So today we were having our house boiler serviced when I got chatting with the engineer, he said he had recently bought a Ford Puma PHEV, we chatted about things such as hybrid charging and getting the best milage.
He told me that Ford were releasing a software update that zero’s the trip computer automatically when the car is charged, at the moment it he has to do this manually.
At first I didnt take much notice because I didnt see the point, however, he then said that his Ford Puma PHEV, was losing hybrid mileage when being charged.
Apparently he was getting 35 miles in the summer on a full 100% charge and 30 in the winter, but these figures were dropping so he booked the car in to be checked over.
Nothing was found wrong with the charging or the hybrid battery, but he was advised to zero the trip counter before charging as this would then give extra mileage after charging.
Apparently he now does this every time he charges the car and has gained between 5 and 8 miles on a 100% charge !!!
He reckons Ford are releasing a software update to have this done automatically when the car is plugged in to be charged..
He also said to get this to work manually you have to zero the trip computer BEFORE switching off the car and BEFORE opening any doors otherwise it will not work.
He makes his wife and kids sit in the car on the drive every time until he’s zero’d the trip computer
So, I’ve tried this today on my E tense and will find out in the morning if it works on the DS PHEV ?
I’ve noticed that my E Tense has dropped it’s milage by 5 miles over the last 6 months or so.
Are you saying resetting the trip will give a stronger battery that last longer?
Obviously, that’s complete bull.
However, if it’s just the prediction that is positively affected, and not the actual mileage, then I guess it isn’t completely impossible.But also quite irrelevant.
So, whether this is just coincidence, bull or anything else, my E Tense gained 3 miles on a full 100% charge this morning.
When I first bought the car last September a full charge was giving me 27 miles, this has gradually dropped to 22 miles on a full charge, which it has stayed at for the last 3 or 4 months , I put the drop in mileage down to weather conditions over winter..
This morning after charging the battery overnight it shows 100% charge 25 miles.
I’ve not seen over 22 miles after a full charge for months, not even during these warmer months.
I agree that this “HACK” cant be making the battery stronger, but the figures on the screen, after doing it have definitely increased from what they have been for many months.
Ok, its only an increase of 3 miles extra, but it does make one think is there something in this ??
So can you explain how it all works, because it still confuses me ?
My take was, you charge the car to 100% it then tells you after being charged how many miles the 100% charge is going to give you.
So for instance when I first had the car a full charge showed 28 miles, it was like that for about 2 or 3 months, it now shows 100% = 22 miles, for the last 3 or 4 months , it’s the same now each time I charge it.
Today though 100% charge = 25 miles, 3 miles extra. Using the so called “hack” I mentioned.
Coincidently I had to visit the dealership today for something different, while there I spoke with the technician and explained that I used to see 28 miles after a 100% but now only 22 miles, he asked about the types of journeys I do, how often the car is used , is it town driving or motorways ect ect, because apparently the car works off algorithms (his words not mine), so basically my journeys are typically the same every day (short), the car has “learned”, distances, the speeds and even the routes I tend to go and how often I charge the car, it calculates all of this and thats why I’m now only seeing 22 miles on a full charge.
When I mentioned the “hack” he didnt dismiss the idea he just said the system will take everything into account ?
Even after him going through all of that it still confuses the hell out me why i’m seeing less mileage with the same charge ?
I can’t explain everything in detail. To do that, I would have to take a look at the code. And we know that’s not gonna happen.
And you basically answered your own question; i.e. it takes previous journeys into account and try do make a prediction how far the current charge will take you.
It probably helps to mention that the car (the prediction system) isn’t very clever, and it probably can’t see very far back in time, so the most recent journey(s) is what will be the basis for the current prediction.
As an example, I could mention that I often visit a particular automatic carwash on my way to work, once or twice a week, and that means having the car standing still with the ignition on for around 10 min (battery power) and after such a visit, the prediction on the next charge shows a little shorter range than the days where I haven’t been through the carwash. In other words, standing still for 10 min used up some amount of battery and in whole the car used more power to get to work than usually, which affects the coming charge.
And again, those are just predictions and what you do when you make a reset or whatever is just fooling the system into giving you better numbers.
It is your actual usage/mileage that is the true number and really the only number that matters.
