV mode. Example ...... My wife's car (mine is a T-M3) is a Audi A3 etron - a small real car - that has 101 hp electric motor that locks out the ICE engine which certainly enough for town driving - can reach 81 mph (not necessary) and can heat/cool the car on EV mode only. We get.... 60mpg in very long journey 200+ miles I can get 100-130 mpg on 50 miles, including half on motor ways (my daily commute) Of course below 25-30 miles we get all EV. We always charge - no question - it is 1p mile = 10% the cost of an efficient diesel car. (PS Audi charge ports are utter shite - and audi service is useless)

[@chazsach6594]

This is the most informative comment i have ever read.

[@keithware5314]

I get better mpg on my Ioniq PHEV and like you always plug in. Last year I drove back from Wick in Scotland started with a full charge 685 miles and 72 mpg doing a lot of motorway speeds.

[@craiglomax9913]

Tom55data, I have a BMW 225xe, so a 2 year old PHEV, it is not a large SUV but more around the 2 series size (same footprint?) electric motor is 65kW or 88hp which is plenty, add to that a 1.5L petrol of 100kW / 136hp it has heaps of get up and go, on top of this if there is charge in the battery and you give it full throttle it will use the electric motor (RWD) and the petrol engine (FWD) at the same time. effectively making it a 4wd sports car. certainly not the most efficient use of the energy but great fun! It can easily cruse on the motorway using the electric motor only. I used to commute from Leicester to Coventry and I would get more than half way using electric only and it would switch to petrol for the rest of the motorway, as soon as I was back in traffic it would go back to electric. on this commute I would generally average over 70mpg (sometimes 80mpg depending on conditions) - smaller battery than the later etron being a factor I think. it can heat/cool in EV mode and the pre-conditioning is one of the best things ever invented! so in summary if you plug them in and are reasonably sensible you can get very good economy. I agree that if you were on the road all day a PHEV is probably not the best car as I feel that running them in Hybrid mode only is a waste of the potential savings. on top of all this it is great to drive and I do not miss manual transmissions one bit! (a form of torture in heavy traffic)

[@keithware5314]

@@craiglomax9913 Well done good mpg. I agree with you totally.

[@Tom55data]

@@keithware5314 The ionic is an efficient car and a very nice but the EV motor is 60hp which should be enough for EV only driving. When I test drove it EV mode would not lock out the ICE engine - I refer to my discussion - it may be efficient but for town driving it is dirty if the ICE engine fires up if you sneeze. If only Hyundai had made it proper EV only mode, I did not buy it for that reason.

[@andrewgardner9615]

Too many Phevs,historically, bought/used as company cars(tax reasons) particularly Outlanders-never to be plugged in.Glad others in comments are getting great mpg.

[@rogerbarton497]

I think a lot of PHEVs are in company fleets because of the tax concessions, as you said, company reps don't give a toss about MPG because they're not paying for the fuel.

[@jss455]

For our 2023 KIA Sportage PHEV, we have 15K for mileage since the original purchased - 6 month ago. Per the odometer “average” for the life of the vehicle, we are getting an average of 60.5mpg. We have a Level 2 charger and use it as frequently as possible. Mostly charged “empty” (15% remaining) and charging to full. Also, due to the type of driving we did on one tank, we were able to get 1,300+ mpg. On 9 gallons of gas! Simply crazy! The biggest downside I see is the lack of a heat pump! I feel that it is a total design flaw on KIA’s part. Our 2021 Prius has a heat pump and still averages 80+mpg for the life of the car. Note we have yet to really drive it for a full New England winter! I’ll take the 60mpg of the Sportage over the 30 mpg of my prior Outback.

[@clewis5220]

Great videos to help us make informed choices. Is the petrol consumption high on PHEVs as it may never warm up properly in eco? Not good for petrol engine used in this stop start way especially in cold weather?

