Kia Niro UK Forums

Strangely in the PHEV you only have Sport mode in EV mode. In hybrid mode when you flip the stick across you only have manual mode.

Hi niroal . No non engine system on Phev to warm the car in EV mode! I am sure your correct in what you say but I thought that in town/ inner city driving (0 emissions) required no engine to run? My question is what is the point of designing and supplying cars with 25to 30 miles EV range only to cancel that out if you need to heat or defog the car!
That's put me off any current Phev then and saves me some money.
h2onorth

So as I understand it from this thread there is no heating available without the engine running. But can you run the aircon without the engine and does that work satisfactorily to demist?

In a pure electric cars I understand that whilst plugged in overnight to recharge you can set the car to demist and warm up ready for when you set off. If available on the PHEV that would help the range and fuel consumption once you set off.

I generally do not have to go out early but nice to know how you deal with visibility issues as you set off.

It appears that, counterintuitively, you can use the A/C to heat/warm the car and it will run in EV mode more often than if the A/C is off.
The 'driver only' setting does seem to also make a big difference to EV running.

So on the regular hybrid at least, it would appear the best economy is achieved:

1. Running the heater off completely
2. Running in Driver only mode with A/C on
3. Running in Driver only mode with A/C off
4. Running in regular mode with A/C on
5. Running in regular mode with A/C off.

Thanks Suman, from that description I think I could live with that, is the aircon working in climate control mode?

Another thought, do the heated seats work in EV mode , if so that could well mitigate against the lack of other heating, had that feature on my last car and very handy, puts the heat just where you need it!

Yes the aircon appears to work in climate control mode, and the heated seats and steering wheel also work in EV mode.

Thanks Suman, once upon a time I had a VW Karman Ghia with a 1600cc aircooled engine. The only time the heating ever worked properly was when it wasn't cold! Might as well have been the cabrio version.

So a heated seat and steering wheel sounds fine as long as you have a warm jacket and bobble hat and can defog all the windows.

True - I run the heater to defog the windows and warm up the car, then switch it off after a few minutes, since I figure the car engine will be running for the first few minutes anyway.

h2onorth wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:56 pm Hi niroal . No non engine system on Phev to warm the car in EV mode! I am sure your correct in what you say but I thought that in town/ inner city driving (0 emissions) required no engine to run? My question is what is the point of designing and supplying cars with 25to 30 miles EV range only to cancel that out if you need to heat or defog the car!
That's put me off any current Phev then and saves me some money.
h2onorth

The magical test is done at 25c I think so it can do the zero emissions urban part. Are major pollution warnings usually on warm days? If so then when pollution is worse the PHEV will do its best to assist.

I am still happy with my PHEV for the extra it cost me over an ADAP 3 spec on lease, although as I have posted elsewhere it is harder to make a purely financial case on either PCP or especially outright purchase.
I see it as a very economical car rather than a zero emissions car, however as our other car is a full electric Renault Zoe we don't see ourselves as major polluters.

If you have the PHEV version can you switch on the heated seats and demist whilst still hooked up to the recharging station? If so you can pre warm the car and still set off with a full charge in the battery?