As mentioned in my intro post I’m completely new to PHEVs, having had my Citroen DS5 for nearly 10 trouble free years.
I’d like to understand how my E-tense DS4 battery will behave on longer journeys. So far I’ve only done a couple of 100kms runs to test it, and in hybrid mode I found that the battery was pretty much depleted by the time I arrived, even though I was in “hybrid” mode all the time. The “B” button does not seem to re-generate the battery, at least not to anything like the way my old DS5 did.
So if this is normal , does it mean that after 120kms or so I will be effectively driving a petrol car with extra weight but no electric assistance? Won’t that mean relatively high consumption? Or does the battery charge up a fair bit during higher speed motorway running?
Thanks for explanation; any further tips on how you get the best for from your battery on longer motorway trips will be much appreciated
Hello @PragueAddick, I hope you are enjoying your DS4 e-tense, I love mine.
I haven’t done any motorway runs in mine but have done 100km runs on a mix of roads and speed limits. At the moment, with temps around 10c I start with a 100% battery and run on electric until the car kicks itself into hybrid mode at about 45km. I then get approx 4.7 l/100km from hybrid mode. (imperial 28 miles electric and 50mpg hybrid).
I have watched what the car is doing and noticed that the switch happens at a low battery percentage, just before it goes to ‘0’, but then reads as ‘0’ in hybrid mode- and stays that way, whether or not I use the regen. I used to drive a Lexus full hybrid and the DS seems to behave in a similar way. The Lexus would never allow me to put the car in pure electric mode during normal driving - it just acted as an assist to the petrol engine.
All in all, it seems to me that once the battery is depleted the DS just assists the petrol engine, much like a full hybrid. I take my cue from the car - it starts in electric mode by default and I drive on that until I deplete the battery.
There have been a few queries about the electric range shown in the read out and this learns from recent use and weather. When I do those weekly 100km trips the next charge shows a 27/28 mile range at 100%. If I deplete the battery with a few short trips in town before charging prior to my next 100km run the dash will show 17-19 miles at 100%, but I get the 27-28 miles in electric, as detailed above. There’s a reason for the display being called the ‘Guess o meter’!
Hi @Nods, thank you, that is very helpful. It seems your understanding is that when the battery is depleted it is still available to support the petrol engine like in your old Lexus (and like in my old DS5 hybrid) - whereas I had previously been worried that after the battery is depleted I’m left driving a petrol engine car carrying a heavy battery which is useless until I charge it up again. I think your assumption must be correct if you still get 4.7l/100 for your overall journey.That seems pretty good. For comparison my DS5 would do approx 6.3l/100 on a long motorway, (dropping to as low as 5.4l/100 when running around town).
So if this is how the DS4 hybrid system works, I will be pretty happy with that. I’m already seeing improvement in the battery range; I guess it is partly down to warmer weather, but I have only done 1,100kms, so it is hardly bedded in yet.
I have various other questions about my car, which we seem to have taken ownership of around the same time, but I’ll feed them in gently, as it looks like they would all fall in your lap!
I actually no longer own a DS, instead I now have a Suzuki Swace (same as a Toyota Corolla Touring) which is a self charging hybrid.
Like the DS 5, DS 4 and Lexus, it’s hybrid performance is severely dependant on the outside ambient temperature. I am averaging 48mpg currently however in summer months I can get up to 60mpg on my daily commute.
I did that 100km run today and the temperature was up from 10c to 14c. I managed 31 miles on electric and then 61mpg for the rest of the trip in hybrid mode. I didn’t have to drive like a nun either doing 60-70mph on the DC sections!
I’m happy with that - roll on summer for even better returns
