My PHEV running cost savings

My first post and am doing on the savings cost as have seen posts on cost of charging and using fuel in a PHEV.

I had a Peugeot 308 SW auto and would do around 100 miles a week which cost around £15 to £17 to top up at £131.7 per litre with petrol.
I now have my HS PHEV and for August I was running around in Hybrid mode not using the EV button, I have a smart meter display so I am able to see my electric use per day/ week / month. I would top up the battery every 3 day to 100% and this has cost me £5.00 for the month of August @ 18p per KWH. but the big saving is in fuel, I have been topping up every Saturday and have been putting away the differences between above and and the amount spent each Saturday and I have saved £52 from the day I got the car on the 22nd July.
Last week I started to use the EV mode more and my fuel top up cost £4.50 This weekend. This is just the day to day running cost not take in to count the all the other costs of running a car.

 

[Dragonfly]

Careful use of the ev button can make a huge difference. I recently did a 66 mile run and back, on the way down I used auto mode and got 42mpg at mostly 70mph battery was 92% on arrival. On the return trip, I switched ev when the range matched journey miles left. I got 63mpg again mostly at 70mph and 0% on arrival. Admittedly I have to pay for the electric, probably under £2.50 but the petrol saving was probably nearer £4

 

[Cocijo]

It’s sounds like you are perfectly suited to a full EV travelling only 100miles a week

 

[Jto]

I should have said this was going to work and around home, most weekend the saving was £7 on average only last week use the EV more and that gave me a saving of £15. I have run the battery down to 0% and is on charge now and the total time it said to charge would be 6 hrs and would say I am looking at around £2.50.

 

[Jto]

It’s sounds like you are perfectly suited to a full EV travelling only 100miles a week

If I could go back I would go to full EV, but I can make this work just as well. But will see what it is like in the colder weather.

 

[Dragonfly]

The key is using as much ev as possible. Even if it means charging every day, or like today, I've charge twice during the day.

 

[Jto]

Yes, I will be back to working 5 days after next week and will be plugging in when I get home.

 

[sky0000547]

Electricity is cheaper than petrol. Especially during these summer months, EV mode should be used at every opportunity and you should return home with 0% EV range to make the whole journey the cheapest.

I’m on Octopus Go tariff so it is 5p/kWh for 4hrs between 0030-0430hrs. I have a home wall charger and it takes 4hrs to charge the PHEV from 0% which is perfect for the tariff. It costs approx 65p to fully charge the PHEV. All my family visits, supermarkets, shopping, going into office and head into town can all be done in EV. There have been occasional longer trips when the ICE comes in handy.

Everytime I headed out, the car will be on charge that night. Did 24 miles today all EV and the car is on scheduled charge tonight. Definitely charge and make use of the EV mode.

 

[Lovemyev]

EV mode should be used at every opportunity and you should return home with 0% EV range to make the whole journey the cheapest.

Absolutely bang on correct @sky0000547
If you arrive home with any more than 1 mile of EV range left on the GOM, then sorry but you have it all wrong !.
I owned a PHEV for over 4 years, before going full BEV in early 2020 with the ZS EV..
After some practice with the PHEV - I was able to pull onto the drive with ZERO miles of EV range left on the GOM.
On a couple of occasions, the engine JUST fired up as we where about to pull onto our drive.
NOW BOOM ! ....... Show me your best "Smug" face - alright !.
After a while you just learn, how and when to use your electric power, to the best advantage.
EV power is cheaper than fossil fuel, this is how you maximise your cost savings.
Charging the HV battery by burning fossil fuel is not really cost effective option.
I know you may feel that because the engine is running anyway ( motorway work etc ) that charging the HV battery from the car, is some how free ?.
Well ....... sorry, but NO.
If you are already using fossil fuel to propel the car towards a target speed of around 60 MPH on a fast stretch of road.
But then decide to charge the HV battery as well, this extra drag is going to affect the MPG economy of the car.
E.G. - You are driving along in your standard ICE car, then you decide to turn on the HVAC system in the car.
The A/C compressor for the HVAC is likely to be driven by a belt from the engine, this extra demand / drag will increase the fuel consumption of the car.
Charging on the move, results in a similar condition.
I never adopted this charging the HV battery from the ICE in my PHEV.
Add EV mileage by plugging in the car, not by burning fossil fuel to achieve it.
It can be a temptation, because you crave more EV driving / range.
But then you start asking yourself :- "Why I never went full BEV in the first place then ?".

