why do my ev miles tick away even if i toggle the car into hv mode? is there a way to save them and use them when i want, like once i am on the highway? thanks!! Tami
you can save about 80% of them by starting out in hv and toggling to ev when you want to use them. why would you want to use them on the highway?
-EV miles make sense to be used when the engine is cold and is driving at low speeds -EV miles will still be used, albeit not as aggressively, in HV mode Bisco, you might want to use them on the highway in EV boost mode if you're driving at high speeds (above 60) so that the engine can run at lower RPMs. But yeah, it makes no sense to warm up the engine on surface streets and save the EV for the freeway.
A few EV miles are borrowed to warm up ICE easily to lower emission. It also maintain 50 MPG during the warm up. The car will return those miles once ICE is warmed up.
i was thinking that more fuel is used the faster you drive, so ev miles at 55 would save me even more fuel...?
but more electrons are used too like I said, the optimal use of EV miles is at low speeds when the ICE is cold. do you have someplace to charge at the end of your trip? if so, use all of your EV miles. if not, try saving some for the return trip, so that you can again avoid running the engine cold at low speeds.
The miles being displayed is the number of miles (predicted) by the computer "if you were to be driving in EV mode" but they are not reserved for EV only. Both EV mode and HV mode both use the same battery. In EV mode you use the battery to propel the car and you recharge the battery just a bit when you brake or go downhill and brake. In HV mode you mainly use the gas engine, but once warmed up you switch back and forth from gas to EV (or stealth mode as we used to call in on older models). In HV you recharge the same ways as in EV, but also the gas engine charges the battery when it is very low or when the gas engine must run (to warm up) and little power needs to go to the wheels. The car always reserves a small portion of the battery for HV mode and will kick you out of EV when you get very low. Technically, the miles displayed is the remaining miles possible EV mode. At or near zero it switches to HV but there is still some battery capacity left for automatically switching in and out of EV. Mike
Tami, Why can't you charge at Work? Have you asked? Did they say NO !!! We'll send the Green Squad out to convince them !!!
I can charge at a public paid parking in Bethesda MD for free and I alaway carry an extension cord with me just in case.
Tami, 120 vac outside outlets are Easy to install and Not expensive. Ask the bldg manager. Tell him the power you'll use is only 25 cents a day and Zero emissions when you drive on electric. Good Luck.
what if it's raining? i skimmed thru that part of the manual...does the outlet have to have a rain guard or something? what about the rest of the cord and where it plugs into my car? I live in the rainy valley of oregon....at home i park in the garage, but at work i park outside...
Make sure you do a complete survey of your parking lot. I took a good walk along the perimeter of my work campus. There are multiple buildings and no outlets anywhere. I spent 30 minutes walking closely around each building and finally found one outlet hidden behinds shrubs in the dark recesses of a U shaped alley. Also, persistence pays off. When I first asked to plug in, I was brushed aside, "They will look into it." When I asked again a few weeks later, I was approved. <edit> I've plugged in the pouring rain without problems. Disclaimer, I don't pretend to know anything about electricity so don't take my word for it. I use an extension cord to the plug because the EVSE is too short. I hide the power brick underneath the rear bumper to keep it somewhat dry. I use a luggage lock on my EVSE plug to prevent theft. </edit>
I plug into a Lawn Lamp Post outlet at home and at work I installed an outlet in a piece of Plexiglass that I mount in my office window, semipermanent with weatherstripping. (The building owner didn't want me to drill through the bldg wall.) The EVSE is waterproof, but I wouldn't lay it in a puddle or in a snow bank. Plugging in and out of an outlet in the rain is not a problem, as long as you don't touch the metal prongs of the plug. And like mmmodem states, if needed use an extension cord rated for at least 15 amps with at least 12 gauge wire.
