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Pre Purchase Info

Posted: Sat May 26, 2018 8:35 am
by bah434x
Morning All,

Just about to put a deposit on a 2018 Niro PHEV, first car of this type i has owned.

At what speed does the petrol engine kick in, is it only under load or a specific speed. Or can i potentially be doing 70mph on battery alone.?

What apps do users use in the UK for recharging stations..? I've so far found the Zap-Map & charge my car apps.. Is there anything else i should look for.?

Any other things i should be looking at before purchase.? Any know issue's?

Re: Pre Purchase Info

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 9:44 am
by AlanHo
I don't have a PHEV but my understanding is that after a full charge the car will run on battery alone for the first approx. 30 miles - after which it becomes a standard HEV and will use engine and sometimes battery power. One caveat is that the engine provides heat for the car's heating system so will run when the climate control requires heat in cold weather.

Re: Pre Purchase Info

Posted: Sun May 27, 2018 2:43 pm
by Brianh
When the petrol engine kicks in is more a case of acceleration/load rather than a specific speed. You could do 70mph on battery alone but you'd need to accelerate gracefully to that speed rather than put your foot down and also keep on the flat rather than go up steep hills.

Also as AlanHo says the heater works off the petrol engine so in cold weather it will come on almost immediately irrespective of speed.

With regard to charging apps, I use New Motion because my employer has New Motion charging points otherwise you will probably never need to use a public charger. Once you get to zero EV miles the car still has around 15% battery life and will operate as a standard hybrid (HEV). In standard HEV mode the battery will charge from braking & coasting and will never go completely flat nor will it go above the 15% but, short of running out of petrol, it will get you wherever you are going and back again. In 10k miles I've never used a public charger but in order to get the optimum economy you will need to regularly charge the Niro at home or at work.

It's an excellent car - enjoy it.