 

[Flatcoat]

How can you be certain the electricity is not generated from fossil fuel? If you remove the tax from petrol which is cheaper? What if a totally synthetic petrol was available…… Let’s at least be honest why you drive a PHEV or BEV.

 

[Jto]

That’s a good point as it all goes in to the same wires. If in built up areas I can stop push out crap the better. Remember the days of the first lock down, clean air.
every little bit helps.

 

[sky0000547]

It was in recent news that the government is investigating claims of energy companies/providers saying their electricity is 100% renewable. This is most likely not true in practice but in theory they can claim that because they offset the amount of fossil fuel generated for the electricity. But either way zero tailpipe emissions at least in towns are still better than running the ICE.

 

[Jto]

Absolutely bang on correct @sky0000547
If you arrive home with any more than 1 mile of EV range left on the GOM, then sorry but you have it all wrong !.
I owned a PHEV for over 4 years, before going full BEV in early 2020 with the ZS EV..
After some practice with the PHEV - I was able to pull onto the drive with ZERO miles of EV range left on the GOM.
On a couple of occasions, the engine JUST fired up as we where about to pull onto our drive.
NOW BOOM ! ....... Show me your best "Smug" face - alright !.
After a while you just learn, how and when to use your electric power, to the best advantage.
EV power is cheaper than fossil fuel, this is how you maximise your cost savings.
Charging the HV battery by burning fossil fuel is not really cost effective option.
I know you may feel that because the engine is running anyway ( motorway work etc ) that charging the HV battery from the car, is some how free ?.
Well ....... sorry, but NO.
If you are already using fossil fuel to propel the car towards a target speed of around 60 MPH on a fast stretch of road.
But then decide to charge the HV battery as well, this extra drag is going to affect the MPG economy of the car.
E.G. - You are driving along in your standard ICE car, then you decide to turn on the HVAC system in the car.
The A/C compressor for the HVAC is likely to be driven by a belt from the engine, this extra demand / drag will increase the fuel consumption of the car.
Charging on the move, results in a similar condition.
I never adopted this charging the HV battery from the ICE in my PHEV.
Add EV mileage by plugging in the car, not by burning fossil fuel to achieve it.
It can be a temptation, because you crave more EV driving / range.
But then you start asking yourself :- "Why I never went full BEV in the first place then ?".

I feel like am going to be blackballed and kicked out of the club, I did not say it would be free to use the ICE to charge the battery and of course there would be a cost, but how much more, if you are away from home would it be cheaper then going to a charge station. I am not looking to do this for every day.

 

[sky0000547]

I feel like am going to be blackballed and kicked out of the club, I did not say it would be free to use the ICE to charge the battery and of course there would be a cost, but how much more, if you are away from home would it be cheaper then going to a charge station. I am not looking to do this for every day.

There is a break even point that paying for public charging is still cheaper than running the ICE. Based on the MPG with just ICE, I have crudely worked out and told myself paying 30p/kWh is just about the maximum I should pay to charge, if convenient enough to do just to have enough charge to get home.

 

[Jto]

There is a break even point that paying for public charging is still cheaper than running the ICE. Based on the MPG with just ICE, I have crudely worked out and told myself paying 30p/kWh is just about the maximum I should pay to charge, if convenient enough to do just to have enough charge to get home.

Do all public charge have a connection fee as well ?

 

[sky0000547]

Do all public charge have a connection fee as well ?

I haven’t paid for any yet but as far as I know. Most don’t have a connection fee.