[@SamMachin]

We treid this with a Mitsubishi Outlander, had a 24hr test drive and did wifes commute, its a 70mile round trip, 10miles each way on local a-road/town and 25 on the motorway. Started out on a full charge and a full tank of fuel. Used EV only for the Aroad/town and save mode on the motorway once we were up to 40-50mph, then cruse at 70. Got home with just about 3% battery left, but then when I went to fill it up again we'd used £8 of petrol for the trip, on top of a full battery charge, thats the equiv of 55mpg. PHEVs have a HUGE drop off curve in MPG once your trip between charges (eg daily round trip) goes over 30-40miles, once you hit ~75miles in a day then its almost completely wiped out the battery savings in additional fuel to haul around the flat heavy battery

[@MrZola1234]

Good video, I’m looking to by a Kia Niro plug in hybrid in the states. I want to get the most of the battery. I especially like the pre heat or cool the cabin while plugged in. Interesting that you suggest making the choice of mode rather than letting the vehicle pick….most videos the YTer says you won’t outperform the vehicles choice. My commute is very similar to yours, 45 miles.

[@disruptIT]

I purchased a used 2017 Volt and the MPGe was very low. It was obvious the previous owner never or rarely plugged it in. I mean I get around 130 mpge on average since I've owned it, the average before me was around 53 mpge, which is crazy low. I get higher than that even if I drive on the interstate at 70 mph. So, yeah, for some unknown reason people buy a phev then don't care to use the EV portion, which defeats the point of the vehicle.

[@stephenbagwell8275]

When I got to a sweeping road after first setting off I’d put my PHEV in to sport mode so I could control when the petrol engine started and warmed up

[@stuartwilliams7903]

Thanks for a superb vid very helpful, trying to decide to buy a PHEV and video like this really helpful thanks

[@kathyweston8427]

Thank you for this very helpful video. I’ve ordered a 2023 Hyundai Tucson Ultimate PHEV and want to get the best mileage as possible on the EV mode. I hope you will do a review on this model soon. 😊

[@allenwilson1479]

The best video I have watched so far,giving me the best information that I actually need and use. Iam part exchanging my xf 2.0 diesel which is very good on fuel 60mpg

[@mrsteve7175]

Interesting video. I've got a Merc E350e, which I've had for five years now. I've worked out that it is rarely cost effective to charge the car, simply because the cost of the electricity to charge it is more than the petrol would cost to do the same number of miles, unless you can pay around 12p/kw or less. Also the battery doesn't last as long as the manufacturer claims it does, particularly in winter or if you use the battery on hills. In fact it's a complete waste of electricity to charge it in winter as the range drops by half. In the summer you may just about break even if you can get cheap electricity. So what I do is just make the most of the car's hybrid tech. i.e. the regen. braking and engine lift-off cruise and stick to 70 on the motorway. By doing that and driving gently I never get less than 40mpg. The cars systems always always keeps some residual charge in the battery, so in town you can always creep along in traffic on battery as long as you go easy on the throttle. Same on motorway queues. It's all about technique and working with the hybrid tech. The car has averaged 45.5mpg over the last 27k miles, which for a 2 tonne car with a turbo petrol engine is astonishing. And that's on all mix of roads. So unless you can get cheap electricity I think there is no benefit to charging a PHEV if you use it in the right way. I reckon it's a lot more fuel efficient than it would have been anyway if the car had the same engine but without the hybrid tech. Overall I prefer it to the E220d as it's quieter, especially in town and in low speed maneuvers, and you don't get the diesel engine constantly cutting in and out, or the smell.

[@led0073]

Work is really pushing EV and hybrid vehicles but not installing chargers at the work place. So I have ended up picking or rather pushed to get an Audi A3 tfsi e (nice car). I live on a street and i don't always get to park outside my house and if I did someone would either trip over the cable or cut the cable as it would be laying across the pavement if I could plug it in at home. I do live 5 mins from a charger bank point . But I don't feel I'm going to be able to make the best out of the EV side of the car. Hopefully work will come around and fit chargers at work in the future. Great information .

[@scottivlow9962]

On the Chrysler Minivan PHEVs the computer makes the choices for you so you don't have settings on when you can manually choose when and when not to use any battery. It just wants you to drive how you prefer to and the computer will make the changes. Also the Ford Escape has settings on when to use the battery like you can use the battery much later in the trip to preserve the use, but if you step on the pedal no matter the setting the engine will take over.

[@AlphaGeminorum1]

Extremely useful primer on how to use my new PHEV. So, I found it quite informative.

