My experience of a PHEV company car
Discussion
Last week I had to do a 400 mile round trip over 2 days. My employer gave me one of their PHEV fleet cars to use and it was the first time I’ve used a PHEV, so I was interested in how the experience would be.
I set off with the PHEV fully charged. Because the start of my trip was all on A roads the battery only lasted 33 miles and wasn’t any benefit. I imagine it’s more suited to urban start/stop traffic than long 60 or 70 mph journeys?
When I reached my destination later that night. I went to use its charging point. Only to find these charging points required you to use your own cable and my employer had removed the charging cable from the car. Looks like I’m not going to charge the PHEV overnight for the urban driving the next morning.
The next day. I got up early with the plan of getting breakfast while I charge the car somewhere else. Hopefully I could do most of the urban driving in EV mode with a bit of battery life. After a lot of searching, I found a charging point in a city centre car park. I spent 30 minutes trying to get it to work? as this charger was constantly stuck on the “Initialising” handshake and would never startthe charge.
So I then had to drive across town to find charger number 3. As soon as I got there, the screen said it was out of order.
Charger number 4 didn’t have the same shape connector as my car. The fleet car only had a type 2 connector but the charging station was a CCS combo.
I then went to a multi-storey car park where the charging points advertised online were nowhere to be seen.
So the car was mostly running on its petrol engine around the city centre when it could have easily done it all in EV mode if the battery was sufficient. Ironically it got to a point where I was driving further trying to find a charging point than I would have, if I had an ICE car.
On the drive back up the A1. I stopped off at a service station and thought I might as well try a charger while I’m there for 30 minutes. Every charger was in use and it looked like other EVs / Hybrids were also lurking around waiting. Was I back of a long queue?
I tried to find other service stations along the A1 that had a free charger. But again these were CCS combo and not type 2.
So… after trying 7 different charging points. I couldn’t find one that would work with the fleet car I was loaned. I’m not willing to put charging apps on my own mobile phone. The PHEV ran mostly on its petrol engine making the whole thing seem rather pointless. Hours of my life were wasted driving around trying to find charging points. In the end, I refuelled the petrol tank, I found a working petrol station straight away and it took 2 minutes to refuel.
I set off with the PHEV fully charged. Because the start of my trip was all on A roads the battery only lasted 33 miles and wasn’t any benefit. I imagine it’s more suited to urban start/stop traffic than long 60 or 70 mph journeys?
When I reached my destination later that night. I went to use its charging point. Only to find these charging points required you to use your own cable and my employer had removed the charging cable from the car. Looks like I’m not going to charge the PHEV overnight for the urban driving the next morning.
The next day. I got up early with the plan of getting breakfast while I charge the car somewhere else. Hopefully I could do most of the urban driving in EV mode with a bit of battery life. After a lot of searching, I found a charging point in a city centre car park. I spent 30 minutes trying to get it to work? as this charger was constantly stuck on the “Initialising” handshake and would never startthe charge.
So I then had to drive across town to find charger number 3. As soon as I got there, the screen said it was out of order.
Charger number 4 didn’t have the same shape connector as my car. The fleet car only had a type 2 connector but the charging station was a CCS combo.
I then went to a multi-storey car park where the charging points advertised online were nowhere to be seen.
So the car was mostly running on its petrol engine around the city centre when it could have easily done it all in EV mode if the battery was sufficient. Ironically it got to a point where I was driving further trying to find a charging point than I would have, if I had an ICE car.
On the drive back up the A1. I stopped off at a service station and thought I might as well try a charger while I’m there for 30 minutes. Every charger was in use and it looked like other EVs / Hybrids were also lurking around waiting. Was I back of a long queue?
I tried to find other service stations along the A1 that had a free charger. But again these were CCS combo and not type 2.
So… after trying 7 different charging points. I couldn’t find one that would work with the fleet car I was loaned. I’m not willing to put charging apps on my own mobile phone. The PHEV ran mostly on its petrol engine making the whole thing seem rather pointless. Hours of my life were wasted driving around trying to find charging points. In the end, I refuelled the petrol tank, I found a working petrol station straight away and it took 2 minutes to refuel.
