Hybrid charge times?

[stoneyev]

Re Hybrid cars. is it better to recharge battery little and often or, let it go down and have one large charge ?

 

[Jto]

I use my car every day and charge back up to 100% and my battery has been fine and had the car 18 months.

 

[jem111111]

In my case its both. Obviously if you have used all the battery power and its on 0% then its a full charge. Other days you may have 10 miles left but know the next day you will be driving more than 10 miles , then you might as well fully charge it ready for the next day.
In my case when I decide to charge it, I always charge it to 100% , as its a small battery and 30 + odd miles gets used up pretty quickly. I personally do not think its worth just charging it for a few miles just to cover the distance I'm going to travel ( like they might with full EV's ).

 

[Lovemyev]

I had a VW PHEV for four years before going full BEV in 2019.
To get the most from a PHEV then you need to be charging it as often as possible to save using the fossil fuel.
Otherwise it not really worth having one to be totally honest.
Ideally on short trips, the aim is to be arriving home just as the EV range has expired !.
Trying as much as possible to use that small EV range for town use etc.
If you are lucky enough to have a cheaper over night tariff, then EV miles are cheaper than fossil miles, so that is the way to go.
I know it’s a little more difficult in the HS PHEV because you don’t have totally control on the EV miles.
E.G. - I you use the cabin heater to hot, the engine will be engaged.
This was not the case in the VW PHEV.
PHEV’s are suitable in a special usage case really.
If your usage is mainly short trips with the occasional long trip thrown in, then they are great.
If you are doing more long trips than short trips, then they don’t work as well.
On regular longer trips, when that small battery has been depleted, you are dragging around a lot of excess weight around.
Also PHEV’s tend to become more expensive to maintain / service as time passes by as you basically serving two masters.
You have the normal servicing costs of a normal ICE plus any additional service requirements of an EV.
Some people buy a PHEV and never plug them in ?.
This is to do with the BIK tax benefits.

 

[Wainw74]

Had a Hybrid before my EV for 2 years Hybrid I think are or the best thing since marmate you either love them or hate them.
My hyundai before my Kona EV was fantastic I miss it I took my daughter back to Birmingham from Cheshire 70 miles or so got to the service station and forgot my wallet to put petrol in my range was 10 mile.
How the hell I was getting home no idea but it got me home 71 miles with 10 range that went after 20 miles on the motorway so 0 range got me over 50 miles and also 91 mpg

 

[Lovemyev]

Had a Hybrid before my EV for 2 years Hybrid I think are or the best thing since marmate you either love them or hate them.
My hyundai before my Kona EV was fantastic I miss it I took my daughter back to Birmingham from Cheshire 70 miles or so got to the service station and forgot my wallet to put petrol in my range was 10 mile.
How the hell I was getting home no idea but it got me home 71 miles with 10 range that went after 20 miles on the motorway so 0 range got me over 50 miles and also 91 mpg

You just need the right usage case really.
The efficiency / MPG in my VW PHEV would regularly return around the 75 Mpg and the best I seen on a few occasions was 105 / 110 Mpg.
Again a pure EV has to suit your usage case, but you have no engine to fall back on of course.
I thought the running costs on my PHEV were very good after having so many petrol cars and never wanted / considered an oil burner.
But the EV beats the PHEV hands down.
Would I have another PHEV ?.
If I had too, but never another pure fossil.
First choice - pure EV.

 

[stoneyev]

now recharge my mg hs phev when battery down to below 20%. All well but have noticed that on full charge the useable mileage sticks at 31 miles and not 32 as it should. car done some 10,500 miles and due service in month or so. Any ideas ??

 

[Lovemyev]

now recharge my mg hs phev when battery down to below 20%. All well but have noticed that on full charge the useable mileage sticks at 31 miles and not 32 as it should. car done some 10,500 miles and due service in month or so. Any ideas ??

We owned a VW Golf GTE PHEV for four years, before going full BEV in 2019 great car.
The pack in the VW was a similar size as the HS PHEV.
As the pack is small, to gain the maximum amount of economy from the car, then utilising all of that EV range is totally necessary.
Charging almost daily and the aim is to arrive home just at the point when the EV range has been depleted.
If you only charge to say 80% SOC and then leave remaining EV range when you have complete your journey, then frankly the EV advantage is not really worth having TBH.
The stand alone fuel economy of the fossil engine on the HS is not brilliant, it needs as much help as possible by using all of that EV range to help.
Regarding the loss in the predicted range you are seeing after 12 months.
I ( and other VW owners ) witnessed the very same thing.
Started life ( from new ) at a regular reported 32 miles of range on the GOM in good weather conditions,
12 months in and this had reduced slightly to 31 miles.
This continued to reduce very slightly year on year.
At four years old and 28,000 miles covered, it was more usual to see 27 - 28 miles of predicted range on the GOM.
Was I concerned ? - NO.
After all you have the luxury of a fossil engine.
You learn to just charge / drive and enjoy the car for what it is after a while.
You can become very paranoid checking the GOM each and every time you charge otherwise.
The EV battery has a built in top and bottom buffer that you can not access, is it there to protect the long term health of the battery.
If you take it to the dealer, they are very likely to do nothing to be honest.
They could do a health check on the battery, but given the age of the car, I think this unlikely.
Your car sounds completely normal !.