[@dayoadeosun1520]

Hi EVM, this is a great video you have done. My question is, which would be more economical to drive btw this phev car and a similar diesel car, if you do a journey of 160 to 320miles per week on highway but you only charge your car at home? Thanks

[@jackjoyce1744]

Mercedes make a diesel PHEV

[@dayoadeosun1520]

@@jackjoyce1744 cool. I will look into merc diesel PHEV

[@flysurfer108]

great vid EVM, must say tho when I drive my f type r v8 5.0 lt super charged beast I smile more on start up than you did this whole video haha, but I am looking to buy a EV or hybrid because I do actually care about the environment, my ICE is just a toy.

[@danielgavan4339]

Thank you for the video and information. I have two questions: what is the lifespan of a battery for a plugin and the second one: what happens with the car if the plugin battery dies/cannot be charged/runs out completely after years of usage?

[@totalsubmition]

The Fred Dibnah of car reviewers. Thanks mate.

[@muradfarooqui1741]

I have a Mercedes c class phev. It gives me over a 1000 miles on a full tank by using plug-in and petrol.

[@troodonfarhad3102]

What is the claimed range or mpg

[@timslater999]

Lots of helpful tips here. thank you. looking forward to my phev.

[@MythosGandaar]

I loved this video, actually. I think if I had a PHEV I would really enjoy messing around with the settings and picking the drive modes. When I used to have a Prius I loved seeing how far I could go on EV mode.

[@branflakee4257]

The self life of ethanol based gas is about 3 months so make sure to use the gas that you have in the tank in that time frame to prevent vehicle malfunction

[@mikespruce6869]

Very useful video, gave me a good head start using my new (ish) phev.

[@tedmack6516]

Excellent. Must have a balanced view if decisions are to be rational. What is good depends on personal circumstances. Too many videos and comments are partisan.

[@melissamybubbles6139]

I'm glad you explained this. I have a 2008 hybrid that doesn't have different modes to choose from. It seems to get the same gas mileage as the 2013 gas car. I don't know whether I'm doing something wrong or if it is just old.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

Is it a PHEV?

[@melissamybubbles6139]

@@ElectricVehicleMan No. It doesn't plug in. I think it just uses regenerative charging or something like that. It's a 2008 Camry hybrid.

[@ElectricVehicleMan]

@@melissamybubbles6139 There’s the problem then. Only something you can plug-in can do these.

[@melissamybubbles6139]

@@ElectricVehicleMan Okay. It's something to keep in mind if I ever get a plug-in hybrid. I'm glad to know that's possible. Thank you.

[@GabrielSBarbaraS]

Doing some quick math here ( American ) , at 25 miles per gallon of gas is 12 cents per mile. At 12 cents per kilowatt hour and 300 watts per mile on electric, it is about 4 cents per mile, this equates to about 8 cents per mile on electric only. ( PEHV or EV ) that is a savings of $8000 per 100,000 miles. Now if I have to pay more than $8000 more for a plug in verses a gas car, how can this be worth it.? Don’t forget a PHEV will operate the gas if the cabin needs heat and at some point you will use a little gas which skews the numbers somewhat. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[@cotswoldphotographers]

Brilliant, you had me in hysterics 😂👍

[@davidmccarthy6061]

I think most people want to mindless drive and won't keep a car in the best mode. The software needs to do that optimally for the humans, and the battery needs to have at least 30 miles of capacity.

[@user-jt1jv8vl9r]

People have busy lives working long hours, kids/family members to look after and houses to run. The last thing they need to be worrying about is the car. They just want to get in and drive not remember a 10 min tutorial on how and when to use the battery etc. A full EV you plug in once every few days and drive: simple.

[@AlexBell1991]

I'm planning to buy a plug in Ionic whtin the next few months so this helps. Mainly plan to use it as a daily commute to work (50 miles in total) as well as a shopping runner.

[@james10o1]

@11:00 Saving money is exiting enough for me!

[@sneekylinux]

A man after my own heart....

[@josie_the_valkyrie]

Exciting *

[@james10o1]

@@josie_the_valkyrie I've waited 3 years for someone to notice! Lol