It would have worked out fine if you'd just taken the cable for charging the car with you, the whole point of a phev is to use the electric motor for the short urban journeys and the ice for the longer motorway/A road driving.
Tbh once you discovered you didn't have the charging cable you'd have been better just sticking to petrol instead of wasting your time driving about to charging stations.
That's the whole point of a phev, to give you both options.
Tbh once you discovered you didn't have the charging cable you'd have been better just sticking to petrol instead of wasting your time driving about to charging stations.
That's the whole point of a phev, to give you both options.
Mr Miata said:
Last week I had to do a 400 mile round trip over 2 days. My employer gave me one of their PHEV fleet cars to use and it was the first time I’ve used a PHEV, so I was interested in how the experience would be.
I set off with the PHEV fully charged. Because the start of my trip was all on A roads the battery only lasted 33 miles and wasn’t any benefit. I imagine it’s more suited to urban start/stop traffic than long 60 or 70 mph journeys?
When I reached my destination later that night. I went to use its charging point. Only to find these charging points required you to use your own cable and my employer had removed the charging cable from the car. Looks like I’m not going to charge the PHEV overnight for the urban driving the next morning.
The next day. I got up early with the plan of getting breakfast while I charge the car somewhere else. Hopefully I could do most of the urban driving in EV mode with a bit of battery life. After a lot of searching, I found a charging point in a city centre car park. I spent 30 minutes trying to get it to work? as this charger was constantly stuck on the “Initialising” handshake and would never startthe charge.
So I then had to drive across town to find charger number 3. As soon as I got there, the screen said it was out of order.
Charger number 4 didn’t have the same shape connector as my car. The fleet car only had a type 2 connector but the charging station was a CCS combo.
I then went to a multi-storey car park where the charging points advertised online were nowhere to be seen.
So the car was mostly running on its petrol engine around the city centre when it could have easily done it all in EV mode if the battery was sufficient. Ironically it got to a point where I was driving further trying to find a charging point than I would have, if I had an ICE car.
On the drive back up the A1. I stopped off at a service station and thought I might as well try a charger while I’m there for 30 minutes. Every charger was in use and it looked like other EVs / Hybrids were also lurking around waiting. Was I back of a long queue?
I tried to find other service stations along the A1 that had a free charger. But again these were CCS combo and not type 2.
So… after trying 7 different charging points. I couldn’t find one that would work with the fleet car I was loaned. I’m not willing to put charging apps on my own mobile phone. The PHEV ran mostly on its petrol engine making the whole thing seem rather pointless. Hours of my life were wasted driving around trying to find charging points. In the end, I refuelled the petrol tank, I found a working petrol station straight away and it took 2 minutes to refuel.
Why did you decide to waste so much of your time doing something that was so pointless?I set off with the PHEV fully charged. Because the start of my trip was all on A roads the battery only lasted 33 miles and wasn’t any benefit. I imagine it’s more suited to urban start/stop traffic than long 60 or 70 mph journeys?
When I reached my destination later that night. I went to use its charging point. Only to find these charging points required you to use your own cable and my employer had removed the charging cable from the car. Looks like I’m not going to charge the PHEV overnight for the urban driving the next morning.
The next day. I got up early with the plan of getting breakfast while I charge the car somewhere else. Hopefully I could do most of the urban driving in EV mode with a bit of battery life. After a lot of searching, I found a charging point in a city centre car park. I spent 30 minutes trying to get it to work? as this charger was constantly stuck on the “Initialising” handshake and would never startthe charge.
So I then had to drive across town to find charger number 3. As soon as I got there, the screen said it was out of order.
Charger number 4 didn’t have the same shape connector as my car. The fleet car only had a type 2 connector but the charging station was a CCS combo.
I then went to a multi-storey car park where the charging points advertised online were nowhere to be seen.
So the car was mostly running on its petrol engine around the city centre when it could have easily done it all in EV mode if the battery was sufficient. Ironically it got to a point where I was driving further trying to find a charging point than I would have, if I had an ICE car.
On the drive back up the A1. I stopped off at a service station and thought I might as well try a charger while I’m there for 30 minutes. Every charger was in use and it looked like other EVs / Hybrids were also lurking around waiting. Was I back of a long queue?