I can’t imagine you can fool that number as well. The battery power is what it is.
Sorry to disappoint, but my car too displayed 2 miles more than previous full charge, Its probably due to the average ambient temperature of the last few weeks. And, I already knew I was getting more miles to a full charge than the GOM was showing, so, today just as I pulled of my drive, I reset the trip to actually find out the difference. On return home the Trip was on 35 miles and there was 8% (2mile) left on the GOM. So in my estimation I could have driven a minimum of 37 miles, or even got very close to the magic 39!!
No, Looking at the distance I traveled on this charge today, added to the remaining range the GOM stated, its very possible I could have got very close to the magic 39!
This figure today was from 4 trips, 2 through town of about about 5 miles each way, and 2 in Town and on B-roads with maximum speed of 50 Mph, with two people, no luggage and air conditioning set at 20 degrees.
Remember as I said earlier, the GOM said I would get 31 miles!!, but I actually got about 20% more. .
Another thing the technician suggested was to drive the car in 100% electric mode, use it up then recharge, do this for a little while and you may see the range increase after a charge as the battery is now being stretched to its full potential, at the moment short journeys 3 or 4 times a week is not using the battery to its full potential.
The car has learned that a 100% charge only needs to predict 22 miles and therefore only use part of the battery for the low mileage journeys.
Prediction in my car went up from 28km to 48km after running fully electric 100% - 0% two days in a row.
I imagine its really hard for the cars computer to do the estimations when running in hybrid mode all the time.
Didnt affect the actual milage possible, just the estimation
According to my somewhat limited technical knowledge in battery science, not really.
I believe most electric/hybrid cars uses lithium ion batteries, which is the same (or similar) as modern phone batteries (roughly) and they aren’t any better off using full cycles like that.
On the contrary, these batteries gets negative effect from being completely emptied and back up again. It wears more on the battery than short charging cycles.
If it could affect the quality of the prediction algorithms though, is a different matter. It probably could.
GOM - Guess-O-Meter, basically that’s what the on dash estimated range displays - a Guess (its a term used on most EV forums)
I agree that running a lithium battery from 100-0% then recharge to 100% could damage the battery, and I believe that is one of the reasons why manufacturers ring fence some of the battery. the most I have added to my battery when charging it is about 11.1KW, Typically it’s around 10.8kW. and not the 12.4KW which is the size of the battery. The ‘Blurb’ says that some capacity is ring fenced for Hybrid driving, but all of the 1.5kW - not sure.
I regularly go from 100-0%, if I think the distance to the next charger is too far for the remaining range, hit the navigation to home, slip it into Hybrid and let the car decide, - under 50mph always in B-mode for a relaxing drive.
So would you recommend charging before it gets to 0% ?
Say, 10% left , and then charge it back to 100% ?
I tend to to charge it up to 100% and then recharge when it’s down to about 5%, sometimes I’ve let it hit 0%.
I’ve never run the car on full electric for a length of time, it’s usually Hybrid mode or Comfort mode with regen breaking switched on .
My son who has a Vauxhall PHEV tends to think I’m not using the car as it should be used, and that’s why I’m seeing lower predication on a full charge, he also suggested, like the DS technician, to run it for a little while on full electric, let the battery drop but not completely empty and recharge, do this for a few days to get the battery using its full capacity.
If that makes sense ?
I’m not an expert, i just know how I drive and treat my car. I only occasionally do I do long trips, ie more than the battery range. Most of the time I run it down to 0% and if I run out of battery I run in comfort mode. In respect to “most”, if I’m going to do another longish journey that I know i could do on a full battery, I will recharge. I bought a hybrid because my wife had no confidence in the charging network, so I run my car in Electric mode as much as possible, I like the almost one pedal driving, so in areas where that is suitable I run in B mode, even when in comfort. I took my car out of the garage today and it showed 33 miles, I popped to the shops and back ,about 2 miles, and it was still at 100%/33miles. This was the first trip since the other day when I got 35miles with 8% left.
Even if you drain it down to 5%, allowing for what i think is a 1½kW buffer, which means your car generally uses 11kW, take 5% off that and you effectively have a 10.3kW battery and that is what your car uses to guess your range. I would run it 100%-0% for a few cycles then see what you get.
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