Paphos Life

As promised in my first post two month ago : viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10027 a small update of my experiences.

Driving that car exceeded all my expectations. With the battery on 75% charge, I can drive to the office in town from home (15km) all electric, without the petrol engine comes on, and the battery is 90% charged after that trip.(so 15% more!) This is due to the fact that I live in 500 m sea level and driving downhill to nearly sea level the batteries getting automatically charged instead of using the brakes too much. Also in town I use this setting of recuperating energy all the time instead of normal braking which will sure guarantee a longer lifespan of the breaks. As the own car makes no any noise it is much easier to listen to other traffic on the roads when the windows are open which I prefer to air-con and closed windows. So I drive always through town pure electric without any emissions. To keep the main battery on a relative high level if I don't want to charge them with my own photo-voltaic system at home, I put the setting on battery charge when I drive back home uphills and they will be charged to ca 75% again when arriving.
From time to time I charge the battery at home, to reach 100% status, but this is wasting PV power as the automatic breaking system to recuperate electricity downhills is not working when the battery is completely charged. The average petrol consumption is so far ca 4,5 l/100 km. due to the fact that I always have to climb 500 m sea level to reach home. But for a car with nearly 2 tons weight this is much less than I used when driving my previous 2l BMW with 13l/100 km or Feroza 1600 with 12l/100 km. One time I drove only electric also uphills for a longer distance to Timi beach and back (40 km) and after I recharged the battery at home I used 9 kW/h = 2 Euro worth. As everything is automatic, even the breaking most of the time, it is ever so relaxing to drive that car only using one hand on the wheel, while the other one is hanging in the fresh air.(Cypriot habit)
Another note: several times I had to overtake slow driving concrete lorries uphills towards their destination Minthis Golf and with just to floor the accelerator without any delay, all 3 motors coming on the same moment and to overtake the lorry was much faster than with my BMW as there is no any interruption without a gearbox. Nothing more terrible if you want to overtake and there is not enough power and traffic comes towards you...
Don't get me wrong but sometimes you have to overtake slow driving lorries, digger, tractors when the uphill stretch is miles long.

So this for the moment, I wonder what the difference in winter driving is. I will report about it next year...

Max

My experience with winter driving on my Lexus CT100H (not plug-in). When it's cold, it takes a few km on petrol for the engine to heat up before the hybrid kicks in. Consumption about 0.2 l/100 km higher on typical 15-25 km round trips, lower on long trips.

I agree the acceleration is great with both engine and electric motor working.

mouse wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2019 6:56 pm Really 0.2l /100km, not plugged into mains ever, that's a small glass of wine,

Read what I wrote, nit-wit!
0.2 l/100 km higher on typical 15-25 km round trips, lower on long trips.

The electric car needs to have a capacity of less than 1,800 cc.

Cubic centimetres of what? The size of the electric motor? They haven't a clue, have they?

Perhaps if you read the original text in Greek it makes more sense.

mouse wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2019 6:54 pm So what is the L/100km consumption of your Lexus?

Difficult to answer. I'll quote realistic estimated averages with tyres at 2.3 atm, careful driving, quoted per tankful of ~33-38 l, comfortable inside temp, aircon/CD player on, engine set at Econ.
Spring/autumn 20-30°C
Mostly long trips 80% mixed motorway 95 km/h av./ordinary roads(>35 km): 4.1-4.3 l/100 km
Mostly to Larnaca and back ordinary roads, average traffic: 4.2-4.4 l/100 km (my daughter gets this regularly: me 0.1 more!!!)
Mostly local, 12 km max: 4.7-4.8 l/100 km

Summer (>35°C)
Add 0.1-0.2 l/100 km to above figures (presumably aircon major contributor)

Winter (0-5°C)
Mostly long trips 80% mixed motorway 95 km/h av./ordinary roads(>35 km): 4.2-4.4 l/100 km
Mostly to Larnaca ordinary roads, average traffic: 4.4-4.7 l/100 km
Mostly local, 12 km max: 4.9-5.1 l/100 km (minimum 6 km av./trip, higher if only to village and back)

Tyres at 2.2 atm, add 0.1 l/100 km
Normal driving, as opposed to careful driving to minimise consumption, add another 0.1-0.2 l/100 km
Engine set to Normal, add another 0.1 l/100 k; set to Sporty, add another 0.3 l/100 km (guessed, as I've never tried it!)

You can do same trip 10 times and the consumption can vary each time.
Note: these data based on fill-ups, not on the car gauge which can vary (usually optimistic!)
< 2-5 min traffic jams, no change; >5 min 0.1 l/100 m (engine kicks in to keep battery charged)

Best spot result from house to Larnaca (280 m altitude drop with some steeply undulating roads, one way): 2.4 l/100 km
Worst spot result, unknown but guess at least 7-8 l/100 km, no memory of more.

Hope this is OK answer!

What sort of emissions are created in the generating of electricity in the first place? How much does it cost to recharge the battery and how long does the battery last before it needs replacing?

zorbathejock wrote: ↑Sun Nov 17, 2019 10:10 pm What sort of emissions are created in the generating of electricity in the first place? How much does it cost to recharge the battery and how long does the battery last before it needs replacing?

In my case, with a straight hybrid, all the electricity is generated within the car and is included in my 4½ l/100 km, therefore the battery is charged for no extra cost. The NiMH hybrid battery is guaranteed for 10 years and the dealer who sold me the car sells only hybrids; he told me that, in 15 years, he has replaced only two or three. I guess that hybrid users are instinctively good drivers and don't go around knocking hell out of the batteries by constantly using them to the limit. Have replaced 3 ordinary 12 V batteries over the same time (12 years with 2 hybrids), but that's another story.