I tried to find other service stations along the A1 that had a free charger. But again these were CCS combo and not type 2.
So… after trying 7 different charging points. I couldn’t find one that would work with the fleet car I was loaned. I’m not willing to put charging apps on my own mobile phone. The PHEV ran mostly on its petrol engine making the whole thing seem rather pointless. Hours of my life were wasted driving around trying to find charging points. In the end, I refuelled the petrol tank, I found a working petrol station straight away and it took 2 minutes to refuel.
BrownBottle said:
It would have worked out fine if you'd just taken the cable for charging the car with you, the whole point of a phev is to use the electric motor for the short urban journeys and the ice for the longer motorway/A road driving.
Tbh once you discovered you didn't have the charging cable you'd have been better just sticking to petrol instead of wasting your time driving about to charging stations.
That's the whole point of a phev, to give you both options.
^This. A shame you didn't have the right cable as you could have charged and reserved the battery for the urban use, you would just fritter it away on A road use, and while motorway use would be mainly petrol to counter the wind resistance at speed, it would still try to use the battery at times and just waste it.Tbh once you discovered you didn't have the charging cable you'd have been better just sticking to petrol instead of wasting your time driving about to charging stations.
That's the whole point of a phev, to give you both options.
Most PHEV users (I assume, I certainly have never used one) don't bother with public chargers due to the cost & queues as you can just save the battery for when you need / want to use it.
Edited by Dashnine on Monday 29th January 15:14
Mr Miata said:
The PHEV ran mostly on its petrol engine making the whole thing seem rather pointless.
Your whole post is pretty pointless to be honest, it's not exactly news.Why would you be arsed faffing around with electric for a small percentage of the overall journey - especially in a company car? Most of our drivers won't even fill the screenwash if it empties.
As others have implied, it's almost pointless charging a PHEV whilst on a long journey, only the more recent cars offer reasonable charging rates, but even then the distance added is hardly worth the bother.
I charge at work and at home so commuting is nearly always EV. On a longer journeys I 'save' the charge for where I'm likely to be in urban traffic where it excels with electric and can return in excess of 4 miles per kWh which is quite good (X1 25e).
I charge at work and at home so commuting is nearly always EV. On a longer journeys I 'save' the charge for where I'm likely to be in urban traffic where it excels with electric and can return in excess of 4 miles per kWh which is quite good (X1 25e).
I have a Cupra formentor phev and went to Manchester Friday, coming back Saturday. The way up it did late 60s MPG running in hybrid, specifically sport mode for the responsiveness and regen.
Frustratingly, the hotel didn't have charging facilities so the way back it was doing mid 40s, finally hitting about 50mpg when I got home. Was about 350 mile round trip, total average was 50mpg.
Pretty impressive and if I could have changed it, it would have a meaningful impact to the MPG.
Frustratingly, the hotel didn't have charging facilities so the way back it was doing mid 40s, finally hitting about 50mpg when I got home. Was about 350 mile round trip, total average was 50mpg.
Pretty impressive and if I could have changed it, it would have a meaningful impact to the MPG.
I've had a few PHEVs over the last few weeks, no point in charging them away from home, the ones I had didn't fast charge (not sure any do) so it will take hours to put them back to full, they are best charged at home, on a long journey where you have urban driving at the end just but the battery state on hold so it will save it for when you need it.
They are fine for people who want to run a round in EV mode locally having charged at home, but want an ICE engine for longer trips, but the truth is a big diesel and a 80 litre tank is a better overall package, I kept thinking the X5 50e I had would have been much better with the 40d MHT drivetrain in it and the X3 30e with the 30d MHT in it.
Mr Miata said:
Last week I had to do a 400 mile round trip over 2 days. My employer gave me one of their PHEV fleet cars to use and it was the first time I’ve used a PHEV, so I was interested in how the experience would be.
Many suburban families have a car that's used to take the kids to school daily, go to the supermarket weekly, and go on family holidays once or twice a year.The point of a PHEV is that you can do the first two things on home-charged electricity, so it's just as good as an EV for that, and then when you go on holiday it turns into a normal petrol car so no worries about finding somewhere to charge or having to stop just as the kids have drifted off to sleep.
