[RetSurfer]

I’m about to take my first long trip, 500 miles to Panama City Beach and back. No plug-in where I’m staying. Other than going down the mountain from where I live, Asheville, it’s all flat.

Atlanta is the only major city I’ll go through, planning on the middle of the day for that. I’m sure it will be bumper to bumper traffic, so would I need the battery?

I will want Electric in PCB for pre-conditioning, etc.

Should I just do battery hold when I first start out on my trip?

Any recommendations are appreciated…

[jpw172]

Originally Posted by RetSurfer

I’m about to take my first long trip, 500 miles to Panama City Beach and back. No plug-in where I’m staying. Other than going down the mountain from where I live, Asheville, it’s all flat.

Atlanta is the only major city I’ll go through, planning on the middle of the day for that. I’m sure it will be bumper to bumper traffic, so would I need the battery?

I will want Electric in PCB for pre-conditioning, etc.

Should I just do battery hold when I first start out on my trip?

Any recommendations are appreciated…

PCB has charging stations - go on PlugShare and you’ll find them, even if you let it juice for 3 hours and go and do something you’ll then have enough for your pre-conditioning if you use battery hold more often. Just all depends how much you’ll be pre-conditioning.

I’d use batter hold for the highway driving for sure. I notice even when I am in hybrid and on battery hold when I’m stopped it still uses the battery. Remember they block out like 20% of the battery so you have more juice than you think.

Enjoy the trip - let us know how it goes.

[TurtleBoy]

I'm sure others who own one will chime in but probably best to hit battery hold around 30- 40% and not worry about anything else. This will allow you to have preconditioning and you don't have to worry about finding charging which likely will not only take time but be more expensive than using gas.

[redbullfan]

Just drive around with the battery hold on and it'll charge up the car to 4 miles of range with regular driving

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by jpw172

…
I’d use batter hold for the highway driving for sure. I notice even when I am in hybrid and on battery hold when I’m stopped it still uses the battery. Remember they block out like 20% of the battery so you have more juice than you think.
…

pointing out the unusable capacity is irrelevant. telling him he has more juice than he thinks insinuates the vehicle taps into that “blocked out” capacity after the usable capacity is depleted. that is not the case whatsoever

and to clarify, the unusable capacity in the U.S. 50e is ~32%

[RetSurfer]

So if I'm driving on the interstate in hybrid mode, would that be using any battery?
Also probably 100 miles of the trip is 2 lane and through some small towns.

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by RetSurfer

So if I'm driving on the interstate in hybrid mode, would that be using any battery?
Also probably 100 miles of the trip is 2 lane and through some small towns.

of course, that’s literally what “hybrid” means. a hybrid vehicle combines two drivetrains: the electric motor and ICE. choosing Hybrid drive mode confirms you’re letting the vehicle decide when to efficiently use either

[eelnoraa]

sport mode on highway, electric in local?

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

sport mode on highway, electric in local?

that’s what I would do, too. takes away the guesswork if Hybrid mode will use up all the usable capacity or not as well as having to actively think of Battery Hold.

RetSurfer Sport mode will maintain about 16-20% of usable capacity. NOTE: once you select Electric mode for the local drives, you’ll have to pay attention to the battery capacity so you don’t get too low and lose the ability to precondition

[rexus300]

Has anyone use battery hold on long highway drives and what was the MPG combined with it?

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by rexus300

Has anyone use battery hold on long highway drives and what was the MPG combined with it?

I kind of think BC on highway is the same as sport mode on highway with usable HVB deplete? If we believe this is equal, then I have been seeing 24-25 in 45e. Highway sport mode with good HVB SOC, it is more like 27-28.

[aaaaaaaaaz]

I would just drive in battery hold all the time (unless want to a bit more spirited driving in sports) for roadtrips.

[aaaaaaaaaz]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

I kind of think BC on highway is the same as sport mode on highway with usable HVB deplete? If we believe this is equal, then I have been seeing 24-25 in 45e. Highway sport mode with good HVB SOC, it is more like 27-28.

Don't know about MPG, but I do feel sport has a bit more aggressive shifting pattern than battery hold, RPM is significantly higher

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by alanzyy

Don't know about MPG, but I do feel sport has a bit more aggressive shifting pattern than battery hold, RPM is significantly higher

Shift pattern probably doesn't play a role in highway cruising at all, right?

the 2nd part is incorrect. In sport mode and in "D", transmission will go into 8th gear in normal highway speed. As long as that happens, RPM is the lowest possible at the speed. It is only in "S" transmission will NOT go into 8th. It will remain in 7th well beyond speed limit. But I am not talk about "S".

[jpw172]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

pointing out the unusable capacity is irrelevant. telling him he has more juice than he thinks insinuates the vehicle taps into that “blocked out” capacity after the usable capacity is depleted. that is not the case whatsoever

and to clarify, the unusable capacity in the U.S. 50e is ~32%

I’ve been at “zero” and it still used the battery. It’s not irrelevant, giving context.

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by jpw172

I’ve been at “zero” and it still used the battery. It’s not irrelevant, giving context.

where do you see "zero"?

[Gene Horr]

Originally Posted by RetSurfer

I’m about to take my first long trip, 500 miles to Panama City Beach and back. <snip>

Any recommendations are appreciated…

No 50e (yet!) but with the 330e I would regularly take 700+ mile trips.

I found the best method was just to leave everything in the default modes for the overall maximum ranges in the trip. The computer did modify the discharge rate slightly, leaving a little under 5% more reserve in the battery. But it definitely didn't "save" the battery for later on in the trip.

Assuming that the 50e is programmed in a similar manner then to use the minimal fuel don't play around with the settings.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Gene Horr

No 50e (yet!) but with the 330e I would regularly take 700+ mile trips.

I found the best method was just to leave everything in the default modes for the overall maximum ranges in the trip. The computer did modify the discharge rate slightly, leaving a little under 5% more reserve in the battery. But it definitely didn't "save" the battery for later on in the trip.

Assuming that the 50e is programmed in a similar manner then to use the minimal fuel don't play around with the settings.

Except he wants to precondition so there would have to be sufficient battery left during the trip, each morning etc.

[mobsync]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

of course, that’s literally what “hybrid” means. a hybrid vehicle combines two drivetrains: the electric motor and ICE. choosing Hybrid drive mode confirms you’re letting the vehicle decide when to efficiently use either

I wish the hybrid mode was adjustable. I would love to have a hybrid mode for long trips where I could set it to automatically switch to ICE anytime the car was going more than 35 mph so the battery is more reserved for in-town travel.

[jpw172]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

where do you see "zero"?

It’s had like three dashes vs the miles. However, it’s still kept in electric when idol (stop light or stopped) and for a little while until ICE kicks in.

[jpw172]

Originally Posted by mobsync

I wish the hybrid mode was adjustable. I would love to have a hybrid mode for long trips where I could set it to automatically switch to ICE anytime the car was going more than 35 mph so the battery is more reserved for in-town travel.

I will say - when I did a recent 150 mile trip I plugged it into the Nav in hybrid eco pro and when I got home I still had I want to say 9% left on the battery…so I would recommend using the nav so it knows best what to use…

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by jpw172

It’s had like three dashes vs the miles. However, it’s still kept in electric when idol (stop light or stopped) and for a little while until ICE kicks in.

In this case, I am sure, when dash display "---", the usable HVB is not at 0%. You can see the % in app. From my observation, there is somewhere between 3-6% left of usable HVB. In fact, to get the usable portion down to 0%, it isn't even that easy. You need to do some purposeful trick to get there.