XC60: Fully charged T8 only showing 20 miles

[sk546]

Originally Posted by Arthur Morgan

I only picked up my car last Saturday, so only had a couple of trips over the weekend. I charged it up when I got home with about 5 miles left of battery.

I've also been using the engine charging function, but I don't know whether it's better to simply run the battery down and let it recharge a little with the B mode.

Using the battery charge mode is quite inefficient and uses much more fuel than you ever get back in electric running. Much better to let the battery run flat and recover any electric running with regen braking.
I only ever use the engine charge mode if I have used the battery up on a long journey and am heading for somewhere that I cant plug in to charge the car (i.e. a hotel or family house with no plug in available) but still want some low speed electric running.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Arthur Morgan

Most of the reviews I've seen for the T8 seem to imply that you're supposed to get "up to 28 miles".

And the Volvo product page says "up to 33 miles"

https://www.volvocars.com/uk/v/cars/xc60-hybrid

Not that I'm expecting anything like those figures (especially in the cold).

I guess I'm really asking whether it's normal to see the driver display indicate 20 miles on a full charge? How does the car know how to show that figure? Outside temperature? Battery capacity? If there's an issue with the battery, I'd rather get it sorted under warranty, but if this is normal behaviour, then I'm fine with that.

EDIT: Thanks for the example, that's set my mind at rest!

Just read that and yes I see they are saying up to 33miles which I have never seen before.

Has the size of the battery pack gone up in the latest vehicle vs your MY18 vehicle perhaps?

I know the XC90 got a bigger battery a few years after launch which bumped up range a bit.

[sk546]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

Just read that and yes I see they are saying up to 33miles which I have never seen before.

Has the size of the battery pack gone up in the latest vehicle vs your MY18 vehicle perhaps?

I know the XC90 got a bigger battery a few years after launch which bumped up range a bit.

Yes, the battery size increased from 10.4 kWh to 11.6 kWh on the MY19.5 or 20 cars i believe. Not a massive increase but still gets a few more miles of range.

[Polestar Pete]

I think there might have been a change in battery since my first MY variant, but from what others are saying, it's not affected the range - possibly decreased the charging time.

I think probably the claimed 30 miles is the test cycle estimate which (as for petrol cycles) should only be used for comparison purposes and never and indication of actual consumption.

[TimNiceBut]

Originally Posted by Arthur Morgan

I only picked up my car last Saturday, so only had a couple of trips over the weekend. I charged it up when I got home with about 5 miles left of battery.

I've also been using the engine charging function, but I don't know whether it's better to simply run the battery down and let it recharge a little with the B mode.

I think it's cheaper to run the engine to drive the car than it is to recharge the battery.

Do you have the Zap Map app, assuming you have a smartphone? You can often find chargers, sometimes free, sometimes not, to recharge when you're at your destination.

For instance I do a lot of work in London at night, so can get there using the electric motor. I then find somewhere to charge up while I'm working and have a full charge to drive home again. Bear in mind that if the kWh cost is more than about £0.30, it's more cost effective to use petrol than to pay to charge.

[Polestar Pete]

Yes, I have Zap Map, but I don't have a Type 2 lead yet. The vast majority of my journeys for now will be less than 50 miles, so not sure at this point if I'll need to charge anywhere except at home.

[Moonlanders]

Originally Posted by Arthur Morgan

Yes, I have Zap Map, but I don't have a Type 2 lead yet. The vast majority of my journeys for now will be less than 50 miles, so not sure at this point if I'll need to charge anywhere except at home.

Not sure if it will make any difference to you, but as I reverse onto my drive and the pod point is on the front of the garage, I bought the 8m Type 2 lead. A little cumbersome if charging on a road (trip risk on the pavement) but perfect for my home charging needs. Cost was £365. I mention this as the 8m lead was not showing as an option in the brochure and I only found out about it when the dealer mentioned it. I wasn't convinced the 4.5m lead would stretch to the front of a 5m long car.