You would have been hunting a very long time trying to find a public type 2 tethered charger.
The only vaguely common ones I can think of are the 50kW BP Pulse units with a 43kW AC option.
But then you'd be paying "rapid" prices which would make it even more pointless.
You've kind of missed the point of a PHEV.
33 miles on battery is very good though - what car is it?
The only vaguely common ones I can think of are the 50kW BP Pulse units with a 43kW AC option.
But then you'd be paying "rapid" prices which would make it even more pointless.
You've kind of missed the point of a PHEV.
33 miles on battery is very good though - what car is it?
Stupot123 said:
Yeh, you have missed the point of a PHEV, never public charge one. It will almost always be more expensive to put electricity in than petrol, their low electrical efficiency makes it pointless.
Charge at home with relatively cheap electricity at the house then petrol all the way.
If the only parking space in a hospital car park is at a charging station, it's good to have a charging lead to justify using the space even if you're not really charging as you don't have the appropriate app..Charge at home with relatively cheap electricity at the house then petrol all the way.
Wifes PHEV has 40 mile range, 35 this time of year.
3 pin plug at night, 8p kwh
Would never use a public charger, just not worth it in our case & they can charge 10x the home rate!
The vast majority of journeys are local
Use petrol on the Motorway or longer trips
Average 260 mpg since new 6 months ago
Only filled it up twice with petrol in 6 month's
Horses for courses
motco said:
Stupot123 said:
Yeh, you have missed the point of a PHEV, never public charge one. It will almost always be more expensive to put electricity in than petrol, their low electrical efficiency makes it pointless.
Charge at home with relatively cheap electricity at the house then petrol all the way.
If the only parking space in a hospital car park is at a charging station, it's good to have a charging lead to justify using the space even if you're not really charging as you don't have the appropriate app..Charge at home with relatively cheap electricity at the house then petrol all the way.
samoht said:
Mr Miata said:
Last week I had to do a 400 mile round trip over 2 days. My employer gave me one of their PHEV fleet cars to use and it was the first time I’ve used a PHEV, so I was interested in how the experience would be.
Many suburban families have a car that's used to take the kids to school daily, go to the supermarket weekly, and go on family holidays once or twice a year.The point of a PHEV is that you can do the first two things on home-charged electricity, so it's just as good as an EV for that, and then when you go on holiday it turns into a normal petrol car so no worries about finding somewhere to charge or having to stop just as the kids have drifted off to sleep.
No one has mentioned that for a company car driver, the real benefit is the low BIK paid on PHEV’s. I have a PHEV with a 30-40 mile range which I charge at home and at work. The journey is 115 miles each way.
I would never bother charging it publicly as it costs more than petrol does and I absolutely wouldn’t queue up to do so. I keep the cables in the car tho and sometimes a client will offer a freebie charge.
It makes a big difference to MPG - 45 with a charge or 30 without.
It works for me as tax is low for a relatively pricey car and I have zero concerns about charging or range. I’ll go EV next time around tho
I would never bother charging it publicly as it costs more than petrol does and I absolutely wouldn’t queue up to do so. I keep the cables in the car tho and sometimes a client will offer a freebie charge.
It makes a big difference to MPG - 45 with a charge or 30 without.
It works for me as tax is low for a relatively pricey car and I have zero concerns about charging or range. I’ll go EV next time around tho
What sort of driving does a PHEV make sense for? I find it hard to understand what their real world MPG is because the official figures are always something like 100+ and I'm not clear on how that is even calculated?
How would it compare to my diesel on my commute (and how would I best use a PHEV for this drive?). It's 60 miles total, first 5 miles is a mix of 30mph residential roads and 40mph A Roads, the next 50 miles is motorway and I can typically cruise at an average of ~60mph based on traffic then the last couple of miles is back to 30 mph industrial estate
How would it compare to my diesel on my commute (and how would I best use a PHEV for this drive?). It's 60 miles total, first 5 miles is a mix of 30mph residential roads and 40mph A Roads, the next 50 miles is motorway and I can typically cruise at an average of ~60mph based on traffic then the last couple of miles is back to 30 mph industrial estate
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