 

[Lovemyev]

Over the four years of owning a PHEV - I think that we used public charging posts about the same number of times ( 4 ).
And this only happened because there was numerous posts not being used.
To be honest, I never really seen what the point was ?.
Anybody with a PHEV is fine by me using a post, but as we all know, SOME folks will connect up to a post and then leave them on charge all day and never return to move the car, therefore blocking the post.
And they are very likely to be sitting on an almost full tank of fossil fuel ️ as well.
I mean - come on, why would you even bother ?.
I would always charge from home every single night, for this very reason.
Always used the EV power as much as possible, that would suit my journey.
But I never used the fossil fuel directly to charge the HV battery.
Counter productive and more expensive in my view.
Does the MG have a “Battery Hold” or ( something similar ) function like my VW had ?.
A facility where you can save / reserve your EV power to use as and when you want.
I would start a journey in EV mode, then switch to hybrid when travelling above 45 MPH.
Then reserve some EV miles for later in the trip, for village / town / city driving etc.
Aiming to arrive home just as the ICE is about to kick in !.
That’s a good day at the office and a great result.
ICE car’s NIL - PHEV’s ONE .
I loved my PHEV every single time I used it.
This is where the whole love affair started with EV driving.
I saw the PHEV as a “Bridge” into the full world of full BEV driving.
There is a place for PHEV’s because full BEV’s are not for everybody of course.
Any EV ( part or otherwise ) is all good in my book.
Enjoy .

 

[sky0000547]

Over the four years of owning a PHEV - I think that we used public charging posts about the same number of times ( 4 ).
And this only happened because there was numerous posts not being used.
To be honest, I never really seen what the point was ?
Anybody with a PHEV is fine by me using a post, but as we all know, SOME folks will connect up to a post and then leave them on charge all day and never return to move the car, therefore blocking the post.
And they are very likely to be sitting on an almost full tank of fossil fuel ️ as well.
I mean - come on, why would you even bother ?.
I would always charge from home every single night, for this very reason.

I have used free public charging points for quite a few times now. The novelty hasn’t worn off yet. Half hour charge will gain 4 EV miles and an hour gain 8 miles. That could be a free journey home. A couple of times I have used a charging point just to top up back to max and it is a pain having to go back out to the car and then move car to an empty parking space when fully charged. Wouldn’t like to do that in a busy car park where spaces are at a premium, that really is the down side of running a EV. I am really enjoying running on EV in the HS, I can seriously think I can live with a full EV but they are just too expensive to buy for something the size of a HS.

 

[Norhund]

How can you be certain the electricity is not generated from fossil fuel? If you remove the tax from petrol which is cheaper? What if a totally synthetic petrol was available…… Let’s at least be honest why you drive a PHEV or BEV.

You don't know. Here in Norway most electricity is produced by hydro power. However, Norway is now part of the European grid, so when we are short of electricity because Norway has already sold its clean green supply, we are probably getting the brown pumping out pollution kind.

Until Europe is able to produce completely green electricity, then the risk is always going to be there. That said, Since Asia, the US et al are producing so much pollution, what we are doing in Europe is only setting an example when it comes to the big picture. At the end of the day I know by using the electric power in my car, at current prices, I am saving money.

Seriously, as long as I am doing my bit, if I let this stuff which is way beyond my control worry me, I would not be able to sleep at night.

 

[Lovemyev]

A couple of times I have used a charging point just to top up back to max and it is a pain having to go back out to the car and then move car to an empty parking space when fully charged.

See, that is another reason why not to bother.
Pulling out the cable when it is pouring down with rain, then repeating the process all over again when you return, just to collect another 4 to 8 miles of range ?.
Only today, we pulled up at a paid public charging post, along side me was a new shape Nissan Leaf, already parked in the next EV bay.
Nobody sitting in the car, not plugged in and therefore blocking the charger.
Directly behind him, was five empty standard spaces.
One had a correctly park Tesla model 3 and plenty of spare spaces.
Not really a good advert for good EV protocol.
It smacks of :- "I own an EV and therefore I WILL use the EV space".
It's a EV CHARGING BAY - NOT a EV parking bay .
If not actively receiving a charge, it should not be there - period !.